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A Resource for Collective Healing
for Members of the Stolen Generations
Planning, implementing and evaluating effective local responses
www.healingfoundaon.org.au
www.facebook.com/healingfoundaon
www.twier.com/HealingOurWay
ISBN: 978-0-9871884-3-4
A Resource for Collective Healing
for Members of the Stolen Generations
Planning, implementing and evaluating effective local responses
Prepared for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Healing Foundaon by
Muru Marri – Dr Ilse Blignault, Professor Lisa Jackson Pulver, Sally Fitzpatrick,
Rachelle Arkles, Megan Williams, Associate Professor Melissa Haswell
and Marcia Grand Ortega; November 2014.
page 2
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
In the spirit of respect, we acknowledge this country as belonging to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of
Australia.
This country is the only place in the world where Australia’s First Peoples belong, and there is no place in Australia where this is
not true.
This resource represents the combined work and collecve wisdom of many people, most of them members of the Stolen
Generaons. We acknowledge the contribuons of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Healing Foundaon Stolen
Generaons Reference Commiee and the assistance provided by the Foundaon’s Programs Team, in parcular Caitlin Mullins
(Project Ocer). We are enormously grateful to everyone who parcipated in the stakeholder consultaons, both telephone
interviews and workshop, for generously sharing their experiences, ideas and own resources. All the unaributed quotaons in
the resource come from them. The naonal workshop was facilitated by Benny Hodges. We are grateful also to the Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander organisaons that contributed to the project review.
The program logic, illustrated as a ‘collecve healing tree’, built on previous work presented in the Healing Centres report
prepared for the Healing Foundaons by KPMG.
The Muru Marri Consultancy Team comprised Dr Ilse Blignault, Professor Lisa Jackson Pulver, Sally Fitzpatrick, Rachelle Arkles,
Megan Williams, Associate Professor Melissa Haswell and Marcia Grand Ortega.
This project was funded by the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Healing Foundaon, with in-kind support from Muru Marri,
School of Public Health and Community Medicine, UNSW Australia.
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Muru Marri – A Resource for Collecve Healing for Members of the Stolen Generaons
TABLE OF CONTENTS
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ......................................................................................................... 2
ACRONYMS .......................................................................................................................... 5
FRONTISPIECE – Dadirri ........................................................................................................ 7
1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................. 8
1.1 What and who the resource is for .......................................................................................8
1.2 What the resource contains ................................................................................................ 8
2 BACKGROUND.................................................................................................................. 10
2.1 The First Australians .......................................................................................................... 10
2.2 The Stolen Generaons ..................................................................................................... 10
2.3 The impact of forced removal on individuals, families and communies .........................10
2.4 Towards healing ................................................................................................................ 11
2.4.1 Government initiatives ...................................................................... 11
2.4.2 Grassroots initiatives ........................................................................ 12
3 COLLECTIVE HEALING FOR THE STOLEN GENERATIONS .................................................... 14
3.1 The signicance of collecve healing ................................................................................ 14
3.1.1 Addressing transgenerational issues ................................................... 14
3.1.2 Addressing societal issues ................................................................. 15
3.2 The nature of collecve healing ........................................................................................ 15
3.2.1 Acknowledging diversity – One size does not fit all .............................. 15
3.3 Local programs, projects and acvies ............................................... .............................. 16
3.3.1 Common strategies ........................................................................... 17
3.3.2 Common elements ............................................................................ 20
3.3.3 Good practice features ...................................................................... 20
4 INDICATIVE PROGRAM LOGIC – How it all ts together .................................................... 22
4.1 A collecve healing tree .................................................................................................... 23
4.1.1 Values .............................................................................................. 24
4.1.2 Resources ......................................................................................... 25
4.1.3 Foundational activities ...................................................................... 27
4.1.4 Healing activities .............................................................................. 27
4.1.5 Individual and family, community and societal outcomes ..................... 28
5 GETTING STARTED ........................................................................................................... 30
6 ETHICS AND PRINCIPLES .................................................................................................. 30
page 4
7 PRACTICALITIES ............................................................................................................... 31
7.1 Timing and resources ........................................................................................................ 31
7.2 Suggesons for funding bodies ......................................................................................... 32
8 BREAKING EVERYTHING DOWN – Phases and steps ......................................................... 33
8.1 Planning – what will you do and how will you do it ..........................................................34
8.2 Implementaon – pung your plan into acon ............................................................... 38
8.3 Evaluaon – What have we achieved? What have we learned? How can we improve? ...39
9 DISSEMINATION – Sharing your experience and learning ................................................. 41
10 OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND RESOURCES ................................................... 42
10.1 Internet resources ........................................................................................................... 42
10.2 Reports, books and guides .............................................................................................. 43
10.2.1 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander healing ..................................... 43
10.2.2 Human rights .................................................................................. 44
10.2.3 Project management and planning ................................................... 44
10.2.4 Evaluation and research .................................................................. 44
GLOSSARY OF TERMS ......................................................................................................... 45
REFERENCES ....................................................................................................................... 48
APPENDICES ....................................................................................................................... 51
APPENDIX A: METHODS USED IN CREATING THIS RESOURCE .............................................. 51
APPENDIX B: LIST OF PROJECTS REVIEWED ......................................................................... 52
APPENDIX C: LIST OF STAKEHOLDERS CONSULTED .............................................................. 54
APPENDIX D: PROJECT PLANNING TEMPLATE ..................................................................... 54
FEEDBACK SHEET ................................................................................................................ 62
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Muru Marri – A Resource for Collecve Healing for Members of the Stolen Generaons
ACRONYMS
ACCHO Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisaon
AHRC Australian Human Rights Commission
ATSIHF Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Healing Foundaon
BTH Bringing Them Home
CQI Connuous Quality Improvement
CRC Cooperave Research Centre
DOHA Department of Health and Ageing
GEM Growth and Empowerment Measure
HREOC Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission
KSGAC Kimberley Stolen Generaon Aboriginal Corporaon
NGO Non-government Organisaon
NHMRC Naonal Health and Medical Research Council
QLD/Qld Queensland
NSW New South Wales
SA South Australia
SEWB Social and Emoonal Wellbeing
UNSW University of New South Wales
VACCA Victorian Aboriginal Childcare Agency
VIC Victoria
WA Western Australia
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Muru Marri – A Resource for Collecve Healing for Members of the Stolen Generaons
Dadirri
Miriam Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann
Dadirri. A special quality. A unique gi of the Aboriginal people, is inner deep listening and quiet sll awareness.
Dadirri recognises the deep spring that is inside us. It is something like what you call contemplaon.
The contemplave way of Dadirri spreads over our whole life. It renews us and brings us peace. It makes us feel whole again.
In our Aboriginal way we learnt to listen from our earliest mes. We could not live good and useful lives unless we listened.
We are not threatened by silence. We are completely at home in it. Our Aboriginal way has taught us to be sll and wait.
We do not try to hurry things up. We let them follow their natural course – like the seasons.
We watch the moon in each of its phases. We wait for the rain to ll our rivers and water the thirsty earth.
When twilight comes we prepare for the night. At dawn we rise with the sun. We watch the bush foods and wait
for them to open before we gather them.
We wait for our young people as they grow; stage by stage, through their iniaon ceremonies.
When a relaon dies, we wait for a long me with the sorrow. We own our grief and allow it to heal slowly.
We wait for the right me for our ceremonies and meengs. The right people must be present.
Careful preparaons must be made. We don’t mind waing because we want things to be done with care.
Somemes many hours must be spent painng the body before an important ceremony.
We don’t worry. We know that in me and in the spirit of Dadirri (that deep listening and quiet sllness)
the way will be made clear.
We are like the tree standing in the middle of a bushre sweeping through the mber.
The leaves are scorched and the tough bark is scarred and burnt, but inside the tree the sap is sll owing
and under the ground the roots are sll strong. Like that tree we have endured the ames and
we sll have the power to be reborn.
Our people are used to the struggle and the long waing. We sll wait for the white people to understand us beer.
We ourselves have spent many years learning about the white man’s ways: we have learned to speak the white
man’s language; we have listened to what he had to say. This learning and listening should go both ways.
We would like people to take me and listen to us. We are hoping people will come closer.
We keep longing for the things we have always hoped for, respect and understanding.
We know that our white brothers and sisters carry their own parcular burdens.
We believe that if they let us come to them, open their minds and to us we may lighten their burdens.
There is a struggle for us but we have not lost our spirit of Dadirri.
There are deep springs within each of us, within this deep spring, which is the very spirit, is a sound.
The sound of Deep calling to Deep. The me for rebirth is now. If our culture is alive and strong and respected it will grow.
