OUR PARTNERS
Thanks to the vision and support of our extraordinary partners and private donors ...
we’ve grown to become a national charity that is saving the lives of rural and remote Australians.
Sober in the Country is not state or federally fund and our entire charity and body of work exists thanks entirely to our philanthropic funders, corporate and private donors. We can never adequately express the enormity of our gratitude to those who support us and allow us to simply roll our sleeves up and get to work, bringing much-needed awareness, education and social change to rural Australians.
We are grateful also to those who partner with us to spread our message and/or bring vital services and programs to rural and remote Australians.
We work closely, intentionally and collaboratively with many exceptional alcohol awareness organisations and foundations – aligned with our values and mission – all over Australia.
Sober in the Country isn’t here to reinvent the wheel but rather – as we like to say – recalibrate the wheel for bush conditions.
There is only so much we can do alone, but through relationships with other organisations, we have been able to expand our reach and help more people affected by alcohol harm reach information, help, and/or support. For example, Sober in the Country and the Clean Slate Clinic have collaboratively delivered more than 100 Bush Telehealth Detoxes to rural and remote Australians since 2021.
Our city and coastal sister AOD organisations and not-for-profits in the mental health space regularly call on Sober in the Country to add our expert, lived-experience '“bush voice” to their panels and workshops, and we are regularly invited to industry conferences, information sessions, and more to contribute our rural perspective and knowledge.
FARE (The Foundation for Alcohol Research and Education)
FARE is the leading not-for-profit organisation working towards an Australia free from alcohol harm. They work together with local communities, like-minded organisations, health professionals and researchers all around Australia with the aim of improving the health and well-being of every Australian.
Sober in the Country has been working with FARE since 2018. We've collaborated many times on in-person and online awareness sessions, training sessions, campaigns and advocacy by contributing our unique rural perspective and knowledge.
We’ve also worked with FARE in the pursuit of government policy change by sharing data, through sessions in Parliament and by creating petitions.
FARE Australia is proud to work alongside Sober in the Country. The work they are doing is vital and addresses the significant inequities that exist in high-risk alcohol use and alcohol harm among people living in country areas of Australia. By creating a network of humans who are looking to stop or cut back on their own drinking, Sober in the Country is contributing to overcoming the significant stigma that exists around alcohol and is such a barrier to those reaching out for help.
Caterina George, CEO – FARE Australia
Clean Slate Clinic
Clean Slate Clinic is a social enterprise with the mission of improving the health of individuals affected by alcohol harm. Clean Slate Clinic aim to make their alcohol detox and recovery services accessible to all Australians who require them by offering safe detox programs that can be undertaken from home, regardless of the location or financial situation of the individual in need.
Sober in the Country and Clean Slate Clinic formed an official partnership in 2022 through which we sought to support rural and remote Australians by:
- increasing awareness of the impact of addiction
- increasing access to peer support, withdrawal (detox) and recovery services, and
- reducing the (geographic and social) barriers to accessing support via digital technologies.
As part of this partnership, we sought government-funded placements for Bush Telehealth Detoxes to ensure rural and remote people requiring detoxes can access them affordably or for free from their own homes. To date, we have collaboratively delivered more than 100 Bush Telehealth Detoxes to rural and remote Australians affected by alcohol harm.
We will continue to work together with Clean Slate Clinic with the shared aims of ensuring rural and remote Australians receive equal support to that available to their city peers and reaching all individuals affected by alcohol harm.
Put simply, Clean Slate Clinic would not have the impact we’re having in regional and remote Australia without our critical partnership with Sober in the Country. Their tireless leadership and efforts to raise awareness about the need for better treatment and support for Australians in the bush has already resulted in more funding and better access to treatment, and their relentless and inclusive message that it’s #OK2SAYNO is changing the culture of booze in the bush and transforming lives.
Pia Clinton-Tarestad, Co-founder & CEO – Clean Slate Clinic
SMART Recovery Australia
SMART Recovery Australia offers free, inclusive and accessible services and evidence-based, self-empowering practical support to help people all around Australia living with additive behaviours through their recovery journeys. Their addiction-recovery support is based on CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) and supports participants to develop a toolbox of coping strategies and skills.
Sober in the Country has partnered with SMART Recovery Australia since 2020, and we refer many of our Bush Tribe peer support group members to their program.
SMART Recovery is proud to partner with Sober in the Country to ensure the voices of people from the bush are centred in recovery conversations and service delivery.
