KidsMatter is the national mental health promotion, prevention and early intervention initiative based in schools and early childhood education and care (ECEC) services. The KidsMatter Initiatives have been developed in collaboration with beyondblue, the Australian Psychological Society, the Principals Australia Institute, Early Childhood Australia and, with funding from, the Australian Government Department of Health and beyondblue.
In response to the need to ensure the KidsMatter resources were inclusive of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families, the Australian Psychological Society developed a suite of resources supporting the social and emotional wellbeing of Aboriginal children, parents, families and communities. This includes a series of 12 animated videos that communicate key messages about the day-to-day care of Aboriginal children. They depict interactions in the lives of children and families and feature a range of kin relationships, cultural roles and responsibilities, environments and experiences. To ensure that the animated videos are used in culturally safe ways by professionals working in education, health and community settings, a range of guidance tools, including three new documentary style films, have also been developed.
Intercultural collaborative processes were utilised to ensure the voices of Aboriginal people were central to the resource development, including themes, design, structure, delivery and production.
The workshop will involve screening a selection of the animations followed by a facilitated discussion and workshop activities to: