Get involved in beyondblue Anxiety and Depression Awareness (ADA) Month, October 2010

beyondblue Anxiety and Depression Awareness Month provides an opportunity for workplaces, community groups and individuals to take part in activities to raise awareness of anxiety and depression, and help reduce the associated stigma.

http://www.beyondblue.org.au/index.aspx?link_id=59.1277

How you can be involved

At home:

• Wear a beyondblue wristband during October
• Take a beyondblue carry bag with you when you are shopping
• Put a beyondblue magnet on the fridge
• Encourage your family and friends to keep active – organise a group walk, bike ride or game in the park

At work or in the community:

• Become a workplace or community group organiser for beyondblue Anxiety and Depression Awareness Month. Free Organiser Kits can be ordered online
• Organise a blue-themed day or event and screen the beyondblue DVD Stories of Hope and Recovery
• Display beyondblue awareness posters on your staff noticeboard, in your local community centre or club, or other community group space
• Order beyondblue Awareness Kits for your colleagues, club mates or community group members
• Use a beyondblue mouse mat throughout the year – it’s a great way to remind people that it is OK to talk about anxiety and depression every day

Order ADA Month Kits
Click the link below to order your Anxiety and Depression Awareness Month Kits via our online ordering system. You can order single kits without registering via our Individual catalogue, or organisations can order multiple kits by registering for access to our Organisation catalogue. The kits are listed at the top of each catalogue.

Order your free awareness or organiser kit: http://www.beyondblue.org.au/index.aspx?link_id=7.233

For inquiries or if you require assistance ordering information resources, please call the beyondblue info line on 1300 22 4636.

Information supplied by beyondblue.

Darren Stones
Member of blueVoices – the consumer reference group for beyondblue

blueVoices members provide national mental health consumer or carer input into all beyondblue programs. This input varies from giving feedback on new resource development, input into development of beyondblue programs, disseminating materials at events, speaking about personal experience of mental illness at forums or to the media, representation on committees and many other involvements.

Discover Australia magazine Issue 3, September 2010

By Darren Stones

Issue 3 of Discover Australia magazine is available for viewing online in full screen format. It can be downloaded as a PDF to your computer, be printed, and shared.

In this quarterly issue, my feature article The heart, mind and soul of the Utes in the Paddock highlights a quirky tourist attraction at the 12,000-acre Burrawang West Station in Ootha, New South Wales, Australia.

Utes in the Paddock Project Coordinator Jana Pickles explains how this unique outback art gallery has an underlying objective, which is supported by the Australian artists who volunteered their time to create such amazing art works.

Discover Australia magazine Issue 3, September 2010

I trust you enjoy reading Discover Australia magazine Issue 3, September 2010. Your feedback is most welcome. Suggestions are also welcomed.

If you have Australian tourism or travel related news you'd like considered for inclusion in my Travel Bites column, please contact me by email: darrengstones@gmail.com

Darren Stones
Deputy Editor and Journalist
Discover Australia magazine

Bob Katter is no loony

By Darren Stones

The 2010 Federal Election has given Independent MP Bob Katter the opportunity to put an important issue into the public domain – suicide. Whilst the majority of discussion surrounds which major party the Independents will side with, Katter has taken the bull by the horns and is the only elected representative in the spotlight willing to mention an issue which many people are reticent to discuss.

With Katter constantly being referred to as a ‘loony’ on Twitter, and in comments by readers in various online newspapers, it’s his ability to get the message out at an opportune time that is worthy of credit.

Katter has said that one farmer commits suicide every four days in his electorate of Kennedy. The sense of despair felt by those farmers who are taking such drastic action is not to be ignored. These are real working people from real working families who see no future for themselves. They are people who see no reason to live and cast a vote in the future.

Mental health has been in the spotlight during 2010, but Australia's political leaders became more concerned with the non-issue of Work Choices and stopping the boats during the election campaign.

It will be interesting to see if the leaders from each of the major parties act on what Katter is saying, or simply dismiss him as a ‘loony’. Time will tell if Katter’s comments lead to a paradigm shift.