Remote Aboriginal communities in the Anangu Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (APY) Lands experience unique challenges and strengths in suicide prevention. Isolation, language diversity, cultural protocols, and complex kinship systems all shape how help is sought, offered, and received. Suicide in these communities is inseparable from cultural, historical, and social realities, calling for approaches grounded in Anangu ways of knowing, being and doing, and guided by local leadership, cultural integrity, and lived experience.
This presentation reflects on suicide prevention training delivered in the APY Lands by a team comprising a South Australian Suicide Prevention Coordinator (non-Indigenous) working alongside two Aboriginal trainers from outside the region, supported where possible by a local Aboriginal interpreter. The work demonstrated that training cannot begin in a classroom; it begins with walking, listening, and building trust. Respectful engagement with Elders, community leaders, and governance structures was essential to ensuring cultural permission, safety, and community readiness.
Through this training and community dialogue, key themes emerged. Protective factors, including strong kinship networks, cultural identity, community resilience, and deep intergenerational knowledge, remain powerful anchors for wellbeing. At the same time, communities continue to navigate grief, gendered expectations, stigma, and systemic barriers to timely support. Participants voiced the urgent need for culturally supported communication, more local facilitators, and ongoing resources, not one-off visits.
The presentation will share what worked well:
And what is not yet working:
Aligned with the conference theme United Voices, Brighter Futures, this session centres the voices of Anangu participants who shaped these learnings, voices that continue to advocate for responsive, respectful, and community driven suicide prevention. Their reflections guide a shared vision for the future: one where suicide prevention efforts in remote communities are sustained through long-term partnerships, cultural leadership, lived experience expertise, and inclusive dialogue that strengthens self-determination.
APY Lands are places of strength, resilience, story, and survival across millennia. This presentation honours that legacy and explores how walking and talking together can illuminate brighter futures for Aboriginal suicide prevention across Australia.