It will not die and our spirit will not die. I believe the spirit of Dadirri that we have to oer will blossom and grow,
not just within ourselves but within all.
page 8
1 INTRODUCTION
This resource is the result of the combined eorts of many people and organisaons. It was commissioned by the Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Healing Foundaon in response to a need idened by the Foundaon’s Stolen Generaons Reference
Commiee. It was developed by Muru Marri, an academic unit at the School of Public Health and Medicine, UNSW Australia,
with input from Healing Foundaon sta and Reference Commiee members and other key stakeholders around the country.
1.1 What and who the resource is for
The purpose of the resource is to:
• Strengthen and build upon the work already being done in the community by Stolen Generaons members, organisaons
and groups to provide collecve healing responses.
• Encourage the inclusion of collecve healing responses in services provided to the Stolen Generaons, including support
groups, group therapy programs, day trips on country, healing circles, healing camps and reunions.
• Improve the range and quality of social and emoonal wellbeing and healing programs available to the Stolen
Generaons, in parcular rst generaon survivors.
It is intended that the published resource will be made available to Stolen Generaons members, organisaons and groups; and
to other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous organisaons and praconers involved in the delivery of
services to Stolen Generaons members. Its primary purpose is to support good pracce. It may also be used to seek support
from government for the inclusion of collecve healing responses in their funded programs.
1.2 What the resource contains
The resource is divided into two main parts. The material contained is based on informaon collected during the stakeholder
consultaons, supplemented by literature and project reviews.
We have tried to make the resource easy to use. It can be read through from beginning to end or you can dip into dierent
secons at dierent mes, or both, depending on your needs. A resource such as this can be helpful:
• when you want to know what others are doing in this eld,
• when you are looking for ideas on how to get started or what to do next, and
• when you want to revisit or follow-up an example you remember as being relevant.
The rst part (secons 2 and 3) presents the current state of knowledge about collecve healing for people from the Stolen
Generaons. Secon 2 explains the background to this work and why a resource like this is needed. Secon 3 summarises what
is known from the academic literature and experiences on the ground, including exisng program models and good pracce
features.
The second part (secons 4 to 10) provides a framework and tools for future work in this eld, together with a list of addional
resources. Secon 4 presents a program logic for collecve healing responses, explaining how the dierent program elements
t together. Secon 5 deals with geng started on programs and projects. Secon 6 deals with ethics and principles. Secon
7 considers the praccalies involved, in parcular ming and resources. Secon 8 covers, in turn, the three phases of the
program cycle: planning, implementaon and evaluaon. Secon 9 considers disseminaon—sharing the learnings. The nal
secon, Secon 10, contains a list of readings and resources that you may nd helpful.
Where possible, especially in Secon 8, we have presented the material in a step-by-step format to assist groups in using the
informaon provided. We recognise that, in pracce, things are oen not so clear cut. We encourage you to adapt the material
according to your own needs and circumstances; the guidance is not intended to be prescripve or to be interpreted in a rigid
way.
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Muru Marri – A Resource for Collecve Healing for Members of the Stolen Generaons
We have tried to avoid technical jargon wherever possible. Also, because many of the common terms (program, project,
evaluaon and so on) are used dierently in dierent situaons, we have included a glossary dening the terms as we have
used them here.
The appendices explain how we went about creang this resource. They include a descripon of the methods used, and lists of
the projects reviewed and the people involved in the stakeholder consultaons.
At very end, we have included a feedback sheet inving comments and suggesons for possible future edions. You can provide
feedback online if you prefer, on the Healing Foundaon website. The evidence base to guide collecve healing responses for
the Stolen Generaons is sll emerging; therefore this resource is also a work in progress.
page 10
2 BACKGROUND
2.1 The First Australians
Aboriginal people are believed to have lived in Australia for over 60,000 years. They successfully adapted to the oen harsh
environments which they inhabited, using their inmate knowledge and understanding of the land and its physical and natural
resources not only to survive, but to thrive. As collecve peoples, they developed ways of life that were rich in spirituality,
lore, relaonships and roles, music, art and story-telling. When the Brish arrived in 1788, there were probably over 750,000
Aboriginal people across the country, with approximately 260 disnct languages and many more dialects being spoken. In the
north there were Torres Strait Islanders, with their own tradions and languages (Australian Instute of Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Studies/AIATSIS, 2008).
2.2 The Stolen Generaons
Colonisaon had many negave consequences for Australia’s First Peoples. One of the most profound was the forcible removal
of Aboriginal children from their families and communies under the laws and policies of Federal and State and Territory
governments during a large part of the 20th century (Haebich, 2000). The social and emoonal wellbeing and healing needs
of these men and women—the Stolen Generaons—and their families are disnct from the wider Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander populaon (Peeters et al., 2014). They were brought to naonal aenon by the Royal Commission into Aboriginal
Deaths in Custody, which found that 43 of the 99 people whose deaths were invesgated had been separated from their
families as children (Commonwealth of Australia, 1991).
Bringing them home, the report of the Naonal Inquiry into Separaon of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from
Their Families, concluded that between one in three and one in ten Aboriginal children were forcibly removed from their
families from approximately 1910 unl 1970 (Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission/HREOC, 1997). This gure was
much greater in certain periods and certain regions of Australia. Aboriginal children were sent to missions, instuons or placed
with non-Aboriginal foster and adopve families, with many experiencing mulple placements. Children were removed from
their families and communies at any age, however between one-half and two-thirds of children forcibly removed were under
ve years old (HREOC, 1997).
In the early years, governments’ movaon for removing children from their Aboriginal families was to insl in them ‘European’
values. During the 1930s and 40s, the ulmate purpose of forcible removal of children was to control the reproducon of
Aboriginal people by blending them into the non-Aboriginal populaon and to provide labour, with young women trained as
domesc servants and young men as rural workers. During the 1950s and 60s, even greater numbers of Aboriginal children
were removed from their families to progress the policy of assimilaon (HREOC, 1997).
2.3 The impact of forced removal on individuals, families and communies
The impact of these past forcible removal pracces on Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, both individually
and collecvely, has been immeasurable. Most families have been aected by forcible removal of one or more children
across generaons, and this in turn has had a major impact on the cohesion of many communies (HREOC, 1997). The impact
connues to resound through Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and communies as the trauma is passed from one
generaon to the next in complex ways through parenng pracces, behavioural problems, violence, unresolved grief and
trauma, harmful substance use and mental health issues (Atkinson, 2002; Atkinson et al, 2014; Peeters et al., 2014). Despite
these vulnerabilies and challenges, those aected have demonstrated incredible strengths (Peeters et al., 2014).
Similar policies were enacted on the Indigenous peoples of Canada, the United States and New Zealand. The lives of members
of these Indigenous peoples today are also marked by chronic socioeconomic disadvantage and transgeneraonal pain and
suering (McKendrick et al., 2014).
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Muru Marri – A Resource for Collecve Healing for Members of the Stolen Generaons
2.4 Towards healing
2.4.1 Government initiatives
In response to the Bringing them home report, the Australian Government allocated $62.85 million over the period 1998–2001
to establish the Bringing Them Home (BTH) Program and extend the naonal network of Link-Up Services. An evaluaon
conducted in 2007 (Wilczynski et al.) found that, while services were generally delivered in culturally-appropriate ways to a
large number of clients naonally, there were a number of signicant concerns including:
• inadequate focus on the needs of rst generaon Stolen Generaons members,
• generic social and emoonal wellbeing services being provided to the wider Indigenous populaon, although this was not
the target group or purpose,
• over reliance on a mainstream clinical counselling model which was neither eecve nor appropriate in meeng the
needs of Stolen Generaons members, and
• variable skills and qualicaons of the workforce contribung to high sta burnout, sta turnover and inconsistent client
outcomes.
To address these and other limitaons, the evaluators recommended that services “adopt a exible approach to service delivery
that extends beyond the mainstream clinical counselling model. This includes conducng group acvies in community sengs
… services should liaise closely with Stolen Generaons organisaons to ensure that services meet the needs of these groups”
(Wilczynski et al., 2007, p. 102).
On 13 February 2008, more than a decade aer the Bringing them home report, the Australian Government oered a formal
apology, expressing remorse for the “laws and policies of successive parliaments and governments that inicted profound grief,
suering and loss on Stolen Generaon members, their families and communies” (Rudd, 2008). The Apology represented a
milestone in the reconciliaon process with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, and the naonal acknowledgement
of the forcible removals and their impact provided the impetus for addional healing iniaves.
On 13 February 2009, the rst anniversary of the Apology, the Government announced that it would establish an organisaon
to address trauma and aid healing in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communies. Following a naonwide consultaon
process, the Voices from the campres report (ATSIHFDT, 2009) made several recommendaons as to how the organisaon
should be set up. In October 2009, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Healing Foundaon was incorporated.
