VACCHO AUTUMN 2018

Exciting times ahead for our young ones as MAYSAR steps into the ring

news March-May 2018

Arthur 'Wah' Ellis, Koorie Programs Manager, Nikita Rotumah, Tiddas Program CoOrdinator, Cara Taylor, Tiddas Case worker, Ben Clark, MAYSAR General Manager, David Shannon Deadlylions and MAYSAR Manager

There’s a new manager with a deadly team making changes at Melbourne Aboriginal Youth Sport and Recreation Co-Operative.

We caught up with Kurnai man Ben McCready Clark, Manager at MAYSAR to find out what’s going on.

So we have the boxing gym up and running again, Mondays and Thursdays, and we’ll be starting Saturdays soon as well, so we’ll have the gym open three days a week, which will be amazing. Wah (Arthur Ellis) our Project Officer has a couple of programs in the works. We have a yidaki or a didge program and a traditional dance program, and some other bits and pieces, that’ll run for six weeks.

Community lunches will be back up and running. Once a month at MAYSAR and trying to source a second location.

Now that we’re rebuilding, obviously, we have different funding bodies and different funding for different programs, different age groups, so our main focus is around the 12 to 25yos.

But then we have another section, our main focus is our communitybased stuff as well, so we do a little bit of stuff with the Parkies on Smith Street. We’re part of the Billabong Cup. We’re part of the men’s camps that they do every year. So it’s a real wide range and wide base of support. Our main support is 12 to 25 but that doesn’t exclude other people or Community members as well.

The boxing is not age group specific. We do have one session a week on the Fridays out at Kingsbury, which is more the younger people. That’s that 12 to CONTINUED OVER THE PAGE

Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation Inc.

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Luke coaching up one of the young ones

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25 p. Here at MAYSAR it’s whoever wants to come and be a part of the class and be a part of the community here, really.

The awesome thing about our boxing has been its predominantly female-based, which is amazing, and obviously predominantly Aboriginal-based as well, which is phenomenal to have. I mean, it’s amazing, there’s this big push for that female fitness stuff at the moment. They do it themselves and it’s amazing. We’ve got a couple of girls down there who beat the boys up, so it’s nice to see the younger boys getting put back in line too by some of the girls down there.

What are your plans now for the future for this place?

I know for myself it’s to keep it open. To keep it moving. Keep the front doors open, be able to get on our own two feet again. As a lot of community would know, we’re partnered very closely with Whitelion. Whitelion’s very adamant that they’re here to

help us out and not to take us over. They want to see us be on our own two feet again as a complete community-controlled organisation, which is amazing.

I come from a juvenile justice background over the last 16 years, and it’s not often you get a mainstream organisation that actually want to help and not take over. Whitelion’s one of those ones where they’re just sitting behind us, pushing us up the ladder.

Whitelion has been phenomenal in helping us with our funding and our employment. And we get to use all their resources, which is great. You know, submission writers and their policy writers and all that sort of stuff. It’s been a really good partnership.

other place over in Kingsbury.

We’ve got the hall, and Brizzi Brothers Boxing have been really good in helping us out doing programs. We’ve just partnered with the Fitzroy Stars in the League. So, all the weights that were downstairs are now over in Croxton Hall. So we’ll be opening a community-based strength gym over at the League, which is amazing. I spent the last couple of weeks laying the flooring and moving equipment. It’s not as fun as it sounds.

Currently we’re running on bits and pieces of funding, and our end goal is to have that ongoing full-term large funding base to be able to keep this open. Everything in the middle is just what we do.

The programs, the kids’ programs, the boxing.

That’s a lot of extra work.

Because, as I said, we’ve got that

I’m going to run the power lifting programs which I’m really excited about. Excited to get on some deadlifts and squats and do some heavy stuff with community.

Yes, it’s been well worth it though.

