Know Your Rights has been created through the Bring Them Home, Keep Them Home (BTHKTH) research, which centers the voices and experiences of Aboriginal parents and families navigating the NSW child protection system.
The research team is led by Associate Professor BJ Newton, Wiradjuri woman – UNSW, and includes Professor Kyllie Cripps, Palawa woman – Monash University, Associate Professor Paul Gray, Wiradjuri man – UTS, Dr Kathleen Falster – UNSW, Professor Ilan Katz – UNSW, Neika Tong, Wodi Wodi and Bundjalung woman – UNSW, Kimberly Chiswell – AbSec and Caitlin Parker – AbSec.
Shantelle Common is a Boorooberongal Darug and English mother with lived experience of her children being taken away. Her close involvement, leadership, and insight in the Know Your Rights project have been instrumental in its development.
The BTHKTH research project is an Aboriginal led mixed methods project from the University of New South Wales (UNSW) Social Policy Research Centre (SPRC).
This project meets a call for more evidence regarding Aboriginal families’ experiences with the child protection system and how the system works for Aboriginal families. It is the first of its kind to investigate the rates, outcomes and experiences of successful and sustainable restoration for Aboriginal children in out-of-home care.
In doing so, this research aims to provide Indigenous communities, policy makers, and practitioners with an in-depth and comprehensive understanding of Aboriginal child restoration in NSW to inform strategies and solutions to combat this crisis.
AbSec is the peak organisation concerned with the welfare of Aboriginal children, young people and families. AbSec’s vision is that all Aboriginal children and young people are looked after in safe, thriving Aboriginal families and communities, raised strong in spirit and identity, with every opportunity for lifelong wellbeing and connection to culture, and surrounded by holistic supports.
A culturally safe and holistic service with a decolonising approach, Waminda provides women and their Aboriginal families an opportunity to belong and receive quality health and well-being support. Waminda’s key focus is to provide tailored strength-based care, with a vision for Aboriginal women and (their) families to be leading and living self-determined futures. The Nabu program is community-led and offers intensive support. They walk alongside Aboriginal families where DCJ are in your lives OR where DCJ might become involved.
South Coast AMS is an Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (ACCHO) providing health, wellbeing, and family support services to communities in the Illawarra, Shoalhaven, Far South Coast and Goulburn areas.
Their vision is a thriving community enjoying spiritual, cultural, physical, social and emotional wellbeing, nurtured by strong families, empowered to determine their own futures and benefiting from a deep connection to culture.
IAC is an Aboriginal community-controlled, not-for-profit organisation that is committed to meeting the social, cultural, and economic needs of Aboriginal people in the Illawarra.
Based in Wollongong and working across the region, we are driven to achieve excellence in providing advocacy and culturally appropriate services to meet the needs of the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.
The ALS provides free, high quality and culturally appropriate legal services to thousands of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people each year, alongside holistic, wraparound support programs.
As a proud Aboriginal Community-Controlled Organisation and the peak legal services provider for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in NSW and the ACT, we platform community voices in our advocacy for the transformation of systems which impact the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The Child Protection Research and Advocacy hub at UTS works to transform child protection systems and practice to address persistent inequities and achieve better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people, their families and communities.
They work in service of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, including families and organisations, sharing expertise and contributing to advocacy, to achieve real impact for children, families and communities, consistent with their rights, interests, and aspirations.
This project has been supported by a Cages Foundation grant.
AbSec and our partners acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of Country throughout NSW and their continuing connections to land, waters, and communities. We also acknowledge the lands on which these stories were told, the lands of the Dharawal, Yuin and Wonnarua people.
We acknowledge the Elders, leaders and advocates that have led the way and continue to fight for our children. We also acknowledge the Stolen Generations who never came home and the ongoing impact of government policy and practice on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, young people and families.
This website shares the experiences and advice of Aboriginal families involved in the NSW child protection system who participated in the Bring Them Home, Keep Them Home research at UNSW. We acknowledge and thank the families who generously gave permission to share their stories.
These experiences reflect what worked for those families and do not constitute advice or views of AbSec. AbSec recommends seeking independent legal advice for your own circumstances.
