Dreaming Futures is a national Not for Profit supporting Indigenous children and young people in Out of Home Care to strengthen their educational outcomes and employment pathways.
Indigenous young people in Out-of-Home Care experience lower rates of education, and employment as a result of intergenerational trauma. They often miss out on the relationships and exposure to the workforce that other children might have, and the pathways that they create for work experience and job opportunities.
Dreaming Futures seeks to address this problem by partnering with the community to dream stronger futures.
  • We use on-Country experiences to enable our young people to grow in strength and confidence, connecting to country, culture and community.

  • We co-design our programs with children, young people and community members to enable meaningful participation and educational outcomes.

  • We leverage our corporate partnerships to build relationships and normalise workforce participation – dreaming stronger futures together.

Our Story

The idea for Dreaming Futures came about via a partnership between Indigicate and the Windamarra Corporations in Victoria in 2017. Working together Shawn Andrews (Indigicate CEO and Chair of our Board) with Uncle Michael Bell designed a series of on Country Experiences for the young people in the community who were living in Out of Home Care.

The project was a big success, but left Shawn thinking about how so many young people in Community don't have the strong connections to country, culture and family, or a network of relationships around them that model success and create employment pathways. Shawn knew he could do more, so he and the team at Indigicate worked together and dreamed up Dreaming Futures.

Our Model

We use a Community-led Co-design model because we believe in the strength and capacity of Aboriginal people and culture, and in the power of relationships to promote healing and recovery. Relationships connect children and young people to Country and Culture, they normalise workforce participation and that support employment outcomes. Relationships that work to end intergenerational trauma.

Community Led

The best solutions to any challenge aren't imposed by others, they're co-designed with all involved. They take into account the unique challenges and strengths that individuals bring. They resource change in sustainable ways.

Communities are front and centre in our design process, we bring key knowledge, ideas and experience, and together we create tailored solutions for unique situations.

Three Pillars

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Culturally Focussed

We believe that the cultural systems and beliefs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are strong. Because of this, we work in partnership with Community to co-design interventions and approaches that respect culture and country and which honour the connection between them is essential to the success of our work.

Rights Oriented

Children and Young People in the Child Protection System have rights and are entitled to more than just protective care from adults.

We resource the engagement of children and young people along with key members of the community in the design and delivery of our programs. Supporting the right of children to grow up strong in culture, connected to country and knowing their community is essential to improving lifelong outcomes.

Trauma-Informed

Our approach to working with children, young people and community is underpinned by the knowledge that experiences of trauma impact the brains and bodies of children. Trauma shapes the way we experience the world and our relationships in it, creating patterns that can be passed down through generations. By working in ways that are trauma informed, we can better understand the challenges faced, behaviours observed and ensure that interventions offered are focussed on repair.

  • Corporate Testimonial

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  • Training Testimonial

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  • Young Person Testimonial

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  • Elder Testimonial

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  • Board Member Testimonial

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