Feature articles from across remote Australia
BushTV’s Writing section is home to essays, reflections, opinion pieces, documentary writing and long-form storytelling from across the community.
Many pieces are written by BushTV. Others emerge through our Documentary Mentorship program, where participants develop their voice, explore ideas and learn the craft and responsibility of storytelling. We also welcome contributions from Indigenous and non-Indigenous writers whose work aligns with our values.
This is a place for thoughtful writing rather than fast commentary.
A place for stories that carry depth, curiosity and care.
A place for writers exploring questions of Country, culture, identity, truth-telling, leadership, community, ethics and social change.
Some pieces begin as personal reflections. Others grow from documentary projects, research, community work or lived experience. Together they form an evolving collection of voices and perspectives connected by a shared commitment to respectful storytelling.
Whether you are an experienced writer, a Documentary Mentorship participant, a community leader, researcher or practitioner, we welcome thoughtful contributions that add meaningfully to the conversation.
If you have an article, essay or story you would like considered for publication across BushTV platforms, please contact Tom.
Indigenous and non-Indigenous writers welcome.
Aunty Judy is the founder and Patron of We Al-li and the author of Trauma Trails: Recreating Song Lines, a book that has been particularly important to me. Judy's work asks us to understand trauma not as something that begins with one person or one
There are some films that stay with you long after they are made. Song Medicine is one of those films for me, perhaps because the journey that led to it was personal long before I picked up a camera.
When people are able to tell their own stories, in their own voices, about the things that matter to them, they're not simply being represented in someone else's communications. They're part of shaping the conversation themselves.
Across the northern coast of Australia, turtles have travelled the same ocean highways for thousands of years. Long before maps, marine parks or conservation plans, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples understood these migrations, cared for nesting beaches and developed cultural laws that ensured turtles
As the clouds gather and the first storms announce the arrival of Onyjon, the wet season, the Country begins to change. Waterholes fill, the forests come alive and the bark of the Ug athar, the messmate tree, begins to loosen. For generations, these were the
For tens of thousands of years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have cared for Country through knowledge, responsibility and deep cultural connection. Today, that ancient tradition continues through Indigenous Protected Areas (IPAs), one of Australia's most remarkable conservation partnerships. Spanning more than 100 million hectares
The book, Geigi, the Stubborn Boy, is a retelling of a traditional Meriam story from Mer in the eastern Torres Strait. Michael wrote the story, Elliot created the illustrations, and together they have produced something that is both deeply personal and deeply cultural. Their hope
There are places in Australia where family and domestic violence is not simply a statistic. It is woven into everyday life, affecting mothers, children, grandparents and entire communities. The violence itself is devastating, but it rarely exists in isolation. It is often intertwined with poverty,
Mclean should have been sitting beside his brothers and sisters. Instead, his photograph watches over the wedding ceremony. Today, his parents are finally marrying after twenty-seven years together. Only weeks earlier, Mclean died by suicide. Yet here stands Tony beside Lynice, choosing love
Over the past 20 years, I've been fortunate to meet some extraordinary people through BushTV. Some are loud, charismatic leaders. Others rarely seek attention at all. Uncle Viv was one of the latter.