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32 NEWS
SUNDAY OCTOBER 4 2015
Lifeline 13 11 14 Headspace.org.au
You talked, we listened Mini and Nathan grapple with some tough Lismore locals and (right) some of the Can We Talk panellists. Pictures: Jason O’Brien
Qld Lismore
COUNTRY FORUMS Dubbo
NSW
Newcastle
Wagga Wagga
SYDNEY
Vic CLAIRE HARVEY DEPUTY EDITOR COUNTRY kids grow up with all the freedom and fresh-air happiness city kids lack, right? Maybe, but according to the audiences who flocked to The Sunday Telegraph’s Can We Talk regional NSW forums, there is a high price to pay for many bush kids. Depression, anxiety and the risk of suicide are all magnified for country families because of a lack of acute and ongoing services and powerful taboos about sexuality and mental ill-health. As part of our Can We Talk cam-
paign, we held free forums for parents in Newcastle, Dubbo, Wagga Wagga and Lismore, bringing experts, clinicians, young people with experience of mental ill-health and NRL stars to talk about their own experiences and answer questions. In conjunction with our partner Headspace, the national youth mental health foundation, the NRL staged clinics for primary and secondary school children, featuring ambassadors, including Nathan Hindmarsh and Anthony Minichiello, teaching rugby league skills and talking to the kids and teens about their own approach to mental health and wellbeing.
The forums were not easy for our panellists: they were grilled by feisty audiences about the difficulty of accessing and navigating the mental health system. But the forums also yielded an extraordinary openness between audience members and panellists, with both sides shedding tears and confessing previously untold stories of personal struggle. Among the most compelling was that of Dan Hunt, the recently retired St George Dragons frontrower, who told our audiences in Wagga Wagga and Dubbo how, ever since he was a boy coping with a household torn by domestic viol-
ence, he has struggled with mental ill-health. It was a conversation with his then-coach Wayne Bennett that finally convinced Hunt he needed help, but that meant a terrifying solo drive to visit a BeyondBlue centre and confront his problems. In Lismore, Minichiello told how his wife Terry Biviano had helped him realise the extent to which he was struggling to be happy while offfield with injuries during his Roosters career, while Nathan Hindmarsh told of his own slow realisation that retirement from the Eels had left him with a big hole in his life and a consequent battle to maintain his equilibrium. Author
Adam Schwartz, whose powerful book Mum, I Wish I Was Dead details how from the age of 10 he began contemplating suicide, and Black Dog ambassador Nic Newling spoke across all four forums, revealing how their own parents pushed through rejection and hostility to persist in trying to help them. “Unconditional love is the most powerful thing you can do for your kids,” Mr Schwartz said in Lismore. The Sunday Telegraph will be continuing the Can We Talk forums in Sydney and regional NSW next year. We are always eager to hear your stories. sunday.telegraph2@ news.com.au
TEXT THE EDITOR
0421 269 010
DISCLOSURE OBLIGATIONS FOR POLITICAL DONORS IN NSW
Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park
Disclosure of reportable political donations for the year ending 30 June 2015. If you made a donation of $1,000 or more to any NSW political party, an elected member of NSW Parliament, a Local Government councillor or mayor, a candidate, a group of candidates, or a third-party campaigner at a State or local government election, you are a major political donor (Election Funding, Expenditure and Disclosures Act 1981).
Sunday 18 October 10am – 5pm travelexpo.net.au
As a major political donor, you have an obligation to disclose to the NSW Electoral Commission all donations of $1,000 or more (or multiple donations to the same recipient that when combined exceed $1,000 or more) made between 1 July 2014 and 30 June 2015. Major political donors are required to lodge a disclosure with the NSW Electoral Commission between 1 July and 20 October 2015.
WIN
For more information about the disclosure of reportable political donations please visit the NSWEC website (www.elections.nsw.gov.au) or telephone 1300 022 011.
Z05910
Failure to lodge a disclosure by 20 October 2015 is an offence.
