The tour started on the River Murray in Mannum, part of the Mid Murray council area covering 220km of the River Murray and stretching to the eastern slopes of the Mount Lofty Ranges and to the edges of the Barossa Valley. This vast area causes major challenges for the provision of health services, particularly for those without transport and other factors, including prolonged drought, are impacting on people’s mental health. After their community of 150 people lost four men to suicide in 12 months In the township of Sedan rallied, establishing a men’s shed to offer a place for connection.
The second stop was the Barossa Valley, known internationally for its wine and tourism. The flip side of this notoriety is the normalisation of alcohol consumption as a form of self-medication in a community where some are doing it really tough.
"The Barossa is a wine-based economy – people are paid in alcohol and you can be offered a drink from 11am"
BAROSSA GP
Third on our trip was the small township of Kimba on the Eyre Peninsula (EP). Kimba sits above the Goyder line and the farming community have felt the effects of significant drought. As an enterprising community - previously overlooked by tourists Kimba is working hard to encourage them to linger longer with the establishment of Workshop 26, a creative quarter and the Kimba Living Museum. As a small rural town Kimba has also largely missed out on full-time GP services and has only recently secured a doctor for 3 days a week.
"People may not realise how difficult it is to live in a community without a doctor"
KIMBA AREA SCHOOL LIBRARIAN
Next was the town of Cummins further south on the EP. Cummins receives average rainfall and is not in drought, the road is busy with grain trucks and things seem good, but this is a town trying very hard to uncover and respond to an undercurrent of mental health issues.
"It might not look like it from the outside but there are families in crisis"
CUMMINS RESIDENT
We then ventured across the water to Kangaroo Island where it came across very quickly that those living on the island had always felt very isolated from the mainland. A sense that led them to develop a ‘do it themselves’ attitude.
"We’re the little bit dangling off the end (of SA) and we have always looked after ourselves…We've always punched above our weight, but we do need help"
LONG-TERM KANGAROO ISLAND RESIDENT
The most recent destination was the Murray Mallee town of Pinnaroo. The visit came in the middle of harvest in a place where a series of bad years have taken their toll on the mental health of local farmers.
"If I had a wish it would just be to have two normal years where nobody has to worry"
PINNAROO STOCK AGENT
Despite these hardships, the community of Pinnaroo looks out for each other and came together to create a tranquil wetland just off the highway and an art group providing alternative ways for people to connect.