Our Reconciliation Focus As an organisation, we have been working towards reconciliation for many years before we embarked upon formally developing a Reconciliation Action Plan. A snapshot of some of our activities and achievements includes:
01 Act for Kids provides family support services in communities in North and Far North Queensland with high numbers of children, young peoples and families who identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. In some of our services, more than 70% of clients identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander and over 50% of our team members in those regions also identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. When we first implemented these services over a decade ago and were trying to recruit team members for identified roles, we found that there was a marked shortage of skilled Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practitioners. We committed to increasing the number of trained, skilled team members and introduced an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Traineeship program in partnership with a local TAFE and philanthropic support. Over the life of the Traineeship (6 years), we employed, paid and mentored more than 50 Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander people through qualifications and work placements. Some of our original Trainees are still working for Act for Kids and others have gone on to great roles in other organisations and government departments. MARCH 2021–MARCH 2023
02 In 2007, the Western Cape York Peninsula Traditional Owners (WCTO) approached Act for Kids to partner with them to provide out-of-home-care services in the four Western Cape York Peninsula communities of Napranum/ Mapoon, Aurukun, Kowanyama and Pormpuraaw. Act for Kids were very reluctant to assume we knew how to care for children in these cultural contexts. After much discussion, we agreed to partner with the WCTO in the SafeKIDS program and developed a process for community ownership and participation in the delivery of the services. The community reference groups are the cultural leaders for the services and are involved in the recruitment and approval of team members who work in the safe houses and liaise with child protection statutory workers to ensure children receive appropriate cultural care. In these communities, over 90% of our team members are local people and across the SafeKIDS program, more than 70% of team members identify as Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander. More than 150 children have been reunited with their families, communities and cultures through these programs.
03 When Act for Kids took on the outof-home care services in the Western Cape York Peninsula communities and, later, the Doomadgee community, we committed to transitioning these services to community control. Over the last twelve years we have worked with the local communities and consultants to define community ownership and control and what that means for each community. In 2017 the Act for Kids Board formed a First Nations Working Group to drive this project and lobby the funding body, then Queensland Department of Child Safety, Youth and Women, to ensure the voices and opinions of the local communities were heard. The First Nations Working Group is supporting the Doomadgee community in particular to explore options to form an entity that will take on auspice of the out-of-home care service.
04 As our services are often referred a high proportion of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children, young peoples and families, we prioritise our team members being culturally safe, aware and appropriate in their work. Act for Kids has a specific Practice Standard called Strengthen Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultures that contains core competencies practitioners must attain and demonstrate in their work. We also employ senior Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander practitioners as Cultural Advisors. These roles provide expert supervision and consultation for practitioners working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families. They provide leadership on cultural issues and conduct inductions and training for team members. They are also active in their communities and link our managers and team members to local Elders, Traditional Owners and organisations.
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