13-day Italy Trip* with Trafalgar and return airfares with Emirates
*Registrant must attend the event on the day for a chance to win. For full terms and conditions, visit www.travelexpo.net.au.The Discover Europe travel expo is organised and conducted by Flight Centre Travel Group Limited (ABN 25 003 377 188). ATAS Accreditation No. A10412. sst_4oct_3x2_fc
Rob’s journey from darkness ROB Bowers has come a long way in the past 48 hours, having completed a run from Canberra to Sydney with an army of other fundraisers. But the 23-year-old has come even further when you consider his battle with depression, which at one point led to an attempt on his own life. “I spent a lot of time beating myself up for my lack of progress,” the Australian National University politics student said. “I was struggling with the transition to university. “At my lowest point I attempted to take my own life. It was only then that I decided to seek help.” Yesterday Mr Bowers and about 60 other runners from ANU completed a relay that ended at Bondi Beach. They were joined by 40 runners running from Palm Beach to Bondi, who also helped raise more than $15,000 for the Batyr@School programs. TELE02Z02MA - V1
SUNDAY OCTOBER 4 2015
Lifeline 13 11 14 Headspace.org.au
You talked, we listened Mini and Nathan grapple with some tough Lismore locals and (right) some of the Can We Talk panellists. Pictures: Jason O’Brien
Qld Lismore
COUNTRY FORUMS Dubbo
NSW
Newcastle
Wagga Wagga
SYDNEY
Vic CLAIRE HARVEY DEPUTY EDITOR COUNTRY kids grow up with all the freedom and fresh-air happiness city kids lack, right? Maybe, but according to the audiences who flocked to The Sunday Telegraph’s Can We Talk regional NSW forums, there is a high price to pay for many bush kids. Depression, anxiety and the risk of suicide are all magnified for country families because of a lack of acute and ongoing services and powerful taboos about sexuality and mental ill-health. As part of our Can We Talk cam-
paign, we held free forums for parents in Newcastle, Dubbo, Wagga Wagga and Lismore, bringing experts, clinicians, young people with experience of mental ill-health and NRL stars to talk about their own experiences and answer questions. In conjunction with our partner Headspace, the national youth mental health foundation, the NRL staged clinics for primary and secondary school children, featuring ambassadors, including Nathan Hindmarsh and Anthony Minichiello, teaching rugby league skills and talking to the kids and teens about their own approach to mental health and wellbeing.
The forums were not easy for our panellists: they were grilled by feisty audiences about the difficulty of accessing and navigating the mental health system. But the forums also yielded an extraordinary openness between audience members and panellists, with both sides shedding tears and confessing previously untold stories of personal struggle. Among the most compelling was that of Dan Hunt, the recently retired St George Dragons frontrower, who told our audiences in Wagga Wagga and Dubbo how, ever since he was a boy coping with a household torn by domestic viol-
ence, he has struggled with mental ill-health. It was a conversation with his then-coach Wayne Bennett that finally convinced Hunt he needed help, but that meant a terrifying solo drive to visit a BeyondBlue centre and confront his problems. In Lismore, Minichiello told how his wife Terry Biviano had helped him realise the extent to which he was struggling to be happy while offfield with injuries during his Roosters career, while Nathan Hindmarsh told of his own slow realisation that retirement from the Eels had left him with a big hole in his life and a consequent battle to maintain his equilibrium. Author
Adam Schwartz, whose powerful book Mum, I Wish I Was Dead details how from the age of 10 he began contemplating suicide, and Black Dog ambassador Nic Newling spoke across all four forums, revealing how their own parents pushed through rejection and hostility to persist in trying to help them. “Unconditional love is the most powerful thing you can do for your kids,” Mr Schwartz said in Lismore. The Sunday Telegraph will be continuing the Can We Talk forums in Sydney and regional NSW next year. We are always eager to hear your stories. sunday.telegraph2@ news.com.au
TEXT THE EDITOR
0421 269 010
DISCLOSURE OBLIGATIONS FOR POLITICAL DONORS IN NSW
Sydney Showground, Sydney Olympic Park
Disclosure of reportable political donations for the year ending 30 June 2015. If you made a donation of $1,000 or more to any NSW political party, an elected member of NSW Parliament, a Local Government councillor or mayor, a candidate, a group of candidates, or a third-party campaigner at a State or local government election, you are a major political donor (Election Funding, Expenditure and Disclosures Act 1981).
Sunday 18 October 10am – 5pm travelexpo.net.au
As a major political donor, you have an obligation to disclose to the NSW Electoral Commission all donations of $1,000 or more (or multiple donations to the same recipient that when combined exceed $1,000 or more) made between 1 July 2014 and 30 June 2015. Major political donors are required to lodge a disclosure with the NSW Electoral Commission between 1 July and 20 October 2015.
WIN
For more information about the disclosure of reportable political donations please visit the NSWEC website (www.elections.nsw.gov.au) or telephone 1300 022 011.
Z05910
Failure to lodge a disclosure by 20 October 2015 is an offence.
13-day Italy Trip* with Trafalgar and return airfares with Emirates
*Registrant must attend the event on the day for a chance to win. For full terms and conditions, visit www.travelexpo.net.au.The Discover Europe travel expo is organised and conducted by Flight Centre Travel Group Limited (ABN 25 003 377 188). ATAS Accreditation No. A10412. sst_4oct_3x2_fc
Rob’s journey from darkness ROB Bowers has come a long way in the past 48 hours, having completed a run from Canberra to Sydney with an army of other fundraisers. But the 23-year-old has come even further when you consider his battle with depression, which at one point led to an attempt on his own life. “I spent a lot of time beating myself up for my lack of progress,” the Australian National University politics student said. “I was struggling with the transition to university. “At my lowest point I attempted to take my own life. It was only then that I decided to seek help.” Yesterday Mr Bowers and about 60 other runners from ANU completed a relay that ended at Bondi Beach. They were joined by 40 runners running from Palm Beach to Bondi, who also helped raise more than $15,000 for the Batyr@School programs. TELE02Z02MA - V1
