Field Notes & Narratives
Every story here was shared willingly, recorded with care, and published with permission. These are real voices from real places.
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...