We had the kids boxing over in Kingsbury and it was a matter of struggling to get kids there and family. Now we’re getting to the point now where we’re having 20 to 25 kids turn up and we’re kicking them out of the hall by

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Contents 1 Exciting times ahead for our young

ones as MAYSAR steps into the ring

4 The CEO changing the lives of our kids

7 Keeping kids close 8 Telehealth takes to the skies

Online support for our young ones

9 Wungurilwil Gapgapduir: Aboriginal Children and Families Agreement launch

11 Out and About

eight o’clock at night because they don’t want to leave. Which, for a Friday night, to have that many kids, and some of them at-risk kids, coming down and feeling safe and being not only part of the boxing.

Then there are three hours after that that they are just hanging out and having a feed and talking to workers and playing basketball.

And to have that is, you know, you want to do the extra hours. You want to hang around a bit. And Arthur and Nikita hang around two, three hours, four hours after their knock-off time just to hang out with the kids. And now we’ve built a relationship with those kids and at the last minute we put a team in the basketball carnival.

And all those boys come from the boxing. They all come from that same group. They all want to be a part of it. And Arthur was telling me on the way home, asking when are we getting the football team organised for the carnival, and when’s the next basketball carnival, and when are we doing this and when are we doing that.

So the boys have given Arthur a lot of stuff to work on. Arthur put that team together last minute and did an amazing job! Both teams made the finals.

found out they’re cousins etc. from being there.

A lot of them made new friends, and not only that but new family members. They’ve connected with more family. And as most of the community knows, Fitzroy and Gertrude Street was that place to meet family a long time ago. And for us to still be doing that for this generation is pretty amazing.

I always had this thing where we’re so overrepresented in the justice system and out-of-home care. I

We’re also sponsoring the junior

Coach Johnathan better look out, someone's after his job

And these are going to be their friends for life.

Fitzroy Stars. So they’ve just started a junior side and we’re one of the sponsors for the junior side.

We’re pretty excited to see how they go. And it’s good to see them have a nice, solid team. I think they’ve got three of these under-, 10s, 11s and 12s, I think. You go up to the oval on a Wednesday and watch them train and they’re all like knee-high. The football is as big as their head. It’s the best, yes, to see them like that. You know, you’ve always had your 18s and seniors and that at the Stars, but to see all the little ones running around. And it gives them a bit of a community base as well, being there and around all the older ones. And again, those positive role models and people at the Stars as well, they’re amazing.

100%, yes. A lot of these kids have

So why work with youth?

They want to do it. You know, a big attribute to that was Uncle David Arden as well. He brought his son down to the boxing. He’d stand at the front of the boxing. Because we’ve got Reservoir High School up the road, a lot of Koori kids that are up there walk down the oval to get home, and he’s screaming at them across the oval, “oi, where you going”. I’m going home. “Go get your shoes. Come back here and do boxing”. No, I’m not. “Yeah, you are, come to boxing”. Oh, okay, cool. And they’ll be back in five minutes and they don’t leave, which is amazing, unbelievable.

I’ve been working with at-risk youth for 16 years. I worked in Parkville and Secure Welfare. I did a lot of outreach and like street work type work, like a lot of afterhours stuff, residential care. That’s kind of been really, really, really at-risk kids, that’s kind of been my bread and butter.

was working with those kids in out-of-home care, their connection and culture were getting lost.

So I always had this thing where I worked in mainstream organisations to try and be that positive Aboriginal role model for the kids that didn’t have Aboriginal role models because they were in mainstream organisations. I was the only one most of the time.

I wanted to be that one black fella that’s in there trying to do the impossible – work in the mainstream system with these kids that don’t have connection with culture and community.

For more information about the deadly programs running at MAYSAR contact their front desk on 03 9416 4255 or like them at FB at MAYSARcooperative.

VACCHO NEWS March - May 2018

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The CEO changing the lives of our kids My name is Raylene Harradine, I’m the CEO of Bendigo and District Aboriginal Co-operative (BDAC) and a proud Wotjobaluk and Latje Latje woman. I was born in Dimboola in the Wimmera district, my Mum’s Country, and my Dad’s country is Mildura across South Australia, so Harradine Mob. I’m a descendant of the epical ancestors, the Perry sisters from Mildura.