The Healing Foundaon is governed by an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Board, including members of the Stolen
Generaons. The Foundaon’s vision is “Strong Spirit, Strong Culture, Strong People”.
In the 2011–12 Federal Budget, the Australian Government announced that a single Social and Emoonal Wellbeing (SEWB)
Program would be created to consolidate the exisng counselling, family tracing and reunion services to Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander communies, including the Stolen Generaons (Department of Health & Ageing/DOHA, 2012). The current SEWB
Program incorporates:
• counselling, family tracing and reunion services to members of the Stolen Generaons, through the exisng network of
Link-Up services,
• SEWB services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through the exisng mental health and counselling sta in
Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisaons (ACCHOs), and
• naonal coordinaon and support for SEWB service providers through Workforce Support Units.
The revised SEWB Program: Handbook for Counsellors (DOHA, 2012) highlights that counselling is just one type of healing
acvity that may be provided to clients, with other supports including yarning circles, healing camps, outreach services and
case management. In general, the approach has broadened from an individual focus, based on western models of counselling,
to recognion of the importance of family and community healing as integral to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’
wellbeing.
page 12
A developmental review of the SEWB counselling services (DOHA, 2013) found a greater focus on supporng people from
the Stolen Generaons. In 2010–11, nearly one-third (31%) of clients were rst generaon survivors, more than double the
percentage for the previous year (14%). Suggesons to strengthen services for the Stolen Generaons included:
“ strengthening awareness in Aboriginal communities of the impacts of past
government practices and the availability of support services; improving
access to family support services, counselling for their children and
grandchildren; strengthening the provision of group programs [whilst
retaining individual counselling services]; greater use of healing and
alternative healing methods; strengthening the proactivity of services;
and providing cultural workshops for people who have limited
understanding of their culture and community”
(DOHA, 2013, p. viii).
2.4.2 Grassroots initiatives
Along with these government iniaves, a number of successful Aboriginal-led healing programs have been developed. Some
of these began as local community iniaves and have grown into well-established programs delivered naonally. Others
were developed within exisng organisaons such as ACCHOs and Link-Up services. They oer rst, second and subsequent
generaons of the Stolen Generaons, a range of group acvies including support groups, healing camps and reunions—
collecve healing. While posive feedback is oen received about these acvies, few have been evaluated. Thus, the evidence
base for what works and what does not work in providing collecve healing for rst generaon survivors and their descendants
is sll evolving.
The Healing Foundaon has supported Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander organisaons around Australia with funding for
projects designed to assist individuals, families and communies to restore wellbeing and build pathways to healing. To date
these include 21 healing projects, 46 training and educaon projects, 3 intergeneraonal trauma projects and, more recently,
31 Stolen Generaons projects and 13 healing centres design and development projects. Three of the original 21 healing
projects included support for Stolen Generaons members, however only one project was designed specically for this group.
Responding to calls for more sensive, authenc healing, in 2012 the Healing Foundaon introduced a Stolen Generaons
Iniave under the guidance of the Stolen Generaons Reference Commiee.
A desk-top review of the 21 healing projects developed from the rst funding round was undertaken in 2013. Ten recurring
themes were idened; these are listed in Box 1.
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Muru Marri – A Resource for Collecve Healing for Members of the Stolen Generaons
Box 1. Emerging evidence themes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander healing
1. Idenfying with our cultural lineage makes us proud and dignied.
2. Preserving and sharing cultural heritage gives us a sense of future.
3. Connecng with land, country and our history makes us strong.
4. Following our cultural ways makes us feel good and builds our spirits.
5. Strengthening our community gives us belonging and protecon.
6. Acknowledging leadership allows us to mentor our future leaders.
7. Respecng self and others is an important cultural value that guides us.
8. Using our cultural skills in our work makes us feel valuable and rewards us.
9. Grieving space and healing me lets us take care of hurt.
10. Reconnecng with our spiritual selves is powerful and makes us whole.
Source: Gilmour (2013).
page 14
3 COLLECTIVE HEALING FOR THE STOLEN GENERATIONS
The Bringing them home report emphasised the importance of self-determinaon for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
people and communies to overcome the devastang legacy of forced separaon and removal from family and country. It
recommended that local Indigenous community-based services and organisaons be supported to lead and develop their own
healing responses that would enable them to overcome the trauma of removal and assist them in liming the intergeneraonal
transfer of trauma:
“ Only Indigenous people themselves are able to comprehend the full extent of
the effects of the removal policies. Services to redress these effects must be
designed, provided and controlled by Indigenous people themselves ”
(HREOC, 1997, p. 277).
3.1 The signicance of collecve healing
The signicance of the concept of collecve healing in this context is that it broadens the scope for who does healing and who
healing is for. It means moving from a model where expert professionals work with individuals to a model where individuals
develop their own skills and capacies to empower healing in themselves and their families and communies. Collecve healing
engages all parcipants “as workers for healing so that working together we grow the wider circles of relaonships necessary to
develop healing communies” (Sheehan, 2012, p. 108).
Through the idea that ‘in healing oneself one heals others’, healing approaches move closer to an Aboriginal worldview and
denion of health:
“ Not just the physical well-being of the individual but the social, emotional,
and cultural well-being of the whole community. This is a whole-of-life view
and includes the cyclical concept of life-death-life ”
(Naonal Health Strategy Working Party/NAHSWP, 1989).
3.1.1 Addressing transgenerational issues
The transgeneraonal impacts of the forcible removal policies have been well documented (eg Australian Bureau of Stascs/
ABS, 2010; Zubrick et al., 2005).
Peeters et al. (2014) describe the burden of trauma associated with forcible removal from family and country as follows:
• The primary burden of trauma has been borne by those who directly experienced forcible removal during the years from
1910 to 1972 (rst generaon).
• The secondary burden of trauma lies with those other than the individuals forcibly removed, such as their families—
including their children (second generaon) and grandchildren (third generaon)—and communies.
• The future burden is the ongoing legacy of not adequately addressing the burden of trauma in the populaon of people
who directly experienced it, and the transgeneraonal transmission of social, emoonal and spiritual wellbeing problems
as a result of connecons that were severed or aenuated by past government policies.
Based on results from 2008 Naonal Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Survey (NATSISS), there are an esmated 10,625
people who directly experienced the trauma generated by forcible removal (rst generaon). There are another esmated
25,844 children (second generaon) who have been living with parents aected by forcible removal, and an esmated 40,612
grandchildren (third generaon) who connue to experience the eects of their grandparents’ removal (ABS, 2008 & 2010,
cited in Peeters et al., 2014).
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Muru Marri – A Resource for Collecve Healing for Members of the Stolen Generaons
3.1.2 Addressing societal issues
As noted above, the Aboriginal denion of health encompasses a view of wellbeing that is holisc, muldimensional and
embraces a whole-of-life approach to wellbeing, including the cycle of life, death and life itself. Furthermore, it is a view
whereby individual wellbeing cannot be separated from the social, emoonal and cultural wellbeing of the whole community.
It reects a social system that is based on “inter-relaonships between people and land, people and creator beings, and
between people” (NAWPHS, 1989, p. ix).
This deep, inclusive understanding of health highlights the need for connecons between people and their families,
communies and social histories. It is consistent with social ecological models (eg Bronfenbrenner, 2005) which recognise that
an individual’s health and wellbeing are inuenced by factors operang at several dierent levels:
• individual level – individual genecs and characteriscs, lifestyle choices and health care
• interpersonal level – interacons with family, friends and social life
• community level – the resources and services available for a person to access and contribute to, in order to improve their
own health and wellbeing and that of others
• societal or structural level – the policies, legislaon, dominant culture and its ideas that shape the way resources are
available.
Social ecological models recognise that factors at each of these levels inuence Indigenous health and healing (Caruana, 2010;
Chandler & Lalonde, 1998) and that the dierent levels inuence each other. The Aboriginal denion of health adds a me
dimension: life-death-life. This acknowledges the historical context of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ experiences,
and suggests that each person has connecons and responsibility across the generaons: to older people and younger people,
as well as to ancestor spirits and those who will come in the future. We have drawn on both of these conceptual frameworks in
developing a program logic to guide collecve healing responses for members of the Stolen Generaons (Secon 4).
3.2 The nature of collecve healing
Healing is a complex and oen lengthy process—“a journey rather than an event”. Healing models for Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander people need to reect their unique history, culture and family and community structure, and holisc world view.
Therefore, they will be dierent from Australian mainstream. Healing for members of the Stolen Generaons will, in some
respects, be dierent again. The journey will be dierent for every person depending on their past experiences and current
circumstances. Healing is also required for the mothers, families and communies le behind when the children were taken.
