I really enjoy your passion and desire to support Indigenous communities. 

My thoughts on Indigenous disadvantage

The issues relating to Indigenous communities and the disadvantages they face are highly complex, coming from a long and dark history of colonization and government policies that have intentionally targeted and separated Aboriginal families. Trauma trails (intergenerational Trauma) runs deep through many families and government systems are largely still racially blind, systematically biased against the unique needs of Indigenous individuals, communities and families. 

The sad story is... there is no easy fix because the colonial discourse that arrived on the continent more than 200 years ago (part of the British Empire's expansion into new lands) remains.    

Also: Aboriginal Community Controlled Organizations (ACCO's) , Australia wide, are commonly not funded at all or funded very poorly to support their own communities. They have the Elders and community members with specialist cultural knowledge who are desperate to have the resources and self determination, the right to make decisions for their local communities

For real change to occur, Governments would need to let go of their centralized control of Aboriginal families and communities and empower local ACCOs' nationwide, with the resources to work locally and design, drive and implement programs and support mechanisms which support their unique localized needs in education and employment pathways, housing and health and culture. Of course the full inclusion of Indigenous knowledge and perspectives in education systems would also have a significant affect. The commonwealth moves desperately slow in these areas despite overwhelming academic evidence based research which recommends that they do so. 

Sorry for that dark rant... It's not all bad. There are many movements and organizations and individuals (Indigenous and Non-Indigenous) who are doing amazing work with and within communities to support children, young adults, families and communities. I also believe Australian Aboriginal people have inherited resilience and strength from their ancestors, and the diverse cultural practices and languages Australia wide, I can assure you are still living and thriving.

So what do I think your next move could be? 

Before you contact community organizations, I have some reading material for you to look at. 

1. The first is a book by Anna Haebich, a leading scholar in the field of Indigenous Family History. It was one of the very first books I read for my PhD journey and provides an amazing overview of Australian government interventions affecting Aboriginal Families between 1800- 2000. Broken Circles: Fragmenting Australian Indigenous Families 1800-2000, 2000, Fremantle Press. 

2. Another book I encourage you to look at is by Chris Owen, Every Mother's Son is Guilty: Policing the Kimberley Frontier of Western Australia 1882 - 1905, 2016, UWA Publishing. This text looks at policing in the early late 1800's and early 1900's which is a particularly ugly period of Australia's Settlement and Aboriginal history. He talks about the Roth Royal Commission which is a significant document which described the conditions of Aboriginal people in WA in 1904. 

3. The Roth Royal Commission is an incredible insight into the lives of Aboriginal people in 1904. 

4. The Bringing them Home Report is a powerful document which I believe every Australian should read. 

5. The Indigenous youth Leaving Out-of-Home-Care study just completed by myself and a team at Monash University in partnership with SNAICC - the peak voice for Indigenous children and youth. This report will give you an idea of the impacts of intergeneration trauma and disadvantage created through historical and modern day government interventions and child removal and systemic discrimination. 

6. A great article about Aboriginal families is: Belinda Hewitt, Sana Nakata and Laura Dunstan, Indigenous family life in Australia: A history of difference and deficit, 2019, Australian Journal of Social Issues.  

7. Another great article about Child Removal is attached : Melissa O’Donnella, Stephanie Taplinb, Rhonda Marriottc, Fernando Limaa, Fiona J. Stanleya, Infant removals: The need to address the over-representation of Aboriginal infants and community concerns of another ‘stolen generation’, 2019, Child Abuse and Neglect, Vol 90, p88-89

Take your time reading this material because it can be a bit (or very) heavy going.  

Well, that's about all I have to offer. I hope this is helpful. It's wonderful you are interested in supporting Indigenous communities.