THE TESTIMONIES
Facing the Numbers is driven by the belief that people with lived experience are best placed to design solutions to the problems they face.
The filmmakers behind Facing the Numbers have taken time to build strong, long-term relationships with the storytellers in the series — grounded in care and reciprocity.
We have recorded long-form audio interviews with each storyteller. These personal testimonies are paired with emotive and cinematic portraits, reenactments of memories and reflections, and abstract and experimental visuals. We have deliberately omitted scenes of explicit violence against First Nations bodies. We take this approach to both limit further harm to First Nations viewers, and in recognition of the role such images play in desensitising audiences.
MORE STORIES
In addition to these testimonies, we’re also exploring the following themes for further stories:
THE SCHOOL-TO-PRISON PIPELINE
In Australia, First Nations students are disproportionately impacted by school exclusion, suspension and expulsion. Schools across this continent and surrounding islands are not equipped to back First Nations agency and leadership, and centre the care needed to keep students engaged in school. Research indicates a growing school-to-prison pipeline, where education needs to be a core area in driving justice in our communities.
OUT-OF-HOME CARE AND YOUTH DETENTION
There is an overrepresentation of First Nations young people in out-of-home care. 42.8 per cent of children aged 0-17 years old in out-of-home care were Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander – an increase of 2.8 per cent since 2019. There are extreme impacts for young people who are taken from their kinship carers, with out-of-home care being a key driver in the pipeline towards youth detention and ongoing cycles of incarceration
SYSTEMIC RACISM IN HEALTHCARE
First Nations people often have very different experiences of healthcare in Australia than non-Indigenous people. The current healthcare system is founded on colonial ideas and standards, and does not prioritise cultural safety for First Nations people and other marginalised groups.