Selena Gomersall

Founder and CEO of Outback Futures

“There’s something so special about working with outback Queenslanders,” says Selena Gomersall. “They have a realness and honesty that’s refreshing and infectious.”

Yet when the Brisbane-based psychologist was invited to work with families in the remote Far North of the state, she saw a need for mental health support that addressed “the unique joys and challenges” of rural communities. “Many of the adults out there have disengaged from service provision and help-seeking,” she explains. “They’ve got no expectation of quality help or change.”

From those first visits in 2011, Outback Futures was born. “We invest in making trusted relationships and working with the community to support their vision, rather than being a service provider peddling a city-based approach,” she says. “There’s not much point working with one person unless we’re working to shift that culture and support the community that surrounds that individual.”

Describing the challenges facing her clients as “the perfect storm of issues”, including isolation, drought and inconsistent service provision, Gomersall says she’s seen the stigma around mental wellbeing changing slowly. “There are some long-held traditions in the bush around toughing it out and pushing through the hard times,” she explains. “It’s changing but we have a long way to go.”

Outback Futures now reaches about nine regions across Queensland and, according to Gomersall, “there are communities we have been in for a number of years where we’re seeing massive shifts... For me the three key words are loving, listening and learning.”

Travis Garone

Co-founder of Movember

What sparked Movember?

My co-founder, Luke, and I were talking about a guy we knew in the Melbourne skateboarding scene who had this giant moustache and one thing led to another. Like the MS Readathon, where you do something and get sponsored for it, we thought, “Growing a moustache – how long do you think we need?” My birthday is at the end of November so I said let’s do it for the month and raise money. Luke said, “No worries, we’ll call it Movember.” And that was the nucleus of the idea.

How did you approach encouraging men to talk about health issues, such as prostate and testicular cancers?

I wanted Movember to be legit, honest and cool – for it to look

Photograph by Shamil Tanna no different from the brands I aspired to. But instead of our brand making sneakers, our product would be men’s health. From day one, all Luke and I cared about was starting conversations. Raising money was almost a by-product.

How does it feel, 17 years later, to be an official charitable event in 20 countries and have raised more than $1 billion?

If we’d known what we were embarking on we’d never have done it. I don’t think I realise how big it is. I just know the importance of the impact we’re making.

What’s next?

We’re placing a big emphasis on mental health and digital telehealth and, at the moment, the best ways to support men affected by the pandemic. By 2030 we’re hoping to reduce the number of men dying prematurely by 25 per cent and we’re on our way to doing that.

On releasing a book called during a pandemic

When I first submitted the manuscript, we’d had bushfires so I revised it. Then the pandemic hit so I revised it again. And I had a second baby as well. It’s a weird time to be talking about happiness – in the midst of the crazy year that 2020 has been – but I actually think there’s never been a better time for it. The book looks at finding happiness, light and joy in our everyday lives, reflecting on the things we are grateful for and can savour.

On overcoming hard times

Whenever I found myself ruminating on what happened to me, I chose to put my energy into my rehab and creating a great life for myself. It was a similar thing with the recent bushfires – we had fires burning to the north, south and west of us and we were trapped in our town [in

NSW]. Having been burned [Pitt was trapped by a fire during an ultramarathon in 2011], I was terrified. So I thought about where my energy was – it was all about how it was affecting me. As soon as I flicked that switch and thought, “How can I use this time to be of service?”, almost instantly the fear, terror and anxiety were gone. [Pitt launched online initiative Spend With Them to support affected communities.] The ability to shift focus has been key to my recovery.

On humour

My family thinks they’re funnier than me. I’m like, “Look at all the people who laugh at my comments on Instagram! I’m clearly the funniest.” When I was in hospital my mum said, “A day without laughter is a day wasted.” It’s so important to laugh, even in hard times. Life is made up of these moments of happy and sad, good and bad; they’re all part of it.

