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CREATE's Voices in Action Conference 2022

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People

CREATE stands in solidarity with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, including the young people we support and the organisations we work alongside every day. There’s an overrepresentation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care that can’t be ignored, and the child welfare system significantly impacts Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. We all have a responsibility to create better outcomes for children, and it starts with reconciliation, truth telling and justice.
CREATE is committed to partnering with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people and supporting them to become the lead decision-makers for their future. Self-determination in the lives of children and young people is a fundamental human right, which is also embedded in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (1989), stating that a child has the right to “enjoy his or her own culture, to profess and practise his or her own religion, or to use his or her own language” (Article 30). 

At CREATE, we believe in the importance and power of the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people with a care experience, their families and their communities. Through our programs like Speak UP, CREATE Your Future and Youth Advisory Groups, we give Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people a chance to have a voice within the care system and child protection systems across Australia.

Check out our awesome video showcasing the voices of some of our Indigenous Young Consultants and CREATE Mates, sharing their experiences with CREATE’s many programs and services.

You can also check out our position paper on the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People in out-of-home care. 

First Nation Voices

As part of Queensland’s ‘First Nation Voices’ project, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander young people in care came together to share their experiences of feeling connected to culture. Working with actor/comedian Steven Oliver, these young people came up with a declaration for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander young people in care, which has been developed as a poster and a video. 

Who am I? Isaiah Dawe from ID Know Yourself speaks with CREATE

In 2020 CREATE Young Consultant Leanne sat down with Isaiah Dawe, CEO and Founder of ID Know Yourself. This organisation was created to support young Aboriginal people with experience in out-of-home care to reconnect with their culture and support their growth outside of care.

The interview was incredibly in-depth and insightful and shone a light on many issues faced by children and young people in the care sector, including the challenging journey of identity and cultural connection experienced by many First Nations young people with a care experience.

Grounded in his own lived experience of the system, Isaiah highlights that more needs to be done for those Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who have been removed from their birth parents around reconnecting them back to their roots and their culture if they so choose, especially those not living with Indigenous carers.

 

Family, culture and connection – Sonja shares her story

One of our Young Consultants and Influencing Committee members Sonja shared with us her experience of reconnecting with her dad. Through making contact with her father, Sonja was able to also reconnect and understand more about her Aboriginal heritage, find her mob, and was able to connect with a whole extended family she never even knew existed.  

Read Sonja's story

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices must be at the forefront of change.

CREATE supports the work of all our Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation partners and we encourage you to support their advocacy and campaigns:

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This website was built in consultation with children and young people with a care experience. Thank you to all the young people involved in providing feedback and sharing your insights throughout this process.

CREATE acknowledges the traditional owners of the lands on which we all live and work. We pay our respects to the elders past, present and emerging.

CREATE Foundation

National Office – Sydney
12 Union Street
PARRAMATTA NSW 2150

Phone: (02) 9267 1999

Email: create@create.org.au

ABN 69 088 075 058

National Office – Brisbane
Level 1, 3 Gregory Terrace
PO Box 105
SPRING HILL QLD 4004

Phone: (07) 3062 4860

Email: create@create.org.au