What we do

Red Dust's unique approach to achieving health outcomes is working.

We partner with communities to best target specific local needs – this is not a one size fits all approach. We encourage Indigenous youth to learn more about health by using channels they respond to such as sport, art, music and dance.

We improve knowledge and skills of Indigenous youth and inspire them to live a healthy lifestyle through the influence of positive role models.

Healthy Living Program

Click or scroll to read more →

Our high impact school based health and wellbeing program with a focus on nutrition, physical activity, resilience and cultural strength.

Our Healthy Living Program is facilitated by role models from community, sport, art, music and dance to drive important health promotion messages resulting in fun, interactive and inclusive classroom and On-Country activities. Learning outcomes work towards building skills and knowledge in nutrition, physical activity, resilience and cultural strength.

Why Focus On Youth?

Indigenous Australians experience a burden of disease that is 2.3 times the rate of non-Indigenous Australians.

Over one third of the overall disease burden experienced by Indigenous Australians could be prevented by removing exposure to risk factors such as tobacco and alcohol use, high body mass, physical inactivity and high blood pressure. (AIHW, 2011)

Left arrow
Right arrow

Strong Young Men And Boys Program

Click or scroll to read more →

Strong Young Men & Boys Program

The purpose of the SYMBP is to support the development of strong male Aboriginal youth as they navigate their complex worlds and overcome a range of cultural, spiritual, social-emotional and educational obstacles in order to achieve authentic success in their lives.

All programs involve explicit and practical cultural synthesis, are delivered in both local language/s and English and are typically facilitated using a combination of strategies including yarning circles, explicit instruction, classroom teacher co-facilitation, peer led participatory approaches and hands-on interactive activities.

Why focus on Aboriginal male health?

Statistically, Life expectancy for Aboriginal males in Australia is estimated at 18 years less than non-Aboriginal men on average (59 years for Aboriginal men versus 77 years for non-Aboriginal men). There is also a 6 year gap in life expectancy between Aboriginal men and Aboriginal women (59 years and 65 years respectively)

Emerging data confirms that Aboriginal men have the worst health outcomes of any subgroup in Australia. The data clearly indicates that Aboriginal men's health and wellbeing is not going well at the moment.

Aboriginal men die earlier from chronic diseases, such as cardiovascular disease, injury, respiratory disease, cancer and endocrine disease. They have higher rates of suicide than non-Aboriginal men, and have similar death rates from assault to females.

Left arrow
Right arrow

Strong Young Women's Program

Click or scroll to read more →

The Strong Young Women's Program delivers gender-specific health messages to young women to a range of stakeholder groups in Alice Springs and remote Central Australian and Top End Communities.

In addition to highlighting the link between lifestyle choices and well being over an individuals life course, the program raises awareness of modifiable risk behaviours with an emphasis on alcohol use and Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder.

Why focus on Aboriginal female health?

Indigenous women experience motherhood earlier on average than non-Indigenous women and these experiences of child birth and caring responsibilities have different implications for their health (Osborne et al. 2013)

Left arrow
Right arrow