Healing in this context is about restoring and making connecons for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people—“belonging
people”— who have been disconnected from family, country and culture. For some Stolen Generaons members, circumstances
will mean that the connecons made are not to their Aboriginal family but to their instuonal family. Whatever form it takes,
collecve healing is supported by bringing people with similar experiences together, oen with their children and grandchildren,
in a safe space where they can share, get to know on their own story, build understanding and skills, and take posive steps
towards a beer future.
3.2.1 Acknowledging diversity – One size does not fit all
Collecve healing responses will, in some ways, look dierent in dierent parts of the country, reecng dierent experiences
of colonisaon and its impacts. It is important to understand the way trauma is felt in dierent places, and local community
needs and strengths, in order to plan eecve local responses (Gilmour, 2014).
Each Australian State and Territory developed its own legislaon about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, including
the forcible removal of children (HREOC, 1997). As a result, there is considerable diversity among the Stolen Generaons
members and groups. Even among the rst generaon survivors, who share the common experience of separaon and removal,
there are dierences in terms of the place to which they were taken (Aboriginal or mainstream instuon, dormitory, foster
care or adopon), as well as their individual experience (Kelly, 2013, cited in ATSIHF, 2014). Some children were relocated
several mes. Such diversity underlines the necessity for locally informed or tailored responses.
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Community and individual dierences also need to be considered. Across the north and central Australia, where there is great
diversity in Indigenous languages and culture, a lot of tailoring may be necessary if the response is not ‘home grown’. In New
South Wales, on the other hand, a program developed in one region may require lile tailoring to meet local needs in other,
similar communies. Some communies are more vulnerable than others, parcularly those in remote Australia, with fewer
services and greater needs. Individual dierences include the age a person is now, their age when taken, whether the child
was a boy or girl or light or dark skinned, and personality and life experiences. Even siblings can have dierent lives and healing
journeys.
In workshops and groups, it is important to acknowledge each person’s own story, as well as the shared experience of forcible
removal and loss, grief and trauma, and encourage people to take what they need and apply it to themselves. The freedom to
decide for oneself is a crical factor in healing for Stolen Generaons members, especially those from instuons who were
oen seen and treated as a group rather than individuals.
In this context, where everyone is their own healer, parcipants are valued as experts. Just as “the process of reunion is a dance
that each client performs in their own way” (Sheehan, 2012, p. 69), in healing there is “a dierent dance for everybody” and
“each person knows their own steps”. Peeters et al. (2014, p. 501) make the point strongly:
“ No one has a right to set another person’s healing agenda. Nor is it possible
for one person to ‘heal’ another. Each of us needs to be recognised as the
expert of our own healing, and it is crucial that we are able to control the
speed, direction and outcomes of our own healing journey. This includes the
right to refuse to look at any removal issues at all until we feel ready to do so.”
3.3 Local programs, projects and acvies
Our research revealed an impressive range of collecve healing programs, projects and acvies, some of which were
specically designed to meet the needs of the Stolen Generaons. However, not many have been fully evaluated or
documented to be shared.
The terms ‘program’, ‘project’ and ‘acvity’ can mean dierent things to dierent people. For the purpose of this resource we
have adopted the following denions:
• An acvity is specic undertaking that a person or group does.
• A project is a collecon of planned acvies.
• A program is a collecon of projects.
Projects are usually focussed on pre-determined ‘outputs’ and ‘deliverables’. You know what you are doing and oen have a
detailed project plan. Programs are usually focussed on ‘outcomes’ and ‘benets’. They are typically larger in size and intended
impact than projects, with greater levels of uncertainty, and so are less amenable to a structured management process. Both
projects and programs are designed to deliver change—you expect something to be dierent at the end.
As described in Secon 2, there is a long history of grassroots acon in this area. In parcular, the establishment of Link-Up
and Stolen Generaons organisaons in each state and territory (except Tasmania) which grew out of discussions that were
already taking place in local communies and groups, with Stolen Generaons Elders playing an instrumental role as supporters
and drivers. These organisaons were incorporated as: Link-Up New South Wales in 1980, Link-Up Queensland in 1984 and
Link-Up Victoria in 1998. Nunkuwarrin Yun began the South Australian Link-Up service in 1999. The Northern Territory Stolen
Generaons Aboriginal Corporaon was incorporated in 1998, and the Central Australian Stolen Generaons and Families
Aboriginal Corporaon in 1999. In Western Australia, the Kimberley Stolen Generaons Commiee, formed in 1996, was
incorporated as the Kimberley Stolen Generaon Aboriginal Corporaon in 2001, while Yorgum Aboriginal Corporaon,
formed in 1991, was incorporated in 1993.
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Muru Marri – A Resource for Collecve Healing for Members of the Stolen Generaons
Programs that have been underway for some me now include the Family Wellbeing Program, Red Dust Healing and the
Marumali Journey of Healing, which was specically developed to heal those who were forcibly removed from their families
and communies.
The Family Wellbeing Program (also known as the Family Wellbeing Empowerment Program) was developed in 1993 by a
group from the Stolen Generaons who were working in the Aboriginal Educaon Development Branch of the South Australian
Educaon Department. By 2012, it had been delivered to 3,300 people at 56 sites across Australia. At the heart of Family
Wellbeing are Aboriginal people’s own stories of survival, with the program developers also drawing on a range of western and
eastern approaches (Whiteside et al., 2014). Numerous evaluaons over more than a decade have demonstrated the program’s
capacity to support personal healing and growth, beer relaonships, and increased condence and engagement at work,
in helping others and in bringing about community change (Tsey & Every, 2000; Tsey et al., 2009; Whiteside et al., 2014).
Red Dust Healing was originally designed by Tom Powell for Indigenous men and their families, and further developed in
partnership with Randal Ross who he rst met in October 1996 while working for the Department of Juvenile Jusce in Taree,
NSW. The program examines the intergeneraonal eects of colonisaon on the mental, physical, and spiritual wellbeing of
Indigenous families. It also encourages individuals to confront and deal with the problems, hurt and anger in their lives. Over
1,700 people in New South Wales and Queensland have completed the full program, while 2,100 people have parcipated in
informaon sessions and 1-day workshops. The “Road to Healing” is described in Sophie Cull’s research thesis (Cull, 2009).
The Marumali Program was developed by Aunty Lorraine Peeters, who was taken away herself. ‘Marumali’ is a Kamilaroi word
that means ‘to heal’ or ‘put back together’. Reconnecng with spirit and spirituality is seen as core to overcoming the loss
experienced by those who were forcibly removed. The Marumali model of healing was originally presented at the NSW Mental
Health Conference in Sydney in 1999. Since 2000, over 2,500 people have completed Marumali training and healing workshops:
Link-Up and SEWB workers and BTH Counsellors, health and mental health service providers and Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people in prison, as well as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander survivors of removal policies (Peeters et al., 2014).
An evaluaon of Marumali is currently underway, with a survey of those who completed workshops between 2002 and 2012.
In 2012, Link-Up (Qld) published the book Stolen Generaons Educaon: Aboriginal Cultural Strengths and Social and Emoonal
Well Being, by Norman Sheehan. As stated in the foreword, the book is a resource “for counsellors, teachers and community
members to gain a good understanding of the history of child removals in Queensland and the eects this history has had on
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their communies”. The recently updated Working Together: Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and Wellbeing Principles and Pracce (Dudgeon et al., 2014a) has several chapters relevant
to collecve healing and the Stolen Generaons, including those by Peeters et al. (2014) on Marumali, Powell et al. (2014) on
Red Dust Healing, and Wanganeen (2014) on integrang loss and grief.
3.3.1 Common strategies
Although collecve healing can take many forms, common strategies or approaches include structured workshops, peer
support groups, healing camps and gatherings, healing centres, and instuonal and family reunions. In keeping with the social
ecological model presented earlier, it is important that these are not delivered in isolaon but are part of a mul-level response
to the trauma, loss and grief. Within a community, for example, this may include counselling and other support for individual
healing, as well as organisaon and community capacity building. At the societal level, acknowledgement of past government
forcible removal policies and their present-day legacy, eg through the Apology Anniversary and Naonal Sorry Day, and
resoluon of outstanding claims for reparaons remain important (Durbach, 2008).
Structured workshops are usually run by trained facilitators and parcipants who complete them receive a cercate. They
may be run over one day or several days. Longer workshops usually include a range of large group and small group acvies,
as well as providing individual support during the workshop and follow-up as needed. Some workshops have healing as their
direct focus. In others, while they have a healing component, the main focus is on training. Examples include the Marumali
worker versions and workshops developed for Gurriny Yealamucka Health Service in Yarrabah by Guthlan Indigenous Training.
Healing gatherings and camps may be less structured than workshops but sll need some structure to draw out what they
mean for healing. They may be facilitator and/or peer-led. They commonly include yarning circles, acvies on country and
a range of other acvies, such as art or narrave therapy, designed to support healing and, above all, to avoid reinforcing
trauma.
