Rocking for mental health

Employees of mining contractor Byrnecut had a brush with Australian folk rock fame last week when John Schumann visited the Athena gold mine near Kambalda.

The Redgum singer joined Australasian Centre for Rural and Remote Mental Health chief executive Jennifer Bowers more than three years ago to deliver the unique Minds in Minds mental health program around the State.

“Everybody is spending a sh**load – pardon my piratical mouth – on physical safety and quite rightly so,” Mr Schumann said.

“But safety is like a fence and there is a big hole in that fence called mental health.”

He said a lot of work ensuring the physical wellbeing and safety of workers could be undone because mental health went unaddressed.

Mr Schumann had previously worked with the Australian Army presenting on post-traumatic stress disorder because of his song, I Was Only 19, written in 1983.

Dr Bowers said she found putting out research and studies was not helping change culture and attitudes to mental health.

“No company appreciates being told, ‘we are here to research you’,” she said.

“There is no use us doing a toolbox presentation if the management don’t know how to understand what is happening or what to do about it.”