I worked in the Department of Justice for over 12 years. In 2013 I commenced working at BDAC in an acting stint before becoming successful in the CEO position.

Currently BDAC delivers a number of programs and for us as a Community, one of the critical programs that we have taken on as part of a pilot, is decision-making around children that are in-care in the child protection system.

Our model is based on Section 18 and we were funded originally around about $200,000, $250,000

to undertake a 12-month pilot.

We went back to Government to seek extra funding for a project manager and two case managers to work with a number of children.

At any one time we will take care of 15 children, that’s our load across the two case managers.

Section 18 of the Children, Youth and Families Act 2005 (CYFA) authorises Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) to have guardianship of Aboriginal children on protection orders and make all decisions and provide all necessary supports and services as if they were the Secretary of DHHS. The program is called Aboriginal Children in Aboriginal Care.

In the program, we’re an ‘as if’ project at the moment, so in the pilot I’m the ‘as if’ decision-maker around children that come into our care.

The Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA) undertook the project a couple of years back as

a pilot and had a range of children from various court orders. We earlier had determined that we wanted to look at the front end children that weren’t in the system for too long, whereas VACCA worked with children that were in the system for seven years or more. Our pilot looked at children that were initially coming into child protection, or in the early stages of notification and court orders.

We worked closely with the Department and Child Protection to identify which children were ready to be able to be placed in our care. I was a part of that first intake, looking at what was happening for some of the children and their families. Some of the children that are in Child Protection are originally from Echuca so BDAC decided that we would test what it would be like working with a family or families that were from there and how that would look working across a region with regional perspectives.

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them in a respectful and culturally strength-based approach, building One of the positive things that on those strengths by identifying came out of this process was the appropriate way, and understood what the strengths of the parents way we worked from a strengthwhat they were going through. are and then building on that based approach with the children Sometimes non-Aboriginal people by giving them back their selfand families highlighting how it esteem. It’s about keeping children don’t understand when you say was vital to maintain connection and families informed and being to Country. A particular family something might be happening. from Echuca had They might misinterpret children who were it as someone’s not placed in-care in doing too well or they Bendigo but their might have suicidal mum was residing in tendencies, that sort of Echuca and came from thing. But from a cultural there. This is when point of view as we we flipped how we know, sometimes Mob worked with them talk in ways that might because in the past, Child Protection would seem a little bit ‘loopy’ expect the parent but it’s actually not. or guardian to go to Having Aboriginal people them in Bendigo and working with their own sit in a DHHS building Mob is, I think, one of the and do supervised critical things in our pilot. visits - we changed that completely. It I remember when I was, I Victorian Aboriginal Children and Young People's Alliance was agreed that case Senior Policy Officer Dana Pyne and Ralene Harradine don’t know if I’m getting managers would pick too deep and meaningful the children up and take them up here, but when I was young and I a part of the process – what is to Echuca. had my babies, I knew there was going to happen, when it’s going They would do the supervised always something out there which to happen. Sometimes you have visits with the family in Echuca to keep children, you’ve got to was calling me. I wasn’t put on as part of our pilot. This was remove them because it’s in the this earth just to have babies and done with Njernda Aboriginal child’s best interests, but I think be a family, which I love doing Corporation (Njernda) to make with us involving the parents or the anyway. It’s like…and I don’t know sure those children and their mum guardians along the way, it means if it’s my ancestors, but there was had connection to their services. they actually feel like they’re something bigger and better I had We made sure mum connected part of the process and decision to be doing. I wasn’t born just with Njernda so that when the making on where the child could to survive. So I started working children were finally transitioned be placed. back to her, she had supports in and got into various positions We had a young couple who place, not just in Bendigo but at where I was making a difference Echuca as well. It gave the children agreed to share their story about for Community and it just came being involved in Section 18 with that cultural connection to their naturally.