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Healing centres are a recent development in Australia. These are safe and meaningful spaces, founded from an Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander worldview, and led and mainly staed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who also draw on
mainstream and complementary skills. Healing Centres operate with and for their own communies through empowering and
emphasising tradional and contemporary healing pracces that are demonstrated to work (KPMG, 2012).
Healing projects such as construcon and maintenance of Stolen Generaons memorials bring people together. The acvies
and processes involved in planning and carrying them out also facilitate healing. Peer support groups are generally peer-led
with ongoing support from BTH, SEWB or Link-Up Counsellors.
Among the twelve Healing Foundaon-funded projects reviewed (see Appendix B), a wide range of ‘services’ were provided.
All were largely group based and incorporated strong Indigenous cultural themes. Workshops were very popular and varied in
focus from healing/therapeuc to skills development, or a combinaon of both. Yarning circles were also popular; most projects
incorporated these at some point. Healing camps and day trips to country provided an opportunity to visit culturally signicant
sites and for story-telling by Elders. Healing gatherings were arranged for former residents of instuons. Community
commemorave ceremonies were also held. Stolen Generaons members were supported in documenng personal and group
stories through art and spoken and wrien words—painngs on canvas and murals, lms and books. The following examples
(one iniated by an ACCHO, one by Link-Up and one by a Stolen Generaons Support Group) are illustrave.
Example 1
To coincide with the anniversaries of the Naonal Apology and the Cummeragunja Walk O, Rumbalara Aboriginal
Cooperave organised a Return to Country Healing Camp for Stolen Generaons members, including men and women
and Elders who witnessed the forcible removals. The healing camp was held over a 3-day weekend at River Resort on
Yorta Yorta Country, near Moama. The camp began on Friday night, with a tradional Welcome to Country and dance.
Aer an early breakfast on Saturday, people boarded a coach for a eld trip onto Yorta Yorta Country. First stop was at
Cummergunja mission where they visited the old school and the cemetery. Aer morning tea, they transferred to a cruise
boat and sailed the Barmah Lakes for two hours. During the trip, parcipants told stories and yarns which were captured
on video by the Connecng Home worker.
Parcipants who didn’t aend the eld trip spent their me relaxing, yabbying, shing or joining the photo yarning table.
Melbourne Museum presented hundreds of photos for people to look at and yarn about, triggering many memories and
stories. During the evening, a yarning circle was held where parcipants shared their memories and experiences of the Stolen
Generaons era. The evening entertainment included a performance by a local Aboriginal country and western player and a
karaoke session, one of the highlights for many and enjoyed by all. The last day involved geng together and praccing some
tradional art work, including basket weaving, wood burning and canvas painng, or shing and yabbying. To end the camp,
organisers and management thanked everyone for their parcipaon and were complimented with a gi from Rumbalara.
A total of 70 people were engaged across the whole weekend. In addion to supporng the parcipaon of 38 community
members, the project employed over 23 Aboriginal people and the involved 9 Rumbalara sta from dierent service
areas. Of the 20 people surveyed, 18 indicated that they felt fully supported during the healing camp and the cultural
acvies met their expectaons.
Source: Healing Foundaon Project Report.
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Muru Marri – A Resource for Collecve Healing for Members of the Stolen Generaons
Example 2
In 2014, Link Up SA trialled a new healing approach called Reunion to Self. This was for clients they had been unable to
assist in the usual way, including those for whom reunions were not possible due to the absence of informaon to obtain
denive records, as well as those for whom the outcomes had not been posive. Reunion to Self comprised a series of
six day trips and a nal overnight camp. It was designed to reduce isolaon and distress, develop sustainable relaonships
with peers and create connecons to local places of cultural signicance and the communies and stories associated with
those places. Week 1 focussed on beginning relaonships; Week 2 on colonisaon and survival; Week 3 on loss and grief;
Week 4 on journey to healing; Week 5 on spiritual healing; and Week 6 on cultural connecon. The nal week involved an
overnight stay at Victor Harbour and concluded with an outsider witness yarning circle and graduaon lunch. Evaluaon
data were collected by applying the SEWB checklist to each parcipant before and aer the program and by wrien and
verbal feedback.
“ Overwhelming feedback was given in relation to the inclusion of cultural
Elders which acknowledged their need to be connected to the local cultural
groups which they live within but are not their own. The client group felt that
Aboriginal cultural contexts and were supported by the Elder who understood
to a degree the level of grief and healing that is needed for members of the
Stolen Generation.”
Source: Healing Foundaon Project Report.
Example 3
The Cherbourg Dormitory Women’s Workshop was iniated by a group of women who parcipated in the Cherbourg
Dormitory Reunion yarning circle held in 2011. The workshop was held at the Link-Up QLD Brisbane oce in March 2012.
The 27 parcipants focused on building their individual leadership capacity throughout various engaging and praccal
acvies. These provided tools on how to stop struggling and start living by seng a happiness trap, transforming our
inner worlds, creang a life worth living and becoming skilled in mindfulness. An enjoyable laughter workshop session
enabled the women to further their understanding of using humour as a therapeuc tool for themselves and their
families, while a jewellery making acvity brought out their creavity and exercised their ne motor skills. The highlight
of the workshop was the beginning of a steering commiee to represent the Cherbourg Dormitory Girls.
Source: Link-Up (Qld) Newsleer, vol. 1, May–June 2012.
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3.3.2 Common elements
What makes these ‘collecve healing’ projects is that they bring people together in a safe space in which they can learn from
others, share their own experiences and be smulated to think and do things dierently. They incorporate local Aboriginal
knowledge and adopt a trauma-informed or recovery framework, acknowledging the pain and suering as well as the potenal
for transformaon.
What makes them especially relevant to the Stolen Generaons is the leadership and parcipaon of Stolen Generaons
members themselves, with Stolen Generaons Elders and rst generaon survivors taking a prominent role in their design and
conduct. Support workers also have important roles, as well as professionals. They are designed to heal and empower people;
to connect them to family and country, and services as required; and to build individual and collecve capacity (just as forcible
removals reduced both) through community development iniaves such as leadership and life skills training and workforce
development (Milroy et al., 2014).
The range of acvies is broad, with many being performave and having a strong narrave and visual basis in keeping with
Aboriginal ways (Sheehan, 2011). Widely found examples include story-telling, poetry, song, music and painng. It is how these
acvies are framed and carried out that makes them healing
Example
In the ‘Connecve Art’ iniave, a collaboraon between Link-Up (Qld) and Swinburne University, Aboriginal arts facilitators
from urban, regional and remote communies across Queensland were given training to conduct workshops with their
local Aboriginal community. Locaons with high proporons of Stolen Generaons members were priorised. Connecve
Art provides a safe cultural space where many things can be shared and wellbeing can be facilitated and sustained
through deeper human connecons. In the workshops, Aboriginal people were able to sit together talking, sharing stories
and painng images that they then connected together to produce a whole group image. The artwork, the visual sharing
and the overall paern that emerges is healing, and a powerful experience for many parcipants.
Source: Link-Up (Qld) website.
3.3.3 Good practice features
The eld of collecve healing for Aboriginal and Islander people in general, and the Stolen Generaons in parcular, is sll
evolving and the evidence base is sll being built. Therefore, it is generally more appropriate to talk about ‘good pracce’ rather
‘best pracce’.
Good pracce can be in considered terms of program content (what is delivered) and delivery (how it is delivered). The
literature highlights the value of strength-based approaches (Brough et al., 2004; Haswell et al., 2013; Milroy et al., 2014),
especially healing approaches based on the strengths of Aboriginal cultural tradions (Sheehan, 2012). The literature also
supports an ecological, mul-level approach. If they are to realise their full potenal, collecve healing responses should not be
considered in isolaon but, rather, as part of range of programs and services and community acvies available to the Stolen
Generaons and the broader Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and mainstream populaons—adults, young people, children
and families. It is important to recognise here, the complexity and sophiscaon of Aboriginal family es and kinship systems
(Lohoar et al., 2014).
Stakeholders consulted highlighted the features listed in the Box 2 as constung good pracce in collecve healing for
the Stolen Generaons. They also emphasised direcon by Stolen Generaons Elders and the necessity for a long-term
commitment by stakeholders at all levels to stop the cycle of intergeneraonal trauma.
