Stories from the Land
Every story is rooted in place. Explore the voices and experiences of communities across Australia — from the red centre to tropical coastlines.
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15 stories · 252 storytellers · Click a pin to explore
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The first BG Fit bush camp took 12 young people on country near Mount Isa for three days of cultural connection and Elder guidance....
I'm now five and a half months out of detention and working at the Confit gym, living what I consider the dream. My name’s Gaith, I'm 19 years old and proud of my Iraqi Muslim roots. My early year...
Looking back, my life's been a bit of a rollercoaster. Growing up in Mount Druitt was tough. We had fun, sure, but it wasn't easy. Being in a gang felt like belonging to something, even if it meant ge...
Growing up in Cabramatta, I was surrounded by a life that many can't even imagine. If you do the research on back in the eighties and nineties it was rooted with a lot of heroin, a lot of crime, a lot...
"I was actually signed to the Rabbitohs when I got locked up for armed robbery. It ended up being three years inside...but like Joe Kwon always says it was a part of my life and I can now use that t...
Who am I? Just a young and dumb kid, trying to make money for the family. I took the fast route instead of the slow one. That's who I am. My name is Metan Bacir Kapula. They call me the Turkish Stal...
Stealing began with little things, like chocolates from a store. It was a way to feel in charge of my life that was getting messy. But being around others doing the same, it got worse. Bad decisions c...
The Unspoken Narratives and Their Impact: An Odyssey Begins In the intricate weave of the criminal justice system, a hidden odyssey emerges: the profound tales of those who've journeyed through its d...
BG Fit's program at Spinifex Residential works with young people in out-of-home care and the justice system, using sport to build trust....
BG Fit's weekly Tuesday gym sessions at Mount Isa PCYC have grown from 5 to 20 regular attendees, building trust through consistency....
Brodie shares the founding story of BG Fit — born from witnessing too many Indigenous young people cycling through the justice system without support....
BG Fit's Doomadgee bush camp brought fitness and cultural activities to one of Queensland's most remote Indigenous communities....
There is a version of this story told through numbers. It has its place. But numbers are a translation, and something always gets lost in the translation. This is the fuller version.The cost of a cell...
Last month we took eight young people out to Atnarpa for three days on Country. Some of them hadn't been out bush since they were little kids. You could see it in their faces when we got there — somet...
There is a room I want you to sit in. It is small. The light is fluorescent. We spend $1.3 million a year per child to put them there. And 85 percent go straight back in. The cure already exists — in ...
It costs AUD 2,355 per day to detain a child in Brisbane Youth Detention — AUD 859,575 per year — for an 84% reoffending rate. Meanwhile, community-led programs achieve 88% success at AUD 75/day. The ...
How the 2022 floods devastated the oyster leases and how the farming community pulled together to rebuild....
The art and labour of grading Sydney Rock oysters — teaching the next generation about quality and pride in craft....
Brodie Germaine, a young Pita Pita Wayaka man from Mount Isa, reflects on taking young people out to the Junction on Kalkadoon country through his BG Fit program....
Henry Doyle, a young Aboriginal man born and raised on Palm Island, works in youth services helping kids who've fallen through the cracks. From organising footy teams to converting a bakery into a you...
Kylie Bloomfield speaks powerfully about creating new history on ancestral land. Welcoming school groups, building intergenerational enterprise, and watching her father see the family homestead restor...
Henry Bloomfield, a 67-year-old Elder, shares the multi-generational story of the Bloomfield family's deep connection to Love's Creek station in Central Australia....
Uncle George Leon, a Kalkadoon Elder in Mount Isa, spent decades as a Police Liaison Officer engaging four to five hundred kids a week in schools, building trust through tough love....
In a raw men's group session on Palm Island, an Elder facilitator challenges the men to examine what gets them out of bed each morning. confronting the cycle of addiction, dependency, and self-punishm...
Iris, a sixty-five-year-old Elder on Palm Island, tells the story of her father building a small boat called the Ivy May to row to Possum Island and feed the family on turtle, fish, and damper....
Dianne Stokes, a traditional owner in Tennant Creek, has spent twenty-four years transforming bare country into a home, starting with nothing but her car for shelter....
Three generations of oyster farming on the river — reading the tides, the seasons, and the signs that nature provides....
When a brand-new washing machine arrives at Alba Camp in Tennant Creek, Dianne Stokes can't contain her joy. This is the story of beds, washing machines, and what happens when a community decides that...
Barry Rodgerig grew up in the Sunshine Coast hinterland when timber was king. His mother made it to ninety-one and chose her own exit. This is the story of a man shaped by sawmills, sovereignty, and t...
These stories represent real voices from real communities. Share them, learn from them, and help amplify the voices that need to be heard.