Date Time
More than half of Australians will experience trauma, most before they turn 17
When I began researching the transmission of transgenerational trauma and literary trauma testimony in 2010, I rarely encountered the word “trauma” in the media and national conversation.
Author Adjunct Lecturer in Writing, University of Notre Dame Australia
Trauma as a concept mostly only preoccupied trauma studies researchers, trauma-educated survivors, and those working on trauma’s front lines, such as mental health professionals.
Now, for the first time in Australian history, trauma is trending in the wider public discourse.
Brittany Higgins’ rape allegation and the historic rape allegation against Christian Porter have ignited a firestorm of discussion about sexual assault. A Royal Commission into veteran suicide is expected to highlight veteran post-traumatic stress disorder. Seven Indigenous Australians have died in custody since the start of March. And we’re finally
When I began researching the transmission of transgenerational trauma and literary trauma testimony in 2010, I rarely encountered the word “trauma” in the media and national conversation.
Trauma as a concept mostly only preoccupied trauma studies researchers, trauma-educated survivors, and those working on trauma’s front lines, such as mental health professionals.
Now, for the first time in Australian history, trauma is trending in the wider public discourse.
Brittany Higgins’ rape allegation and the historic rape allegation against Christian Porter have ignited a firestorm of discussion about sexual assault. A Royal Commission into veteran suicide is expected to highlight veteran post-traumatic stress disorder. Seven Indigenous Australians have died in custody since the start of March. And we’re finally naming trauma when we talk about these kind of crimes and realities.
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This is slowly changing and it is largely because of the efforts of First Nations people across the country. An example is the work of my sister Hayley McQuire and her colleagues at the National Indigenous Youth Education Coalition (NIYEC) who have just launched their Learn Our Truth campaign to encourage school leaders and educators to prioritise First Nations history in their teaching. NIYEC is the first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth-led organisation solely committed to asserting our Indigenous rights to education.
“For the past two years, NIYEC has been going around the country talking with young mob about our differing experiences with education, and the theme that was recurring was the impact of feeling erased when you don’t hear your true history about what happened during colonisation,” Hayley told me.