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Muru Marri – A Resource for Collecve Healing for Members of the Stolen Generaons
Box 2. Good pracce in collecve healing for members of the Stolen Generaons
Content Delivery
Reects an Aboriginal world view – holisc
Has an educaon component
Has an experienal component
Builds on tradional cultural strengths
Provides tools and builds skills
Promotes empowerment and self-determinaon
Is inclusive of family and community
Connects people to services and follow-up
Emphasises safety – trauma-informed
Ensures support is available, with the opportunity to work
individually or in a group as needed
Allows me for engagement
Is condenal, non-judgemental and exible
Respects individual dierences
These good pracce features have implicaons for the design and funding of collecve healing programs and projects
(discussed in Secons 7 and 8). Engaging and involving communies takes me and oen means that acvies start later
than originally planned. The need to connect with other acvies, and become part of a bigger picture, can also lead to delays.
However, the actual processes of individual and community engagement can be as meaningful as the outcomes. A exible,
responsive program will allow for individuals, groups and communies to be ready to be involved. It will take into account
individual dierences and accommodate individual stories. This responsiveness may lead to dierent outcomes than those
originally ancipated.
Organisaonal issues, such as governance, workforce and partnerships, also come under the umbrella of good pracce
(Haswell et al., 2013). Safety involves ensuring organisaonal and self-care for counsellors and support workers delivering
healing services and programs, including cultural and clinical supervision and social and emoonal support networks. Evaluaon
is another good pracce feature—a way of documenng posive outcomes and lessons learned, improving things as needed
and helping others (see Secon 8.3).
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4 INDICATIVE PROGRAM LOGIC – How it all fits together
Many dierent terms have been used to describe how a program or project is supposed to work, eg chain of reasoning, causal
map, intervenon logic, logical model, logical framework or logframe, program theory and theory of change (Funnell & Rogers,
2011). In this resource, to be consistent with other Healing Foundaon publicaons, we use the term ‘program logic’ for this
purpose.
Program logic can be used to tell the story of how program inputs and processes produce a series of outcomes or, alternavely,
how parcipants move through a program to achieve the intended results. Program logic can be applied not only to programs
but also to policies, strategies, funding iniaves and projects.
Program logic can be represented in many ways, both visually and in words. The image of tree is a powerful one that speaks to
all peoples. Trees provide not only shelter and food and wood for res, but resources for making medicine, building tools and
construcon. In many countries around the world, trees also have profound cultural and religious signicance. Trees provide
many analogies for human development—with sustenance from the earth, water and sunlight they grow in stature and strength
and eventually blossom and bear fruit.
The Dulwich Centre Foundaon, in partnership with REPSSI (a non-government organisaon working in Africa), has developed
the ‘Tree of Life’ as a healing tool for working with children, young people and adults who have experienced hard mes. The
approach enables them to speak about their lives in ways which make them stronger. It involves people drawing their own ‘tree
of life’ in which they get to speak of their where they come from, their skills and knowledge and their hopes and dreams, as well
as the special people in their lives. The parcipants then join their trees into a ‘forest of life’ and, in groups, discuss some of the
‘storms’ or ‘tornados’ that aect their lives, and the ways that they respond to them and protect themselves and each other.
An Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander version has been developed (see Dulwich Centre website).
Figure1: Illustraon from Tree of Life Women’s Group Community Garden Art Project, Elizabeth South Australia
www.dulwichcentre.com.au/tree-of-life-australia.html
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Muru Marri – A Resource for Collecve Healing for Members of the Stolen Generaons
The Growth and Empowerment Measure or GEM, a strengths-focused measure of emoonal wellbeing and social
connectedness that seeks to reect the changes that people experience as they gain condence and capacity in their lives, also
incorporates a tree (Figure2). The Kauri Pine is one of the oldest, strongest living trees in the world and its presence in Australia
can be traced back 30 million years. While many other Australian trees have signicant meaning for dierent Aboriginal groups,
the Kauri Pine was chosen specically to represent the collecve strengths of Aboriginal culture as one of the oldest surviving
cultures in the world. As one young Aboriginal person has said:
“… Empowerment … it’s like a tree – there is a foundation (seeds, roots), then
the energy and self-esteem to look after yourself (trunk), so you can grow – the
more you grow the bigger it gets … on the branches (of the tree) are education,
job opportunities, housing.”
Figure 2: Illustraons from the GEM, developed by sta of the Muru Marri at UNSW and the Collaborave Research on Empowerment &
Wellbeing Team (CREW) Empowerment Research Program, James Cook University/University of Queensland
4.1 A collecve healing tree
In the examples given above, the tree is used to demonstrate personal growth. The tree image can also be used to tell a story
about program growth and development, and to demonstrate how all the elements are connected and t together to form a
whole, as shown in Figure 3. Although we have used a tree to show our collecve healing program logic, there may be other
images (or other trees) relevant to your community. It is just one way of represenng complex ideas and showing connecons.
The ‘collecve healing tree’ in Figure 3 was developed by members of the Healing Foundaon’s Stolen Generaon Reference
Commiee and others at the naonal Collecve Healing Workshop held in June 2014 in Sydney. It is based on a tree that was
originally developed to support the Healing Foundaon’s work on healing centres. As explained in the Healing Centres nal
report (KPMG, 2012, p. 18):
“ The tree is not a metaphor for healing itself, but rather an illustration of
an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander worldview which connects people
intrinsically to culture and country. The process of healing involves restoring
and strengthening these connections.”
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The Healing Centres tree was adapted and extended for collecve healing for people from the Stolen Generaons. Collecve
Healing Workshop parcipants made the roots deeper and added more branches and fruit, while giving examples of collecve
healing pracce. In Figure 3:
• The trunk represents collecve healing programs, projects and acvies.
• The extensive root system provides the nutrients that support and sustain them, including values, resources, and
foundaonal acvies.
• The branches and leaves, laden with fruit, show how individuals and families, communies and society at large can grow
and ourish.
Reading the story in the tree from the ground up (from the deepest roots to the topmost branches), we start with values and,
with resources and acvies, move steadily towards societal outcomes.
4.1.1 Values
The deepest roots (the core values and strengths) lie within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, specically people
from the Stolen Generaons, themselves. Aer that, comes recognion by Australian communies and governments, and
decolonising and renaming places.
Decolonisaon, like colonisaon, is a complex process requiring both personal and social acon and parcipaon (Muller, 2014).
It oers the possibility of a future of healing and harmony where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people “stand once again
in our righul place, eternal and generaonal” (Muller, 2014; Helen Milroy quoted in ATSIHFDT, 2009). Decolonisaon is the
responsibility of all Australians. Renaming places with their ancient names is part of this process.
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Muru Marri – A Resource for Collecve Healing for Members of the Stolen Generaons
Figure 3: Collecve healing for Stolen Generaons members and their descendants
4.1.2 Resources
Building on values, resources make up the next layer of the root system. There are eight groupings here: Ethics and principles,
Community support and partnerships, Leadership and governance, Connecons to country, Cultural knowledge and pracces,
Stolen Generaons knowledge, Funding and other material resources, and Workforce skills and capabilies.
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Ethics and principles
All healing programs require a set of ethics and principles to provide a safety net for parcipants, workers and the organisaon.
This ‘new’ resource was added to the original tree at the Collecve Healing Workshop and placed at the beginning of the row
because safety and ethical pracce are fundamental to any acvity in this area. See Secon 6 for a fuller discussion of this issue.
Community support and partnerships
Both community support and broader partnerships play a central role in collecve healing responses. The Healing Foundaon
has been a major partner and funding source in recent years. Other potenal partners include local community groups and
organisaons, government departments and agencies, and non-government organisaons. Secon 8.1 gives several examples.
Leadership and governance
Leadership and direcon from Stolen Generaons Elders and rst generaon survivors, and good governance arrangements,
constute good pracce. Some collecve healing programs are led by individuals who have been through their own healing
journey sharing their story. In others, Stolen Generaons members are involved in both planning and delivery. Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander community-based services oer a culturally-appropriate home for such programs. Good governance
structures and ongoing training for board members will strengthen organisaonal and community capacity, contribung to
posive outcomes.
Connecons to country
Connecons to country, an important healing resource for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, are parcularly
pernent for those whose connecons were broken through forced removal. Descendants who feel that they have missed
the opportunity to make the connecon to their mother’s or father’s country and culture themselves, may sll wish for their
children and grandchildren (the third and fourth generaons) to have this opportunity. In some cases, as in Link Up SA’s Reunion
to Self, connecons are made to a dierent country.
Cultural knowledge and pracces
Cultural knowledge and pracces, including Indigenous languages, are regarded as signicant resources for Indigenous people’s
healing everywhere. The nature of these resources and the extent to which dierent communies of Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander people have access to them varies considerably.
resources through their elders, or through existing initiatives within their
community which maintain culture. Others, including those whose members
have been removed from their family and cultures, or in urban settings where
different communities work together on healing, may have more diffuse
and varied access to cultural resources. This diversity of experience does
not weaken the role of culture in healing but, rather, calls for a diversity of
approaches in strengthening connections to culture”
(KPMG, 2012, p. 18).