BDAC, and they talked about Child own Country so they felt like they Protection and their journey there were still a part of the Community Now I’ve got the staff at BDAC who they came from. This is an example and how they weren’t involved all enjoy their work and, I have to or informed. That young couple of one of the many positive say, there’s about 85 of them and were drug users and they own outcomes from the pilot. everyone’s working cohesively up to that. They say that they’ve around what they need to do. The We’ve been operating for 18 put drugs before their children, common goal is we’re there for the months and in that time we’ve but working with BDAC they’ve Community, to make a difference. closed off 15 cases, so we’ve done actually changed. They’ve done a 100% or more of our original 180 degree where they are there To find out more about BDAC’s targets. If those children and for their children and this couldn’t Section 18 program contact BDAC families were involved in Child be done without the support from on 03 5442 4947 or reception@ the case managers and team at Protection, they would have been BDAC. The team worked with bdac.com.au. in limbo. We operate from a VACCHO NEWS March - May 2018

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Keeping Aboriginal kids connected

Image: (Top left CW) Karen Heap - CEO, Melissa Fox - Medical Reception Coordinator, Shane Saunders Medical Driver, Kathleen Gantner - Receptionist

VACCHO went out to Ballarat to speak with Karen Heap, CEO of Ballarat District Aboriginal CoOperative (BADAC), about the programs her Service has developed to turn around the issues of children in out-of-home care for our Mob. I’m Karen Heap and I'm the CEO of BADAC. I'm a proud Yorta Yorta woman from the Barmah area. I was born in New Zealand and moved back to Australia in my early 20s. I’ve had an interesting life working in many different jobs, but always working to improve the lives of Aboriginal people.

I’ve been at BADAC for 14 years. During that time, BADAC has more than doubled in size, with 100 staff and many new programs. The community has actively supported us to grow and improve and this is a great chance to say thank you to all our members and volunteers, and all those who use our services, which has all helped to build us into a strong and relevant organisation today.

Right now, a really exciting new program BADAC is taking on is the Aboriginal Children in Out-of-Home Care program.

It's going to be a big challenge for us, but something really had to be done. The stats show us that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are currently being removed at a higher rate than during the Stolen Generations.

In my region alone we have 92 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care. Victoria is at risk of another generation of Aboriginal children suffering loss of identity and culture.

A really great story for Victorian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities is that we have come together to begin finding our own solution to this unacceptable situation.

The big game changer is that Aboriginal organisations (ACCOs) will now be taking on the management of the Aboriginal children in Out-of-Home Care program.

So how did we get this change happening? Like many other times when we have made a change for the better, it came about from vision, leadership, and most of all, people working together, including the decision makers – the Victorian government. It's important I acknowledge their support.

I was the first Chair of the Victorian Aboriginal Children and Young People’s Alliance. Fourteen ACCOs and Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA) joined together to drive change for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families either already in out-of-home care or at risk of their children being removed.

A couple of weeks ago I was honoured to give a speech in Queens Hall, Parliament House, at the

launch of the Wungurilwil Gapgapduir: Aboriginal Children and Families Agreement, which sets out the agreements for Aboriginal organisations to manage the care of our children.

In this historic agreement ACCOs like BADAC will oversee the children in out-of-home care.

We will develop a Cultural Support Plan for every single child, to keep them connected to their culture, their families, their land and their identity. We will support both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal carers through this cultural connection program.

The Cultural Support Plan is a very important tool that stops what has happened in the past with people being lost in the mainstream foster care system. Until Wungurilwil Gapgapduir, we often didn’t know where the children had been placed. They were getting lost in the system with little connection to their heritage, which meant Aboriginal children were becoming part of a new lost generation.

For the Plan, we do a genealogy for the child and we talk to family members about the child and about their family. We make a book and give it to the child and their family or carer. This book grows as the child grows. Milestones and schooling achievements are included, as well as their friends and interests.

