The Long Grassers' legacy - Aboriginal mental health part 2The Long Grassers' legacy - Aboriginal mental health part 2
All In The Mind
For many Aboriginal people the loss of their country has caused significant health and social problems, including substance abuse, and has led them to 'living in the long grass' on the outskirts of urban townships.
30:15•17 Jun 2006
Life in the Long Grass: Aboriginal Homelessness, Culture and Mental Health
Episode Overview
- Homeless Aboriginal people in Darwin, known as long grassers, often face violence, harassment and strong public hostility.
- Paths into long-grassing include leaving dry communities for alcohol access, unemployment, overcrowded housing and exile from home communities.
- Living in the long grass has serious mental health effects, especially for people already burdened by trauma, grief and chronic illness.
- Playback theatre led by Ali Mills gives long grassers a way to share everyday experiences with police, security and shopkeepers in a safer, indirect way.
- Researchers argue for earlier prevention through health education, meaningful activities and cultural connection, rather than focusing only on crisis treatment.
“"Long grass is like homeless... They’ve got no home. They just move around like a kangaroo. We need a voice, you know. These people need a voice."”
What drives someone to seek a life without alcohol when the alternative is danger, stigma and sleeping under the stars? This episode of *All In The Mind* focuses on Aboriginal "long grassers" in Darwin, whose homelessness is tangled up with culture, trauma, racism and access to alcohol.
Through the voices of long grassers like acclaimed actor David Gulpilil and his wife Miriam, you’ll hear how people end up without a home: no work back on Country, overcrowded housing, community conflict and the draw of alcohol in town. David puts it bluntly: "Long grass is like homeless... They’ve got no home. They just move around like a kangaroo. We need a voice, you know.
These people need a voice." Larrakia woman Ali Mills talks about vigilante attacks and daily harassment in public spaces, as well as the cultural fracture of living under “white man law” while trying to hold onto traditional obligations. Her playback theatre project invites long grassers to script and act out scenes with police, security guards and shopkeepers, using performance to share their side of the story and ease some of the tension.
Psychologist Brenda Ford describes working with people who are “shell-shocked” by a long chain of grief, violence and loss, often without access to basic medical care or safe housing. Researcher Geoffrey Angeles links long-grassing to dry remote communities, unemployment and social exile, and argues for earlier prevention, meaningful activities and cultural connection for young people.
This is a thoughtful look at homelessness framed not just as a housing issue, but as a collision of mental health, colonisation, basic human rights and spiritual connection to Country. If you’ve ever judged someone sleeping in a park, this conversation might make you pause and ask: what’s their story, and what might they need instead of blame?
Do you want to link to this podcast?
Get the buttons here!
More From This Show
The latest episodes from the same podcast.