Painting the desert pink : where place making, social cohesion and wellbeing collide

Abstract

In remote communities of western Queensland, where gatherings are rare and take the form of gymkhanas and campdrafts, women hardly take time out to invest in themselves. During droughts, the pressures are so great that social events are neglected in favour of survival of stock and life. This paper reports on a participatory action research project exploring the value of a community development approach to drought. The community-­‐driven event for women discussed in this paper is shown to help build strong remote communities, contributing not only to improved social and emotional wellbeing, but also to a strong and healthy landscape in which rural and remote communities reside.

The Channel Country is a region in the south west corner of Queensland. ). Initiated in 2012, the Channel Country Ladies Day brings women together from across remote western Queensland, the Far North of South Australia, and northern New South Wales (NSW) each October to inspire, empower and celebrate women of the Outback. In a familiar and comfortable setting within this remote region, the shared bonding of station women and remote town women who call the Channel Country home is at the heart of the event (Cock, 2007).

This project employs qualitative research to examine the reach and impact of the Channel Country Ladies Day on the lives of women in remote outback Australia. Participatory Action Research (PAR) was utilised.