First Nations community engagement
We would like to acknowledge the Wurundjeri, Bunurong, Wadawurrung, Yorta Yorta and Gunai Kurnai peoples who are the Traditional Custodians of the lands and waterways where our centres are located.
We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging. We recognise and value the many contributions that Traditional Custodians make to Victorian communities each day.
We warmly welcome all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Victoria to our services. We understand that you have a choice of providers when seeking services and hope that you will consider us when you need support.
Our commitment to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Victoria
We support Aboriginal-led agreements in Victoria and recognise that self-determination is foundational to any successful and meaningful partnership with Aboriginal communities in Victoria.
We are committed to growing cultural competency across our services and recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ lived experiences of the Stolen Generations and institutional abuse.
We are committed to promoting and ensuring culturally safe access to our services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and communities.
We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ enduring connection to Country, their deep cultural knowledge and custodial rights and responsibilities to the lands and waterways. We allow this to lead and inform us in all interactions and working partnerships moving forward.
Understanding, partnerships and trusted relationships
We are continually developing our understanding of how best to engage with First Nations peoples and communities, being always mindful of the importance of self-determination. Our centres engage with local Aboriginal communities in the regions in which we work, to develop deeper, trusted and more meaningful relationships that support community members accessing our services.
A second First Nations Engagement Specialist role joined our team this year to work with RAV staff, in partnership with local First Nations communities, so that we can understand local needs and how our services can provide culturally safe and appropriate support. We greatly value and appreciate the generosity of these communities in sharing their knowledge and insights into how we can enhance our services.
In northern Melbourne one of our staff members participated as a committee member of the Barrbunin Beek Aboriginal Gathering Place. This space is run by the local First Nations community and delivers programs for community such as women’s and men’s groups, family dinners and food share activities. This connection with community enables our local centres to better understand how to walk alongside the local community to provide services when required.
Additional activities in 2022-23 included:
- delivering a targeted psychoeducation program for young First Nations men in East Gippsland
- adapting our headspace Sale and Bairnsdale counselling model for First Nations clients to flexibly enable immediate engagement with the service
- partnering with a secondary school in East Gippsland, through which we provide case management for disengaged First Nations young people. This program commenced with a student-led activity that focused on listening to and connecting with what the young people want to do, and seeking permission from Elders at Lake Tyers Aboriginal Trust to undertake these activities
- partnering with local Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations to co-facilitate a Drumbeat drumming program, men’s groups and after-school program activities
- attending Preventing Family Violence Against First Nations Women and Children, which brought agencies from around Australia to discuss the nuanced nature of family violence in the context of Indigenous Australians
- organising a public webinar on Aboriginal mental health that was presented by Melinda Brown, a Ngunnawal woman who resides in the Northern Rivers Bundjalung Nation with a Masters in Indigenous Healing and Trauma (this was organised by our Training and Development team)
- participating in both the Northern and Whittlesea Local Aboriginal Networks, and membership of the Whittlesea Reconciliation Group
- celebrating NAIDOC Week, including the NAIDOC March, and the Victorian NAIDOC Gala Ball, which was attended by our CEO and senior and community liaison staff, alongside guests from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community
- attending an event to mark the 15th Anniversary of the National Apology to the Stolen Generations
- membership of the Relationships Australia Indigenous Network.
Community Partnerships
Cultural Awareness Training
We source Cultural Awareness training for our staff from a number of providers in Victoria including the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA), Salt Consultancy and local Elders. This allows us to access culturally specific training to help us better meet the needs of Aboriginal communities and increase our cultural competency as an organisation.
Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Engagement Specialist also regularly delivers cultural education presentations to a range of external agencies, organisations and universities.
DRUMBEAT program
DRUMBEAT is a 10-week, evidence-based social and emotional learning program which utilises drumming to explore topics such as relationships, behaviour, emotions, communication and self-confidence.
DRUMBEAT programs have been run for Aboriginal women at the Dame Phyllis Frost Centre, alongside the Sisters Day In family violence prevention and wellbeing workshop facilitated by Djirra. DRUMBEAT women’s programs were also delivered alongside Elders, supporting a self-determination approach to narrative group therapy.
We welcome opportunities to deliver DRUMBEAT in partnership with new and existing community programs and at events.
Find out more about the DRUMBEAT program.
Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations
View a list of external Aboriginal community services and cooperatives, networks and gathering places, and Victorian State Government contacts, for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.