The children especially love when we take them away to cultural camp to reconnect them to Country. The book tells where their tribal grounds are and who is in their photos.

When a child turns 18 they’ve got this book to refer to. They can go back and say, “Oh, Auntie Eileen lived here at that time. Maybe she still does. We’ll check it out.” So they always have that connection.

BADAC has a wide range of other programs that support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across the broader Ballarat district and through the west of Victoria. Our programs include a full medical clinic and allied health, which means everything from psychologists to podiatrists.

We offer family violence programs, mental health, social and emotional wellbeing, Stolen Generations, and many more. We have a holistic, wrap around approach to care, which supports the person in the context of family and community.

We offer programs that work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families at risk of losing their children to out-of-home care, to support them so they can keep their family together.

For example, a family that still has their children has been notified there’s a little bit of a problem. We go

in and work with families straight away to keep the family together where possible.

These sorts of programs are really important to help strengthen our families. It can be as simple as teaching them the basics like how to budget, keep food in the house, what to cook and how do I get Johnny off to school on time? It’s the sort of stuff that's basic for a lot of people, but isn’t so basic for some of our families because they haven’t been taught these things.

An area we’ve really developed is our Koori Family Services Unit. We’d never had anything to do with children in out-of-home care other than picking up the pieces and trying to console people when their children were put out or taken. Now we’ve got Kinship Care and a Foster Care Program. We’ve got Aboriginal family decision making processes, which help convene meetings for families. The meetings bring everybody around the table to discuss the issues as to what can be done to keep clients' children or get them back into their care.

It’s a fantastic program that gives community voice and guidance.

We do urgently need more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander carers, so it would be great if people reading this who are interested in becoming carers contacts their local ACCO or Department of Health and Human Services.

About Karen Heap Karen Heap is a proud Yorta Yorta woman.

She has worked in many different jobs, including senior roles in the Commonwealth and Victorian public service, and culminating in her current role as Chief Executive Officer, Ballarat and District Aboriginal Cooperative. Her working life has been dedicated to improving the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Throughout her 14 years as BADAC CEO, Karen has been responsible for its strategic development,expansion and improved service delivery, including the current $6 million brand new medical centre, due for completion in late 2018.

Karen is a visionary, and active advocate for selfdetermination for Aboriginal people. She wants her people to live longer, happier and healthier lives.

Through her leadership, drive and energy for this, she will continue to make a significant difference.

If you think you might want to have a yarn with someone at BADAC, you can contact them on 03 5331 5344, www.badac.net.au/ or www.facebook. com/BADACBallarat/ VACCHO NEWS March - May 2018

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Telehealth takes to the skies VACCHO has partnered with the Royal Flying Doctors Service (RDFS) to introduce Telehealth to ACCOs around Victoria.

Telehealth is a deadly online service platform set up by RFDS that allows patients to consult with health specialists via video conferencing.

The consultation is delivered directly by ACCOs so community members and staff can stay on Country for follow-up specialist care and treatment. Only minimal technology is needed to operate the Telehealth online platform: Google Chrome and a web camera connected to a computer.

There are currently six Member ACCOs signed up to the Telehealth platform delivering services in five specialist areas:

• • • • •

Endocrinology Cardiology Psychology Psychiatry Respiratory

where telehealth services may be beneficial to your Mob. You can contact Jesse on 03 9411 9411 or jessew@vaccho.org.au.

VACCHO is currently building relationships with telehealth teams in Victorian hospitals to create further pathways for video conferencing directly between more hospitals and our ACCOs. There is also ongoing work to help access to required specialists services from the Royal Melbourne Hospital, Royal Children's Hospital, LaTrobe Regional Hospital and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre through telehealth services.

