A comic book about family violence in Aboriginal communities written by a UTS student has been snapped up by almost 20,000 readers in 10 months.

Final-year Communications student and Koori writer Grant Saunders wrote Enough is Enough for Streetwize Communications. The book and almost 10,000 copies of an educational kit produced by Streetwize have been supplied to youth centres, community groups and health and legal centres around the State.

Mr Saunders says the comic book aims to encourage violent Aboriginal men to firstly acknowledge that they have a problem, then offers them strategies to overcome it, and information about where to get help.

"I was fortunate to write about something I feel passionate about, and comics are an effective way to reach this audience. If my writing has inspired one Koori man to acknowledge violence is wrong and that he should do something about it, then I feel I've achieved something worthwhile," Mr Saunders said.

Enough is Enough is about an Aboriginal schoolboy who comes home to find his parents arguing. When his father becomes violent and the boy tries to help his stepmother his father attacks and injures him. The tale ends with the guilt-stricken father acknowledging his problem and, after advice from a community elder, seeking community help to solve it.

Before working on the story Grant Saunders and Koori cartoon artist Stephen McLeod interviewed people in several communities to make sure their script and illustrations would "ring true" with young Indigenous men.

The pair approached members of Aboriginal communities around the State who were either working with or experiencing family violence.

Streetwize Communications, well known in Australia as a specialist in social marketing, received funding from the NSW Health Department to publish Enough is Enough and the accompanying kit.

See the full story in UTS News online