BEING a full-time mum and juggling the management of Glen Avon station, Sal Bradford knows first hand how demanding rural life can be.
Alongside her husband Mic k, Mrs Bradford runs a mixture of breeds and dry cattle (predominately Santa Gertrudes) at the Mt Coolon property they manage.
After discussions with other rural women about the difficulties of being remote, she joined a movement to start Rural Women Unite in 2018.
"It started as a conversation between friends. We were all in our own way struggling with or had struggled with, at different points, with our own mental health," she said.
"We all had a story...but we also struggled to access services to help us. They're not accessible. We live 100km from town.
"The entire purpose (of starting Rural Women Unite) was to bring all these beautiful rural women together and also raise awareness of the services available to people in the bush.
"The company that we work very closely with is the Virtual Psychologist. They provide free mental health services to anyone in rural and remote Australia. Everything we do at our events goes back to that free service."
While mental health issues is an undeniable reality and plight for many living remotely on the land, Mrs Bradford said there still exists a stigma around discussing struggles.
"(You're told) 'you should just toughen up and get on with it'. In reality we need to be encouraging people to open up and talk about this stuff and be there to support each other," she said.
"There are tough industry conditions. I feel like no matter what time (of the year), there is always something impacting people in the bush. We go from one extreme to another, there's no middle ground. Floods or drought, and if we're lucky, we get a tiny glimpse of something awesome in the middle.
"People in the bush are extremely resilient but we're always affected by something. I don't believe people in the city are different, there are just different struggles we go through.
"We've had a couple of great seasons...but that's not widespread. There are some places still in drought and other places have experienced horrific floods. It's just the extremes that take their toll on people."
Mrs Bradford said she had discovered that everyone is either directly or indirectly impacted by mental health issues - whether it is their own struggle or the struggle of someone they love.
"It's just so important that people know it's okay not to be okay and to have these conversations, be vulnerable. There are services there ready to help everyone and you don't have to leave the comfort of your own home," she said.
Through launching Rural Women Unite, Ms Bradford, alongside fellow organiser Jaime Best, discovered there was serious demand for the virtual psychological service and a desire for many rural women to find more connection amongst others in their position.
Thus, the Rural Women Unite Ladies Day events were launched - bringing together women from across the state to events in Rockhampton, Roma and Charters Towers.
"Community is so important for women in the bush and that's what we've tried to create. So many women have come to this event and they have had moments where they come completely undone...and although that's extremely vulnerable, it's also really beautiful because people gather around those women and let them know it's okay," Mrs Bradford said.
"Our speakers have been so fantastic. At every event they stay for the entire day and spend a couple of hours afterwards speaking to and really engaging with those women...hugging them, opening up and sharing their story, and just putting their inspiration and advice to them as well which is really powerful."
This year, the event will return for the fourth time to Charters Towers, kicking off at 10am on September 7 as an all-day luncheon and networking event with guest speakers including Motherland Founder Steph Trethewey and the "inspirational" Olympic swimming champion Brooke Hanson.
"We invite a lot of businesses around central Queensland and North Queensland to come up pop up market stalls...we've have guest speakers...who have been through their own mental health journey and come out the other side and can share the adversity, vulnerability and resilience and be someone up on that stage that all us regular women can look up to...and feel like we can talk about (our struggles) too," Mrs Bradford said.
"Over the last couple of years, over 400 women attend the day. It's kind of become one of the big events in North Queensland which is awesome. Tickets sell out really quickly."
Music, food and a multi-draw will also be on offer on the day, with businesses across Queensland and New South Wales donating $10,000 worth of prizes.
Tickets to the Ladies Day will go live on early June. Keep an eye on Rural Women Unite's social media pages for updates.
All funds raised on the day will be donated to the Virtual Psychologist.
