Better access to traditional lands was a major focus at New South Wales Health's annual Aboriginal mental health and wellbeing forum.
More than 160 mental health professionals journeyed to the Far West New South Wales city of Broken Hill to share resources, knowledge and celebrate each other's achievements.
Local Aboriginal mental health clinical leader Desley McKellar said having people on the ground and going on country was critical to the summit's success.
"We can get so lost in presentations we can forget the cultural side of this work," she said.
"Usually, it's a two-day sit together in a room, but this time we spent a day doing a cultural walk at Mutawintj."
The theme of the forum this year was "tune in to country".
The focus was on the importance of access to traditional lands to the mental health of Indigenous people.
Ms McKellar said many cultural practices were innately good for mental health.
"When life becomes overwhelming I try to go back home, because I know those times on country is what's needed to try and get back on track," she said.
"I always go to the river, I put my feet in the water, I visit elders at the cemetery."
Ms McKellar also pointed out that when the land was struggling so were the people living on it.
"It's like the Baaka (Darling river) when it ran dry," she said.
"It's like your spirit becomes sick because it was such a huge part of our lives growing up."
Ms McKellar said there was a slow growing recognition in the mental health field of the role of country and culture.
"I think there's room for improvement, but we're stepping in the right direction," she said.
Broken Hill is the most remote location the forum has been hosted in its 21 years of existence.
Ms McKellar said it was useful to be able to demonstrate the impact of access to country at this year's forum.
"Usually it's in city areas, but this time we could go on a cultural walk," she said.
"It was good for non-Indigenous workers to see that — I think insight was given."