Our Telehealth Officer Jesse Williams is available for a yarn, or can come out for a visit to your ACCO and see

VICTORIAN ACCOs OFFERING TELEHEALTH SERVICES • Bendigo and District Aboriginal Co-operative • Dhauwurd-Wurrung Elderly and Community Health Service • Winda-Mara Aboriginal Corporation • Gunditjmara Aboriginal Cooperative • Rumbalara Aboriginal Cooperative • Mallee District Aboriginal Service

Online support for our young ones Yarning Straight Out (YSO) is a digital online screening tool which aims at educating Victorian Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander youth on important information surrounding drugs and alcohol.

Built by our youth, for our youth, through community consultation VACCHO and Youth Support and Advocacy Service (YSAS) have worked together to create a culturally safe website for young people to check out where they are at with their drug and alcohol use.

Whilst this is not a treatment tool, Victorian Aboriginal communities NEED a tool such as Yarning Straight Out. We intend for this tool to break down barriers for young people seeking help and encourage them to speak up to get support or information from their local community or ACCO.

The tool is an interactive safe space for our youth to learn. We've tried to ‘marry’ the best parts of what a good youth focused worker would be like crossed with technology - friendly, approachable and knowledgeable.

It is designed to break down the stigma of alcohol and other drugs and to overcome shame.

YSO wants one place where young people, and those who support them, can get accurate information and help if they need it. YSO ecourages our youth to be proactive as the earlier a young person seeks help, the better the potential outcomes.

Go to yarningstraightout.org.au and check out how we can assist you or someone you know come out the other end of alcohol and other drugs.

Wungurilwil Gapgapduir: Aboriginal Children and Families Agreement launch

Image: (L-R) Deb Tsorbaris, CEO CECFW, Adjunct Professor Muriel Bamblett AM, CEO VACCA, Minister Jenny Mikakos MP, Karen Heap, Acting Chair VACYPA

A significant step towards reducing the number of Aboriginal children in Out-of-Home Care was made in late April with the signing of the Wungurilwil Gapgapduir: Aboriginal Children and Families Agreement.

Wungurilwil Gapgapduir was signed by Minister Jenny Mikakos MP on behalf of the Victorian Government, in conjunction with the Victorian Aboriginal Children and Young People’s Alliance, the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency, and the Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare.

It was heartening to hear Minister Mikakos speaking at the launch, assuring our Community that Wungurilwil Gapgapduir would not just be a document that sits on the shelf, but that it would also have its agreements funded.

The Victorian Government committed $47.3 million at the launch to help the Aboriginal community controlled sector to support Aboriginal children on protection orders, deliver the services needed to assist Aboriginal families to raise resilient and culturally confident Aboriginal children and young people, who are able to reach their full potential.

There was also funding committed to strengthen evidencebased policy and practice for services involving Aboriginal families and children. This will ensure our Members deliver the most effective services and the right policies are written for the best results for Aboriginal families.

Funding of $10.8 million was committed to undertake a Youth Justice Taskforce, with a focus on our young people, and strengthening the Koori Youth Justice program, to help reduce the disproportionately high numbers of Aboriginal young people in detention.

This is another great example of the Victorian Government listening to our Community, and understanding the value in self-determination and culturally-safe practices for our people.

We hope this continues in perpetuity, giving the coming generations of Aboriginal people in Victoria the opportunity to thrive, connected to their culture and with significantly improved health and wellbeing outcomes.

For an online copy of Wungurilwil Gapgapduir go to https:// dhhs.vic.gov.au/publications/wungurilwil-gapgapduir VACCHO NEWS March - May 2018

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Making Cultural Safety our business VACCHO welcomed Keith Morgan and Cat Ivinson to the Cultural Safety Training (CST) team recently. Keith and Cat will be on a 12 month secondment with the Team. Here is a little bit of a background about these two culturally strong young people.

Keith Morgan

Cat Ivinson

Keith is a Gunai/Kurnai man born in Orbost and raised in Bairnsdale, East Gippsland. Keith is linked to strong, prominent Aboriginal families including the Morgans, Wandins and Clarkes.

