This paper is a part of a larger ARC Linkage project, with the Telstra Foundation, that examines the immediate and longer-term impacts of selected Indigenous festivals on community wellbeing. In recent years wellbeing is a concept that has gained salience and urgency, indeed it has become standard currency in economic and political models of welfare and development. Concerns have been expressed about the indicators of wellbeing and the lack of recongnition that notions of health and wellbeing and socio-economic inclusion and exclusion are culturally constructed. The Globalism Research Centre's previous research on wellbeing in Victoria concluded that social inclusion is a crucial wellbeing factor, and that public celebrations and festivals are one way social policy-makers can support social inclusion. The current project focuses on Indigenous festivals and examines if and how they make a difference to the wellbeing of Indigenous young people and their communities. This seminar will present the preliminary findings of the research, and in so doing, will examine the discourse of wellbeing, and ask what role do these social spaces play in supporting or enabling wellbeing and what might festivals tell us about what makes for a 'good life'?

Please note: This seminar is available in both Streaming Audio and MP3 formats.