Rabobank and Womn-Kind bring wellbeing program to Kimberley School of the Air

Rabobank’s Rabo Community Fund has partnered with youth mental health organisation Womn-Kind to deliver an eight-week wellbeing and leadership program for geographically-isolated students at the Kimberley School of the Air.

The specialist food and agribusiness bank is supporting Womn-Kind to work with the school in a bid to close the gap in effective wellbeing education and support for young people.

Rabobank community engagement manager Skye Ward said the Womn-Kind program has been created in recognition of the unique realities many rural and remote girls and gender-diverse young people face – including social isolation, reduced access to mental health support services and limited opportunities for peer connection.  

Ms Ward said while young people living in metropolitan areas often have access to multiple layers of support, many geographically-isolated students have fewer resources and opportunities at their fingertips to help build connection, confidence and leadership skills alongside their peers.

Kimberley School of the Air principal Esther Kerr said the school’s upper-primary female students have only been working with the program for a couple of weeks, “but the safe online environment has allowed them to really embrace teachings and whole-heartedly participate”.

Ms Kerr said Womn-Kind founder and CEO Ruby Riethmuller has designed activities that are engaging and non-intimidating. “Our students have really enjoyed their sessions with Ruby, and I couldn't recommend Womn-Kind highly enough.”

Kimberley School of the Air – based in Derby – supports students across approximately 450,000 square kilometres of remote Western Australia, including families living on cattle stations, rural properties and in small Aboriginal communities.

One student participating in the program said it had helped her realise she is not alone. “I really like when we talk about how other kids sometimes feel the same way I do and that it's ok to not be happy all the time,” the student said.

Another student said the sessions had helped them develop strategies to manage worry and build self-confidence. “The sessions help me to know what I can do when I’m worried and she (Ms Riethmuller) helped me see the things I like about myself”.

Womn-Kind founder and CEO Ruby Riethmuller.

Ms Riethmuller said “Womn-Kind have a vision to ensure that young people who live in regional, rural and remote locations have the same opportunity to access quality, timely, engaging, trusted and largely preventative mental health support as their metropolitan peers, which we achieve through the Womn-Kind App and spending time in communities across Australia”.

“Young people – girls in particular – are among the most vulnerable within our community to experience psychological distress,” Ms Riethmuller said. “More than 60 per cent of young females (aged 12-24) are facing mental health struggles and 75 per cent of all mental illnesses develop before the age of 25. And 85 per cent of young people are worried about the mental health of at least one friend,” she said.

Ms Riethmuller said Womn-Kind is proud to partner with Rabobank to deliver an innovative eight-week preventative wellbeing and leadership program designed specifically for geographically isolated young people enrolled at the School of the Air.

“Through weekly video modules, personalised worksheets, digital wellbeing resources

and fully-remote delivery, the program aims to ensure that distance is not a barrier to

belonging, emotional wellbeing or leadership development,” she said.

“The flexible delivery structure allows students to engage from their respective homes and learning environments, ensuring accessibility regardless of distance or location.”

Ms Riethmuller also serves on the NSW Rural Women’s Network Advisory Group. Raised in regional NSW, her lived experiences fuel her commitment to ensuring that all people – regardless of their postcode and identity – can access timely, inclusive and effective care. Her belief in prevention, early intervention and co-design are the foundations of long-term mental health.

Rabo Community Fund

With a dedicated pool of funding for national and local initiatives, the Rabo Community Fund supports meaningful community projects.

Ms Ward said the Womn-Kind program really aligns with one of the Rabo Community Fund’s core pillars of supporting rural wellbeing initiatives.

“The Rabo Community Fund has been supporting wellbeing programs focused on young people,” Ms Ward said. “Since 2017, the bank has supported Boys to the Bush – an initiative that focuses on prevention and early intervention strategies for young men from disconnected and vulnerable backgrounds. Boys to the Bush has impacted over 7,000 lives across regional New South Wales and Victoria through involvement in camps, mentoring programs, school and education programs, alternative care arrangements and community engagement days.”

“From supporting wellbeing programs, to skin checks in rural areas, providing agri-educational resources for schools and hosting succession planning workshops for over 1200 farmers, our impact has been far-reaching,” she said.

“As a global cooperative, founded by farmers, Rabobank has a long history of community engagement and now, thanks to our Rabo Community Fund, we can make an even bigger impact in the communities where our clients live.”

Ms Ward said the Rabo Community Fund is also supporting a Womn-Kind program with the Southern Cross School of Distance Education and is looking at a third School of the Air to join the program in early 2027.

For more information or to learn more about the Rabo Community Fund and Rabo Client Councils, visit – Rabo Community Fund | Rabobank Australia

Rabobank Australia & New Zealand Group is a part of the international Rabobank Group, the world’s leading specialist in food and agribusiness banking. Rabobank has more than 125 years’ experience providing customised banking and finance solutions to businesses involved in all aspects of food and agribusiness. Rabobank is structured as a cooperative and operates in 35 countries, servicing the needs of more than nine million clients worldwide through a network of more than 1000 offices and branches. Rabobank Australia & New Zealand Group is one of Australasia’s leading agricultural lenders and a significant provider of business and corporate banking and financial services to the region’s food and agribusiness sector. The bank has 87 branches throughout Australia and New Zealand.