Airdate: Outback Kids

We’ve seen Brat Camp and similar kinds of series before, including on the ABC.

This week ABC1 premieres a 3-part series set in the Northern Territory in which the Brahminy Group, run by Allan Brahminy, attempts to rehabilitate seven profoundly troubled young Aussie kids.

These are “real angry boys” and a few girls too.

The Brahminy Group treats a wide variety of kids at its facility deep in isolated bush in the Northern Territory. It’s a place of last-resort for chronic drug-abusers, juvenile offenders, petrol-sniffers, gang members, child prostitutes and the emotionally traumatized. Aged between 12 and 16, the kids are a mixture of boys and girls, black and white, rich and poor; some are funded privately whereas others are funded by state government welfare departments. But what unites these kids is the severity of their problems: they are at the end of the line and this place, far from the toxic temptations and traumas of their usual lives, represents the kids’ last chance of salvation.

The Brahminy Group takes its name from its founder, Allan Brahminy. Abandoned at birth, Allan was adopted by an aboriginal family. But at the age of 7, Allan was removed from his indigenous family by welfare authorities and placed in foster care but he ran away and began a life on the streets. He returned to his Aboriginal family and thankfully was able to turn his life around, and start to use his experiences to help others.

It starts Thursday, May 19 at 9.30pm.