Message Stick

The message stick has been placed on display in the Aboriginal People’s Gallery within Parliament House, in recognition of the cultural importance to the Parliament of the voice of the Beagle Bay community in speaking up about Aboriginal suicide.

Members of the public are able to see the message stick by joining a public tour of the Parliament.

The message stick is a form of communication between groups of Aboriginal people across Australia and used to pass on information such as announcements of ceremonies, meetings, warnings, disputes and events with all messages painted and inscribed on a stick and carried by one messenger.

The elders grant the messenger safe passage to travel through other nation’s territories to deliver a message to their people or to spread it further beyond their land.

Crafted from a Kimberley medicine tree, this message stick is known as ‘The Baton of Life’ and was historically presented to the Parliament of Western Australia in 2013.

The message contained within the markings symbolises profound loss by the families of Beagle Bay, who have been touched by suicide.

Nine of the lines represent a family who has felt the devastation of losing a family member, whilst the tenth represents all of the people of the Kimberley. The sun symbolises the giver of life and hope for the future.

The Beagle Bay community presented it to member for Kimberley, Josie Farrer, at a March for Life on 17 September 2013. Ms Farrer was asked by the community to carry the message stick and accompanying petition to State Parliament.

It is hoped that this powerful symbol will convey the need for better approaches, greater supports and a pathway to healing.

Josie presented the petition and message stick to Parliament on 23 October 2013. The petition, signed by six people from the Beagle Bay community, asked for the Parliament of Western Australia to ‘take immediate and effective action to address this tragic loss of life in the Kimberley’.

In presenting the petition and message stick, Josie said, ‘this baton tells a very sad story but, hopefully, with the symbol of the sun, the giver of life, it will give hope to members of the family in understanding why they have lost loved ones’. Read the petition.

On 16 March 2016, Josie Farrer moved a motion for a parliamentary inquiry to determine
‘what more can be done to halt the worrying number of youth suicides amongst Aboriginal youth in Western Australia, particularly in remote communities, and to determine what resources have been set aside to tackle this crucial issue facing our state’.

The Education and Health Standing Committee inquiry report 'Learning from the Message Stick - The Report of the Inquiry into Aboriginal youth suicide in remote areas' was tabled along with the Message Stick by the Committee Chair, Dr Graham Jacobs, MLA on 17 November 2016. The report recommended options to reduce suicide rates and improve the quality of life for remote communities like, Beagle Bay.

In tabling the report, Dr Jacobs said –
The message stick has been described as ‘the baton of life’ in the hope that it will encourage better approaches to suicide prevention, and I table it today … in recognition of the Aboriginal voices that contributed to the committee’s work.