Cat is a proud Torres Straits woman with cultural and family ties to the Murrajagum Tribe on Erub Island (Darnley Island), Mer (Murray Island) and Waiben (Thursday - T.I). Like many Torres Strait Islander families they moved to the mainland with her family, initially moving to Broome then finally settling in rural Darwin where Cat was born.

As a proud blackfella, Keith is extremely proud to belong to the oldest living culture in the world, one that still thrives today.

“That’s because of our ability to be resilient and adapt to change as well as just being DEADLY and looking after our Mob,” Keith said.

Keith has been part of the VACCHO family for around two years and previously worked casually for Victorian Aboriginal Education Association Inc. and Victorian Aboriginal Legal Services. Before working with Community he was a builder for 2 ½ years.

Keith is building his confidence in public speaking and facilitating group discussion through his work with the Cultural Safety Team. He loves to educate and challenge the negative views and stereotypes often associated with Aboriginal peoples and Community.

Keith looks forward to a future as a positive leader within the Community.

“I hope to one day work in Aboriginal men’s health at a grassroots level to make positive change in Community,” he said.

Cat loves that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander strength and culture still survives today. She remembers watching her first ‘Coming of the Light’ ceremony as a kid, and still get chills today hearing the drums and listening to her Aunties sing. The Coming of the Light is the most significant religious cultural ceremony for the Torres Strait Islander community.

Cat has worked at VACCHO in Business Services until she started in the Cultural Safety Team. Cat is loving the chance to advocate for Mob through telling our true Australian history, showing our resilience and exploring the beautiful culture and work we do.

“Eventually I want to be doing a similar role educating professionals and advocating for survivors of sexual assault. I see a lack of this type of advocacy for Community, so hope to find a way to advocate for better support and identification,” Cat said.

For information or to book a Cultural Safety Training Session contact the Team on CulturalSafetyEnquiries@vaccho.org.au or 03 9411 9411.

VACCHO Movement By Improvement Forum 1-2 May 2018 Mantra Bell City - Preston

VACCHO Social and Emotional Wellbeing Forum 8-10 May 2018 Ramada Resort - Phillip Island

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VACCHO NEWS September - November 2017

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VACCHO Board Members John Mitchell: Chairperson Karen Heap: Vice Chairperson John Gorton: Board Member Michael Graham: Board Member Rod Jackson: Board Member Jason Saunders: Board Member Suzie Squires: Board Member

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VACCHO Members • • • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Aboriginal Community Elders Services Albury Wodonga Aboriginal Health Service Ballarat & District Aboriginal Co-operative Bendigo & District Aboriginal Co-operative Boorndawan Willam Aboriginal Healing Service Bubup Wilam for Early Learning Aboriginal Child and Family Centre Budja Budja Aboriginal Co-operative Cummeragunja Housing and Development Aboriginal Corporation (Viney Morgan AMS) Dandenong & District Aborigines Co-operative Dhauwurd Wurrung Elderly and Community Health Service Gippsland & East Gippsland Aboriginal Co-operative Goolum Goolum Aboriginal Co-operative Gunditjmara Aboriginal Co-operative Healesville Indigenous Community Services Association Kirrae Health Service Inc. Lake Tyers Health and Children’s Service Note »» Auspiced

• Lakes Entrance Aboriginal Health Association • Melbourne Aboriginal Youth Sport & Recreation Co-operative • Mallee District Aboriginal Services »» Kerang Aboriginal Community Centre »» Swan Hill and District Aboriginal Co-operative • Moogji Aboriginal Council East Gippsland Inc. • Mungabareena Aboriginal Corporation • Murray Valley Aboriginal Co-operative • Ngwala Willumbong Cooperative • Njernda Aboriginal Corporation • Ramahyuck District Aboriginal Corporation »» Central Gippsland Aboriginal Health Services • Rumbalara Aboriginal Co-operative Ltd • Victorian Aboriginal Health Service • Wathaurong Aboriginal Co-operative • Winda-Mara Aboriginal Corporation • Weenthunga Health Network Inc VACCHO News Autumn 2018

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