A university program is addressing the negative impacts Aboriginal women can experience when encountering the child protection system.
Developed by a team of researchers from Victoria University's Indigenous Academic Unit, Moondani Balluk, the Blak Women's Healing Project is a multi-phased initiative which engages with Indigenous knowledges, cultural art practice and storytelling to support the healing of Aboriginal women.
The project, which sees culturally informed and healing practices led by Aboriginal women, sets out to understand and support Aboriginal women living in Melbourne's west whose families had negative encounters with child protection services.
Overall, fourteen women took part across different aspects of the the program, while four women (aged between 30 and 70) participated in the two-year program.
They include Tanya*, a Palawa woman with adult children and grandchildren who was taken away from her family at a young age and a ward of the state for 16 years and Hazel*, a Gunditjmarra woman who has adult children and grandchildren, has experienced family violence and is advocating for her own safety and those of her grandchildren.
Also involved were Susan*, a Bunurong Wiradjuri woman who left home at an early age, raised by her godmother and now works in the health sector supporting Aboriginal families navigate the system and Dilara*, Bunurong Wiradjuri woman who has two teenage children and is also Susan's godmother - she took Susan in to keep her safe when she was young.
Victoria University researchers involved in the Project include executive director Karen Jackson, Dr Paola Balla, Rowena Price and Lutfiye Ali.
The first stage of the Project involved culturally informed healing workshops, which saw a series of bush dyeing workshops held to promote healing and encourage women to share their stories in a culturally safe environment.
After eight workshops, the four women were invited to participate in a group research yarn session around a fire-pit where they spoke about the benefits of the workshops and their encounters with child protective services.
"Because the bush dyeing process is a deliberate, careful, and thoughtful slow work, the women come into a present state of being and doing," Dr Balla said.
The following stage involved informing policy and practice to stop ongoing harm, which aimed to to translate the knowledge and insights gained from the women's yarns into activities to bring about change to policy and practice.
Key themes emerged of systemic, harmful behaviours and attitudes experienced by the participants in their interactions with child services.
They included silencing, controlling (decontextualised) narratives, (mis)representation: framing of Aboriginal mothers as incapable, coercive practices and practice of surveillance.
Following the project, researchers have lead a number of workshops with child protection staff to educate and improve interaction with Aboriginal families.
Additionally, curriculum changes for social work students studying at Victoria University will be implemented later this year to reflect the knowledge gained from the women.
The collective experiences of participating women and their families also inspired the Blak Women's Healing art exhibition, which is currently being held at Arts House.
*Pseudonyms.
