Australia’s Indigenous children represent one in every three children living in out-of-home care.
The reasons for this overrepresentation are complicated and include policies from Australia’s history of forced removal, the overwhelming impact of those policies leaving generations of Indigenous people traumatised (called intergenerational trauma) and undermining culture and community.
For Indigenous young people in out of home care, being disconnected from their country, their culture, their people, undermines identity formation.
When you don’t have a strong sense of who you are, it is challenging to envisage who you might or could be.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families experience lower employment rates and lower levels of education and training. As a result, we are underrepresented in many areas of workforce and development.
Representation
matters. What you can see, you can believe
- Supporting and reinforcing their connection with culture and country
- Connecting them with mentors who role-model workforce participation and success
- Creating employment pathways and supports for success
- Valuing their expertise and engaging them to inform and direct system improvements
- Improve their understanding through training, sharing of stories and on-Country experiences
- Connecting them with young people in environments that support relationship
- Informing their workplace with reports from our young people on what it is like as an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young person to work in their organisation
We believe that by increasing participation and empowering their decision making,
our young people will develop skills that will set them up for success in both the workforce.
We believe that by co-creating culturally safe and responsive workplaces,
our young people will be enabled to flourish and inform a stronger future for all.