Gerry Georgatos

Researcher and social justice advocate

• Born: 1962
• Birthplace: Homebush, Australia

Significance: Gerry Georgatos is a researcher with a strong focus on the causes, prevalence, and prevention of suicide, especially in children and Australia’s Indigenous and homeless people. He has also done work in childhood abuse and campaigns for social justice for marginalized and underserved populations, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the homeless, and children, with an emphasis on the populations where these groups intersect.

Background

Gerry Georgatos was born in Sydney, Australia, in 1962. He was the eldest of six children born to Greek immigrant parents from Kefalonia, one of the islands in the Ionian Sea. His father worked in an automobile factory and his mother was a seamstress, and both were very active in promoting Greek culture and their Christian religion in their community. One of their endeavors was a school to teach the Greek language, which they began in their home before moving it to a local school.

As a boy of eleven, Georgatos often served as an interpreter for Greek-speaking neighbors. Many were sick with mesothelioma, a fatal cancer caused by asbestos exposure, and they faced challenges as they navigated the health care system. Georgatos became an advocate for them, the first of many groups he would champion in his lifetime.

Georgatos backed up the informal education he received from personal experience with several university degrees. He has three bachelor’s degrees in philosophy, media, and Australian Indigenous Studies. He has two master’s degrees, one in social justice advocacy from Murdoch University and one in human rights from Curtin University, as well as a graduate certificate in human rights education from Curtin University.

In 2019, Georgatos was diagnosed with Parkinson’s disease. This incurable, degenerative central nervous system disorder causes tremors and involuntary movements, among other symptoms. While the disease slowed his movements, Georgatos stated he would not let it stop his work.

Life’s Work

Much of Georgatos’s work is centered on his career as a researcher. He’s conducted research with the University of Western Australia, with a strong concentration in social justice concerns. His main area of focus has been Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander populations. He worked for a time in management before leaving that in 2011 to become a journalist,

Georgatos spent three years following an inner calling to do investigative journalism without being paid. He contributed articles to publications including The National Indigenous Times and The National Indigenous Radio Service, earning seven awards for his work. Many of his articles focused on conditions in Australian prisons and the rate at which the country’s Indigenous population was incarcerated. He also investigated issues such as child sexual abuse, which he experienced at age nine at the hands of a teacher. Georgatos also completed several investigative reports into issues associated with homelessness, asylum seekers, challenges faced by former inmates, drug-related issues, and racism and discrimination. In addition to uncovering the issues he investigated, Georgatos also became involved in efforts to combat the problems. For example, while visiting an adult prison he realized several inmates were underage Indonesian boys. Georgatos launched a successful campaign to have them released.

Many of his efforts centered around suicide prevention, especially among Indigenous Australians. After discovering that one in twelve Aboriginal deaths was a suicide, Georgatos became invested in combating the circumstances that lead to this. He wrote hundreds of articles and traveled across the continent to assist people who attempted or were affected by suicide. Georgatos also became a key factor in the establishment of National Indigenous Critical Response Service and of the National Child Sexual Abuse Trauma Recovery Project and served as both organizations’ national coordinator.

In 2019, he left these roles to find the National Suicide Prevention and Trauma Recovery Project (NSPTRP), an all-volunteer organization that has assisted tens of thousands of people affected by suicide. Georgatos self-funded the project before turning to fundraising to increase its reach. Georgatos is known for personally traveling to visit and assist those who have attempted suicide, especially children. He has written and spoken to draw attention to the startling rate at which even children as young as six have attempted or committed suicide. Much of his focus has been on addressing the conditions that contribute to this, especially extreme poverty, discrimination, low levels of education, a family history of suicide, and the impact social media has on elevating awareness of suicide.

In addition to these efforts, Georgatos has forayed into politics. He began in 2009 with a failed bid as a Greens candidate and later as an independent candidate for the Willagee seat in the Western Australian Legislative Assembly. In 2013, he ran for a Western Australian Senate seat as the endorsed Wikileaks candidate but alienated some in the party over his use of Australia’s preferential voting system. He ended a 2014 special election bid for a Senate seat, citing personal reasons.

Impact

Through his research, writing, and advocacy, Georgatos brought attention and awareness to several social justice issues, especially suicide among Australia’s Indigenous and homeless populations. He helped institute programs to combat these issues, including the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Evaluation Project, the National Indigenous Critical Response Service, and the National Suicide Prevention and Trauma Recovery Project. His investigative journalism projects that accompanied this work have received several multicultural journalism awards, including the Coverage of Indigenous Affairs and Investigative Reporting / Writing awards, and was named Journalist of the Year at the 2013 Multicultural and Indigenous Media Awards. Although his working and writing style have been criticized as abrasive and confrontational, Georgatos’s efforts have made a positive impact on those affected by suicide, on the conditions in prisons, for those who have suffered abuse, and for the marginalized homeless, Aboriginal and Torres Strait populations of Australia.

Bibliography

Gerry Georgatos, www.gerrygeorgatos.com.au/bio/. Accessed 3 July 2023.

“Gerry Georgatos.” Independent Australia, independentaustralia.net/profile-on/gerry-georgatos,205. Accessed 3 July 2023.

“Gerry Georgatos.” Stringer, 19 Feb. 2013, thestringer.com.au/gerry-georgatos-contributing-editor-and-journalist-480. Accessed 3 July 2023.

Georgatos, Gerry. “Child Sexual Abuse: One Man’s Story of Trauma and Transformation.” Independent Australia, 7 Aug. 2022, independentaustralia.net/life/life-display/child-sexual-abuse-one-mans-story-of-trauma-and-transformation,16632. Accessed 3 July 2023.

Georgatos, Gerry. “Gerry Georgatos: Parkinson’s Diagnosis Has Me Counting My Blessings.” West Australian, 29 July 2022, thewest.com.au/opinion/gerry-georgatos-parkinsons-diagnosis-has-me-counting-my-blessings-c-7681846. Accessed 3 July 2023.

“Kafedaki with Gerry Georgatos.” Greek City Times, 3 Aug. 2016, greekcitytimes.com/2016/08/03/kafedaki-with-gerry-georgatos/. Accessed 3 July 2023.

Raphael, Angie. “WA Family Demands Answers After 11-Year-Old Girl Takes Her Own Life.” News.com.au, 21 Oct. 2020, www.news.com.au/national/western-australia/wa-family-demands-answers-after-11yearold-girl-takes-her-own-life/news-story/40a0f7f8008f1dce1ecb03ec8ef501b0. Accessed 3 July 2023.

Volunteer Suicide Prevention and Trauma Recovery Project, chuffed.org/project/volunteer-suicide-prevention-and-trauma-recovery-project. Accessed 3 July 2023.