It’s that time of year, the social norms of expectation for festive celebrations, generosity and decadence, on the back of exhaustion of the closing of the working year, and another year of housing and economic pressure.
It’s a complex time of year, and I have noticed we are shifting away from wishing friends and family a merry and bright season, to a safe season.
As I child, I remember hearing this on network television commercials in reference to ever increasing road tolls.
Safety on the roads continues to be an important message at this time, the cocktail of human emotions, stress, alcohol, family dynamics and travel to be with loved ones is a recipe for disaster, so yes, do take care on the roads.
Safety defined
The reminder to have a safe season has a much deeper application than the roads.
So what is safety, the Oxford Dictionary defines safety as ‘freedom from danger and risks of injury’, a significant freedom indeed.
Safety is a fundamental human need, understood as the second tier in Abraham Maslow’s ‘Hierarchy of Needs’, safety essential for survival and wellbeing after basic physiological needs are met.
Safety encompasses physical safety, financial security, health, and a sense of order and predictability, crucial for preventing anxiety and fostering human flourishing.
Economic, social and political systems globally have not fostered a sense of human safety but for the elite rich. Complex social and health systems continue to be developed in Australia to address the lack of safety that is the result.
This lack of safety is a major driver of mental illness such as anxiety, phobia, depression, and PTSD. (source: pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/).
Trauma is a rupture, physical or psychological damage in relationship with self, community or Country (environment).
The repair to trauma is the restoration of safety.
Safety is required to heal, so how are we building safety as a nation or community?
Safety is a human right, enshrined in the United Nations Declaration of Human Rights.
According to the Australian Human Rights Commission, ‘We all have a right to feel safe and respected. We all have a right to live our lives free from violence’.
Violence, harassment and bullying can violate the right to safety and impact on other rights, such as the right to education and the right to health.
Violence, harassment and bullying undermine safety as a need, and a right, and affect wellbeing and quality of life.
Racism, sexism and homophobia are patterns of violence and bullying based on bias that further impact safety in compounded and complex ways.
Increasing systemic pressures are driving violence and for many of us there is no safe place.
For those of us lucky enough to have a home there is some guarantee of safety, even from those that we love most.
Australian 2025 data from the Australia Institute of Health and Welfare research and ABS raises concern with family, domestic, and sexual violence (FDSV), showing high rates of intimate partner violence (21 per cent of adults experienced partner abuse), significant child protection involvement (emotional abuse/family violence common), and concerning trends like increasing male perpetration of intimate partner violence.
The statistics are horrendous and they are concerning because significant FDSV goes unreported, unsupported and unhealed.
The most alarming of these data sets are around perpetrator trends.
‘A decade-long study indicates over one in three Australian males have used intimate partner violence, with an increasing number using violence for the first time annually’ – AIHW June 2025 (source: www.aihw.gov.au/family-domestic-and-sexual-violence).
Distractions and disconnections
Clearly society is going backwards.
With increasing technology, and luxury, there is also increased distraction from the extreme pressure and disconnect in our communities and families.
We have lost our responsibility to each other and ourselves.
Safety is critical to the healing of all victims of violence, and an essential ingredient to peace.
Safety is more complex than the human experience. How do we as humans experience safety when there is no safety on Country? Increasingly at this time of year on Bundjalung Country ‘Moogerahmbu – Storm Season’ has brought extreme weather impacting our collective safety and the safety of all species on Country.
Patterns of weather that have existed for thousands of years, undermined by the impacts of climate change from global capitalism, are changing and we are seeing violent results.
Safety of Country
In November 2025, thunder, so loud and close to the Earth, shook the walls of my Besser block house and my body shook with it.
Without safety of Country our experience of safety is undermined. Restoring safety to the Earth must be the highest priority for society.
For the current season though, you can bring safety to all you touch through kindness, patience and acceptance.
Give the gift of grace and understanding to those who cause frustration, pause and reflect on your words to truly give kindness in your words and actions.
And please, have a safe season.
For four decades The Echo has printed the stories some people loved, some people hated, and some pretended not to read. If you want us to keep telling the truth, the real truth, not the sugar-coated version. We’ll need your support to keep the presses rolling. 
