Nick Cave has expressed his support for the crowdfunding of a suicide prevention app for indigenous people in Australia, encouraging people to “[fight] for lives of young Aboriginal people and [show] Aboriginal Australia we believe in them”.
Started by the Warlpiri community of Lajamanu in the Tanami desert, the Kurdiji 1.0 app aims to prevent suicide among indigenous communities across Australia. Suicide rates among indigenous communities are four times higher than among non-indigenous people, with an average of three aboriginal people a week dying from suicide.
Originating with the Milpirri festival in Lajamanu in 2005, the elders of the community aimed to share the message of ‘Kurdiji’ among the young people as a way preventing suicide using the messages of ceremony, stories and traditional law. Expanding the concept of ‘Kurdiji’ on a digital platform is the next step for its founders.
The app is described as “a community-led and community empowering initiative, with indigenous elders providing all of the app’s content. They have partnered with an expert team to develop the app and roll it out across the whole of Aboriginal Australia.”
Speaking of his support for the initiative, Cave said: “With Aboriginal people committing suicide on an unprecedented scale, a group of elders are creating an app based on ceremony story and law. Join them in fighting for lives of young Aboriginal people and let’s show Aboriginal Australia we believe in them.”