Miranda Tapsell

Writer, actor, producer, podcaster and Larrakia Tiwi woman

On drive

Wanting conversations in this country to advance is what drives me. And if I can contribute to those conversations being less stagnant, that fulfils me. What I loved about Debutante [Tapsell’s 2020 podcast with Nakkiah Lui] was that people started to see the Black and Brown women we interviewed as the same as everyone else and that they deserved equality. It’s about breaking the circles that we find ourselves talking in. I just want to be able to make things better for Aboriginal people who come after me.

On Nakkiah

There’s nothing more special than finding a working relationship where very little needs to be said; you can read each other so well. Nakkiah makes me feel bolder, more comfortable in my skin. She isn’t scared to speak up and say what she feels is right. I’m inspired by that. She’s a wonderful friend.

On creating

A lot of things have changed for artists. We have to think outside the box, draw upon new skills and new forms of storytelling. My careers advisor in high school told me, “You need to think of a Plan B.” But I went straight into drama school then into the acting world and I never looked back. I do have to have things on the side ready to go… People forget that the reason why Charlize Theron, Margot Robbie, Nicole Kidman and Cate Blanchett got so good was they were able to nab really interesting female roles. I can either wait for the phone to ring or I can make those roles myself.

Photograph by Johnny Diaz Nicolaidis

When you opened Brae in 2013, regional dining wasn’t as common or popular as it is today. What made you think it would work?

I worked in Spain for four years and in Dunkeld [Victoria] for six years and a lot of my most enjoyable restaurant experiences have been outside cities. With Brae I wanted to offer something different to the saturation we’re at – we have too many restaurants and bars for our population and average ones go by the wayside very quickly. Creating an experience where you’re not being hurried, a group of people is being nice to you and the food is clean, delicious and satisfying is really all we aim for.

What’s the Brae philosophy?

The restaurant is environmentally friendly and connected to its place. It’s a transparent business, down to the fact you can walk around the whole property, there’s nothing hidden. You can look through windows in the shed; you can see the kitchen from the dining room. We have a traceable food source and celebrate our local producers and farmers – our friends.

How do you hope your guests feel when they leave?

We always say that Brae’s a celebration restaurant. People often spend five hours here if they take the time to go walking and hang about for the afternoon. For me the beauty of cooking in a restaurant scenario is providing the same aspects of care and detail as I would in my own home.

COVID-19 has had a disastrous impact on the hospitality industry. Has your location outside of Melbourne been something of a blessing?

I don’t recall another moment that’s been more difficult than this. We employ 30-ish people, we’re in a small community that’s probably had some economic development because of our existence and we’re very much connected to that community.

It’s a stretching time. When Melbourne reopened for a short period we were flooded with reservations again, which suggests people still want personal experiences but not in large volumes. We’re hopeful that’s going to be a positive for us.

Michelangelo Wegner

Chiropractor

A daily tally that only climbs higher may not seem like something that could lift spirits these days but in Randwick, in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, there’s an exception. On the shopfront of his practice, Elite Chiropractic, owner Michelangelo Wegner is tracking how many treatments he has performed free or at a reduced cost for essential workers and people experiencing financial hardship since the start of the pandemic. As of early September, that number sat at more than 1100.

“At the beginning of this I thought, ‘What is our role as chiropractors? How are we going to support people?’ And I decided I was going to make myself accessible to anyone who wants it – frontline health workers, triplezero responders, teachers,” says Wegner. “Then I thought about everybody who’s lost a job or had their hours shortened; they shouldn’t miss out. That’s why we’ve also got a pay-what-you-can policy.”

Wegner is driven by a simple belief. “Health does not take a break,” he says. “People’s need to have a fully functioning body does not stop.” The past few months have shown him “the pleasure of supporting a community”.

His pay-it-forward vision has been emulated by some of his clients. “There are people who come in for their own treatments and they’ll pay for one or two sessions for someone else. I like to get back to them [to tell them a little about the person they’ve helped].

“It’s important for people to appreciate that the money has provided a service for somebody who can now give a service to the rest of society. This has taught me that we really do try to pull together and that’s fantastic.”