Stolen Generaons knowledge
In addion to general cultural knowledge, specic Stolen Generaons knowledge is needed to guide collecve healing
responses for the Stolen Generaons members in dierent communies. This was another ‘new’ resource added to the original
tree.
Funding and other material resources
Aracng funding to develop and, especially, to connue or replicate successful collecve healing programs is a signicant
challenge. Stakeholders stressed the importance of long-term funding targeted specically for Stolen Generaons iniaves and
given to Stolen Generaons organisaons. As noted in the Healing Centres report (KPMG, 2012, p. 20), “While there is a strong
voluntary work ethic amongst healing leaders, a lack of sustainable resourcing constrains what can be achieved, and contributes
to stagnaon of eorts and ‘burn out’”.
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Muru Marri – A Resource for Collecve Healing for Members of the Stolen Generaons
Workforce skills and capabilies
Collecve healing responses also need an appropriately skilled workforce who understand the impact of colonisaon
and forcible removal and who, themselves, are well supported. All workers, including professionals, support workers
and community volunteers, need training to ensure ethical, high-quality care. While professionals can expect connuing
professional development and supervision, aenon should also be given to capacity building and empowering support
workers. The ideal is a diverse workforce of “Highly trained individuals who have their hearts, minds and spirits in the right
place”.
Training workshops to build community capacity can add to a program’s impact and sustainability. As noted in the design
report for Our Men Our Healing (Gilmour, 2014, p. 15), “Growing a resilient local workforce by supporng men to enhance their
leadership and other skills will mean they can respond eecvely in their communies and wider society. This is essenal to
enabling change.”
4.1.3 Foundational activities
In the roots closest to the surface of the earth, drawing strength from the deeper roots and holding up the trunk of the tree,
are three foundaonal acvies:
1. Community connects to their spirituality and culture, and idenes priories for healing and opportunies to heal;
2. Community idenes exisng healing resources, and how these can be used and strengthened; and
3. Community gathers and builds its healing resources for individuals and “sll fractured” families and communies.
4.1.4 Healing activities
In the broad trunk of the tree, building on all the roots (values, resources and foundaonal acvies), are the actual healing
acvies. These must be self-determined. In Figure 4 we have shown a cross-secon of the trunk with four rings (individual,
family, community and society) to illustrate the link between the social ecological model and the Aboriginal world view.
At the boom of the trunk, the community creates a healing space and undertakes transgeneraonal healing for those
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were forcibly removed and their descendants—the rst, second, third and
fourth generaons (“the lost generaons”) and future generaons. Collecve healing pracce includes healing groups, camps
on country, instuonal gatherings, women’s and men’s business, therapeuc ways, truth telling, oral recordings and videos,
music, songs, art and cra, public installaons, and the Sorry Day Flower.
At the top of the trunk, the community evaluates and adapts its approach. In addion to strengthening local collecve healing
responses, capturing program processes and outcomes, and documenng the lessons learned, will also contribute to the
naonal evidence base for collecve healing. Demonstrang the cultural and social value of the dierent elements of these
programs will also assist in building understanding among the wider community and aracng ongoing funding.
INDIVIDUAL
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Figure 4. Social ecological model within the collecve healing tree
4.1.5 Individual and family, community and societal outcomes
Among the branches and leaves of the tree, supported by the trunk and nourished from the roots, are the outcomes—the
changes that you hope to see as a result of your work. The collecve healing tree contains societal outcomes, as well as
individual, family and community outcomes, because the full range of collecve healing responses will extend to the whole of
society, including the Australian community, government and instuons.
Although represented as separate fruits, in reality these outcomes are very much connected, with some overlap between
individual and family and community outcomes. None of the following lists is exhausve.
• Individual and family outcomes include: Access to services, Connecon to family, Improved relaonships, Connecon
to country, Connecon to culture, Connecon to community, Belonging, Cultural renewal, New skills and capabilies,
Identy, Strategies to address trauma, Feelings of wellbeing, Healthier behaviours, Spiritual health, Physical health,
Emoonal and mental health, and Restoring balance.
• Community outcomes include: Community safety, Mentors, Community leadership, Knowledge of history, Pride in
culture, Pursuit of new opportunies, Economic opportunies, Educaon opportunies, Strategies to address trauma,
Greater resilience, Holisc wellbeing, Healthier families, Healthier children, and Less ongoing trauma.
• Societal outcomes include: Response from whole of government (Police, Jusce, Child Protecon, Housing, Human
Services, Health and Educaon—“all the departments that have to change policies, pracces and behaviours in relaon to
the Stolen Generaons”), Response from churches and instuons, Inclusion, Legacy for future generaons, Reparaons,
Nave tle, Breaking the cycle, Healthier communies, and De-instuonalisaon.
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Muru Marri – A Resource for Collecve Healing for Members of the Stolen Generaons
Identy is a complex concept that is central to wellbeing. For many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were
forcibly removed as children, identy is a troubling issue. Although some of the stolen children have “nally come home”
(Edwards and Read, 1989), others have yet to discover their real name or nd where they belong. For all of them, loss of contact
with families, country and culture has meant “lost opportunity to be someone else”.
The concept of intergeneraonal trauma recognises that past government forcible removal policies created an ongoing legacy
of sorrow and trauma for Stolen Generaons members, as well as for the families and communies from which they were
taken. The Bringing them home report (HREOC, 1997) recommended that reparaons should be guided by the van Boven
principles and should consist of: acknowledgement and apology, guarantees against repeon, measures of restuon,
measures of rehabilitaon, and monetary compensaon.
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5 GETTING STARTED
Before you plunge into your program, project or acvity it is important to be clear about why you are doing it and who it is for.
Spend some me thinking and yarning with others about the following quesons:
• Why do you want to do it?
• What movated you in the rst place?
• What do you want to change?
• What do you hope to achieve?
• Who is the program for?
• Who are the expected beneciaries?
If you keep your answers to these quesons in the front of your mind, and they are shared with others, it will help you keep
focused and on track.
6 ETHICS AND PRINCIPLES
Any healing program or project needs a set of ethics and principles to act as a safety net for parcipants, workers and the
organisaon. Sources of guidance in this area come from work that has been done in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heath
research (Naonal Health and Medical Research Council/NHMRC, 2003), establishing the Naonal Congress of Australia’s First
Peoples (Calma et al., 2009), and the pracce of organisaonal learning and service delivery with Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander people, especially the Stolen Generaons (Sheehan, 2012).
The document Values and Ethics: Guidelines for Ethical Conduct in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Heath Research (NHMRC,
2003) idened six core values as being important to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. These are: Spirit and
Integrity, Reciprocity, Respect, Equality, Survival and protecon, and Responsibility. The diverse responsibilies involve
“country, kinship bonds, caring for others, and the maintenance of cultural and spiritual awareness. The main responsibility is to
do no harm to any person, or any place” (NHMRC, 2006, p. 9).
The principles adopted by the Naonal Congress of Australia’s First Peoples emphasise Self-determinaon and Empowerment,
The United Naons Declaraon on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and Courageous leadership. They recognise that the
challenges faced require a long-term, intergeneraonal vision and commit the organisaon to meaningful engagement,
innovaon, high standards of research and sustainable soluons, drawing strength from culture and history.
Work by Link-Up (Qld) has idened four principles of constant organisaonal learning: Respect, Knowing, Sharing and Caring.
In service delivery, working with individuals and whole communies, the organisaon has adopted the principles of Recovery-
oriented pracce. The term ‘recovery’ as used here refers to both the internal condions experienced by people who describe
themselves as being in recovery (hope, healing, empowerment and connecon) and the external condions that facilitate
recovery (implementaon of human rights, a posive culture of healing and recovery oriented services) (Sheehan, 2012, p. 69).
According to Dr Norman Sheehan (2012), the recovery of Indigenous populaons around the world aer colonisaon requires
principles that:
• recognise the uniqueness of the individual, their journey and context,
• empower individuals by providing real choices to them in their journey of healing,
• place the dignity, respect and rights of individuals as rst priories,
• work with individuals in partnership and through open and equal communicaon, and
• evaluate recovery in the interest of individuals and future clients.
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Dr Sheehan and others are currently formulang a set of Principles of Aboriginal Healing Pracce. These will be a valuable tool
to support both individual and collecve healing responses for Australia’s Stolen Generaons. Unl they are available, the
principles listed above oer a useful guide.
Look back over the values and principles that are highlighted in bold type above:
• Which ones are important to you?
• Are there others that you think could be added in your seng?
7 PRACTICALITIES
Once you are clear about why and who for, and your ethics and principles, you need give some thought to the praccalies.
