Canberra public servant Rowena Smith,  joined five other women from across Australia in the All Women Simpson Desert Crossing on Motorbikes ride in August for a five-day fundraiser for the anti-bullying organisation Dolly’s Dream.

“Being a mum of two girls, I have seen, even in Canberra, the effects of what bullying does, […] and in many schools, it is rife,” says Rowena, who is in her 50s.

“And, unfortunately, teachers and parents are the last to know that this is actually happening. 

“We need to do as much as we can to help, and to encourage those that are being bullied to reach out and ask for support. 

“Another reason that I wanted to support it, was just to bring awareness that we can do this, sometimes it takes courage for children to actually reach out.”

The group had been raising funds for four years before the August ride, reaching a total of $100,000, says Rowena.

In May, the Australian Council for Educational Research (Acer) released a report that revealed Australian students’ exposure to bullying was higher than all comparison OECD countries, except Latvia. 

It says one in six students surveyed in Australia had been made fun of, one in 10 had experienced rumours being spread about them, and six per cent reported being physically hit or pushed.

This is compounded by constant access to social media, with the 2020 headspace National Youth Mental Health Survey finding about half of those surveyed, 51 per cent, had experienced cyberbullying. 

This is a major public health concern, with Public Health Association Australia noting cyberbullying as the cause of at least three suicides a week in young people.

It is for these reasons that Dolly’s Dream aims to raise awareness about bullying for all young Australians, but is particularly focused on the mental health and wellbeing of those in the outback, who often face extreme social isolation and often face cyber bullying.

Rowena says they also raised $1000 during the ride itself, with donors from affected, rural communities wanting to contribute to raising awareness.

“One of the really nice things [was] when we were at the communities, in the pubs and things like that, the amount of people from the outback that came in to greet us and talk to us was really nice,” she says.

“Some were telling us about their experiences, and the isolation aspects, especially for kids, and the need for money and the need for awareness… how it can provide education, organising events, getting together once a year just to socialise. 

“The stations are hundreds and hundreds of kilometres big, and they don’t see anyone, these kids are isolated, they don’t see anyone.”

Rowena says she had always heard about how isolating the outback can be, but it wasn’t until she actually rode through it that it really sunk in.

“Once we got to Birdsville, we had crossed the last dune that we had to do, which was called Big Red and it’s like 50 metres high and the platform is hundreds of square metres in size, […] and we rode into Birdsville which is a very remote area, and there were things we noticed, like there’s no access really to fresh fruit or, fresh produce, and that does also affect their lifestyle,” she says.

“It is a very, or can be, a very harsh lifestyle, especially in drought when they have that.”

All six women had off-road dirt bikes, mostly lighter Yamahas that are easier to manoeuvre through sand, but that didn’t make the journey too much easier.

Even with the assistance of a support crew that carried some gear for them, Rowena says the conditions were “really brutal”.

“It was really hard, but at the end of the day, you have to remember that, yes, we haven’t had a shower for five days, but that’s alright, we still keep going because there’s a lot of people a lot worse off than that,” she says.

“And if it meant that we could do this, to actually raise awareness and to actually give back to the community… It was a great thing.

Donate at dollysdream.org.au