6 tips to protect your emotional wellbeing during the Voice to Parliament Referendum

We’re now halfway through the campaign for the Referendum on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament, which will take place on Saturday 14th October. With much heated conversation and debate taking place in homes, businesses, and the wider community, it can be easy to feel overwhelmed by feelings of negativity and stress about The Voice.

An article recently published on the NITV website featured commentary from First Nations people working in the mental health space about how we can look after ourselves with the upcoming referendum. Here are some of their key points:

“The social and emotional well-being of mob across the country has been impacted in a negative way, particularly with the increased incidences of racism…There’s the yes camp, there’s no camp, there’s the undecided camp, but I’m in the well-being camp. We want to ensure that people are looking after themselves and having these conversations wherever you land.”

Tanja Hirvonen, Jaru Bunuba clinical psychologist and Board Director of the Australian Indigenous Psychologists Association

“A lot of mob are reporting that they’re finding that constant attention, as well as the criticism and debate, becoming quite toxic and impacting heavily on their social and emotional well-being. People are feeling a whole bunch of extra pressure, particularly in their workplaces to be the experts on the Voice and referendum process. We can only be 100 per cent for our families, our communities, or whatever else it may be, when we actually take that time to look after ourselves and to recharge ourselves,”  

Dr Clinton Schultz, a Gamilaroi psychologist and director at the Black Dog Institute

The tips below distil some of the key points of this article for young indigenous Australian’s to help protect your social and emotional wellbeing during The Voice To Parliament Referendum.