April Long, CEO – SMART Recovery
Rethink Addiction (campaign launched by Turning Point)
Rethink Addiction is an independent campaign committed to shifting Australia’s attitude and approach to addiction in order to break down the barriers to seeking support that stigma and misinformation cause. Rethink Addiction is a collaborative industry effort to literally “rethink” addiction by providing evidence-based information and resources and connecting people living with addiction to support.
Sober in the Country has collaborated with Rethink Addiction since their inception, sharing our knowledge, data and rural perspective. Our founder and CEO, Shanna Whan, was the opening keynote speaker at Rethink Addiction’s national convention in Canberra in 2022 and she was also invited to attend their sold-out Melbourne Conference in 2020.
Sober in the Country, led by the amazing Shanna Whan, has changed the lives of countless rural Australians by providing support, hope and connection, and letting the community know that it is #OK2SAYNO. The Rethink Addiction campaign was established to address stigma, through empowering Australians to tell the real stories of addiction. Sober in the Country has been a key partner in ensuring the rural voice is heard loud and clear across the nation.
Dan Lubman, Director – Turning Point
The Alcohol and Drug Foundation (ADF)
The ADF is a fully government-funded organisation driven by a shared vision: to inspire positive change and implement evidence-based, empathetic programs to minimise alcohol and drug harm and cultivate safe, healthy and resilient communities.
Sober in the Country has partnered with the ADF on numerous projects, petitions, and conferences. We also ensure we are available, when requested, to add our “rural expert” knowledge to their initiatives.
The Alcohol and Drug Foundation salutes the work and dedication of the Sober in the Country team. Sober in the Country is an important ally in our efforts to ensure Australian lives are unlimited by alcohol and other drugs. They are effective at taking their message – and support – into the hard-to-reach corners of rural Australia, and the team has been generous in sharing lived experience insights to help hone our educational and promotional efforts.
Dr Erin Lalor, CEO – The Alcohol and Drug Foundation
TIACS
TIACS is a free mental health counselling service for tradies, truckies, rural and blue collar workers. After successfully launching their social enterprise workwear company TradeMutt, founders Ed and Dan saw a great need to remove the barriers that prevent hard-working Australians from accessing professional mental health counselling. TIACS removes the physical and financial barriers to accessing help by providing an easy-to-use text and completely free service that links callers/texters to professional counsellors.
TIACS is proud to link arms with Sober in the Country to support rural and remote Australians. Sober in the Country is an organisation that's making a direct social impact on hardworking Australians who live and work on the land. Spreading the message to our farmers and their loved ones that it's “OK2SAYNO” (to booze) is creating real social change and having a positive impact on the health and well-being of rural Australians.
Jason Banks, Co-CEO – TIACS
Hello Sunday Morning
Hello Sunday Morning is a not-for-profit organisation that aims to change the world’s relationship with alcohol “one Sunday at a time”. They support people who wish to take a break from alcohol or cut it out completely, or sometimes just helping them understand how to have a healthy relationship with alcohol.
Hello Sunday Morning are sort of like Sober in the Country’s city cousins: where we have the Bush Tribe online support group and website to offer support for rural Australians, Hello Sunday Morning uses their funded app called “Daybreak”, that includes a recovery toolkit and an online support community as well open to people all around Australia.
Sober in the Country has worked with Hello Sunday Morning since 2017. Our founder, Shanna, was their first rural ambassador and spokesperson.
Hello Sunday Morning has developed a great partnership with Sober in the Country to support and connect people seeking to change their relationship with alcohol. Shanna Whan and her team’s dedication to affect national social change and social impact is making a significant difference by adding a rural voice and lived experience advocacy to the national conversation.
Nicole Lee, CEO – Hello Sunday Morning
Alcoholics Anonymous
Alcoholics Anonymous is a global organisation that offers free and informal meetings for people to share their experience, strength and hope with each other. Together, AA members aim to recover from alcohol addiction while helping others to also recover from alcohol addiction. AA also includes a well-known formal 12-step program: an alcohol-addiction recovery framework that aims to help self-motivated people examine their relationship with alcohol and remove alcohol from their lives. Traditionally, AA involves face-to-face meetings, which are run by volunteers. However, shortly after the COVID pandemic began, a large percentage of AA meetings shifted online.
We were invited to share the Sober in the Country message through our founder, Shanna, speaking at AA’s National Conference in 2020, where she shared insights into why online support is pivotal for those remote and rural Aussies who live in permanent “iso”.
Various not-for-profit organisations
In a collaborative role, Sober in the Country has also been involved nationally with a considerable raft of fellow rural not-for-profits in the mental health space.
One example is the National Alliance for Action on Alcohol (NAAA). Sober in the Country is a member of this coalition of over 20 health and community organisations from across Australia with the goal of working together to reduce alcohol-related harm.
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