Timing and resources, including people and funds, are especially important, as is exibility and the ability to negoate with
mulple stakeholders.
7.1 Timing and resources
There are no hard and fast guidelines about how long things take, as that will depend on the program or project, but it is helpful
to start out by thinking in broad terms about the major acvies involved and then work out a rough meline, allowing for each
of them.
Timing quesons might include:
• What is the urgency of the project?
• Are there targets?
• Are there deadlines such as a submission date for funding applicaons or a compleon date?
• Who wants what by when?
You will need to revisit ming, maybe several mes, when you move into the planning phase.
Resources usually include people and money, for example:
• How many people will be needed for the program?
• What skills and connecons do you need?
• Who will be in the management group or steering commiee?
• What other resources (cash or in-kind) will be needed?
If the program is really going to cost you something, you need to work out a budget and obtain funding. See Secon 8.1, Step 5
for more informaon on budgeng.
Much of the funding for collecve healing has been short term; one or, maybe two, years at most. Increasingly, people
are concerned about sustainability—how to keep things going and extend the outcomes aer the inial funding runs
out. Commonwealth and State/Territory government departments are one possible source of further funding. If you can
demonstrate your achievements, you may be well placed to aract addional or ongoing support, especially if you can show
what you are doing is in line with government policy and current priories.
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Other possible sources of further funding include the Healing Foundaon (especially for innovave, developmental work) and
Philanthropic Trusts with an interest in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander issues. In some regions, industry and businesses
may be worth approaching. Within communies, consider Local Councils and service clubs such as Rotary. For many reasons,
it is good to work with local community partners. To start with, it can boost the pool of resources and give you greater leverage
in compeve funding applicaons. Once again, it is important to be strategic in targeng and framing your proposal.
Licensing, and then markeng, any resources and tools developed may also provide a small income stream for some
organisaons. Others distribute their resources for free (paid for by the organisaon or grant funded), or on cost-recovery basis.
Raising funds and support via the Internet (crowdsourcing) is another avenue worth exploring.
7.2 Suggesons for funding bodies
Box 3 includes several suggesons for funding bodies who want to support local collecve healing responses. Successful
outcomes are more likely if funders allow me for meaningful community engagement and take into account organisaonal and
community priories and capacity.
Box 3. Suggesons for funding bodies
1. Don’t be in a rush, but allow Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to work in their own me.
2. If seed funding is provided, build in the potenal to apply for an ongoing contract based on successful outcomes.
3. Recognise the importance of, and fund, the process as well as the products.
4. Allow some exibility in determining outputs and outcomes (less prescripve).
5. Base funding for service delivery not just on client numbers but, also, on the level and range of work done and level of
support needed to do it.
6. Allow for addional costs associated with outreach and working in remote communies.
7. Include funds for organisaonal capacity building (workforce development).
8. Fund well-established, eecve programs to mentor others, leveraging their experse and giving them an addional
income stream.
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Muru Marri – A Resource for Collecve Healing for Members of the Stolen Generaons
8 BREAKING EVERYTHING DOWN – Phases and steps
So, let’s assume you are clear about purpose and have given some thought to praccalies such as ming and resources.
Now you are ready to really get down to work. When organisaons or groups of people set out to change things, they oen
start by developing a plan of acon. Planning is followed by implementaon which is followed by evaluaon. These three
phases (planning, implementaon and evaluaon) constute the basic program cycle.
While the program cycle is oen shown as a neat circle (see Figure 5), in pracce the sequence of phases and steps should be
suited to the local context—the place, the people involved and the nature of the program. Certain steps will need to be revisited
throughout the process of program development and delivery. Another way to view this process is as an ongoing process or
spiral (Walsh & Mitchell, 2002), as shown in Figure 6. To keep the spiral moving upwards in a posive direcon, programs need
regular monitoring as well as ongoing resourcing or “nourishment”.
Figure 5: Program cycle
Figure 6: Making the circle a spiral
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8.1 Planning – what will you do and how will you do it
Planning has been dened as “the process by which a desired future is conceived and an eecve way of delivering this is
developed and sourced” (Field, 2012, p. 12).
The planning or design phase involves a number of steps: bringing people together; gathering informaon; deciding on goals
and objecves; allocang responsibility for the various acvies and tasks and developing a me line; developing a budget; and
seng up monitoring and evaluaon processes. These are discussed in broad terms below and illustrated with examples from
Stolen Generaons collecve healing programs and projects around the country. Appendix D contains a copy of the planning
template currently used for Stolen Generaons specic projects funded by the Healing Foundaon.
Step 1: Bring people together and develop relaonships
People are the most crical resource to any program or project. Involvement of Stolen Generaons Elders and members is
fundamental:
“ Let us do the stuff the way we want to do it. Empowerment. Use our own mob.
Don’t design programs and give them to us, we have to do for ourselves.”
Involving other individuals and organisaons as early as possible means they are more likely to feel that that they are part of the
program or project, and to work to help you succeed. Your exisng contacts and networks provide a good place to start. They
might refer you on to someone else. These may not necessarily be people you would bring onto to the management group, but
people who can help you in some way (eg by adversing, making a venue available or assisng with transport and logiscs). The
following examples illustrate a range of dierent scenarios.
Example 1
The ex-Cherbourg Dormitory Boys (Domo Boys) Gathering held in Boonah in 2013 was driven, and the ground work
was done, by a Working Group comprised of four of the Men. They applied for funding and then approached other
organisaons (including Link-Up (Qld) who agreed to auspice funds and Gallang Place (an Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander counselling service based in Brisbane) and individuals (including an Aboriginal psychologist and an Aboriginal
physiotherapist) for help and support. The me and input from all pares in the planning phase was a key factor in the
gathering’s success, while building the relaonships between the Men themselves was another valuable outcome.
Example 2
In 2012, the Kimberley Stolen Generaons Link-Up Service organised healing art camps at Port Smith Resort, south
of Broome. The key people involved were Stolen Generaons members, Link-Up ocers, SEWB workers and Port
Smith Resort, but the project was mainly driven by the Stolen Generaons who decided what they wanted and “felt
empowered”. “The members felt a sense of ownership, and a sense of freedom in their name, in their program for them.”
Example 3
For the Hearelt project conducted in Kalgoorlie in 2014, Yorgum Aboriginal Corporaon engaged a local consultant, an
experienced social worker and song facilitator with the Wongatha Aboriginal people. The consultant helped to develop
and deliver music workshops that would give Aboriginal young people the opportunity to talk about the impact of the
Stolen Generaons era for their aunes, uncles and grandparents. She explained: “I talked and canvassed a lot of people
to see if it was a good idea. I talked it up, took a while. Then I went back and see if, and how, they could be involved. Some
would do pick-up bus, food, or other jobs; we all did something. You have to build on what is already there, eg youth
groups and community networks and relaonships. I looked for a safe place and considered dierent language groups.
I strengthened partnerships with Aboriginal mentors to support and promote the project. They were especially helpful with
the cultural things … Like the idea of the passport; you can’t just go in everywhere.”
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Muru Marri – A Resource for Collecve Healing for Members of the Stolen Generaons
Step 2: Gather informaon on local needs issues and the exisng service environment, as well as evidence for eecve strategies
You might want to organise local consultaons. Think about who to collect informaon from and the best way to collect it,
eg interviews, surveys, yarning circles. Do you have to provide some informaon rst? What is the best format?
Evidence about ‘what works’ can be obtained from evaluaon of other programs and the academic literature. Find out who else
is running collecve healing programs for Stolen Generaons members and contact them. Ask if they have evaluaon reports
or data. Explore the Healing Foundaon’s website and the Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet online resources. Look for
programs and projects that have been posively evaluated. Some of their ideas, resources and tools may be applicable to your
program too.
Example
The design process for Healing Waters, a new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Counselling and Wellbeing
Service in Townsville based on Brisbane’s Gallang Place model, involved engagement with the whole community.
Input, especially idencaon of service gaps, was sought from a wide range of stakeholders: Elders, Stolen
Generaons, Indigenous communies and community networks, Townsville Aboriginal and Islander health Service,
SEWB workers, Aboriginal Men’s Group, Red Dust Healing, Probaon Centre managers, Closing the Gap Indigenous
sta at the Medicare Local, General praconers, Relaonships Australia and other NGOs operang in North
Queensland; as well as Gallang Place and the Healing Foundaon. What made the process so good was that “the
design will adopt a ‘best pracce’ model from Gallang Place, but the wider community will also provide input so that
the outcome is that Healing Waters is designed by our community people to deliver diverse healing for our people”.
Step 3: Decide on the program goals and objecves
Once you have established the necessary relaonships and done your research, you are in a posion to decide, as a group, on
your program or project goals and objecves.
There are two sets of quesons to think about here:
• What do you want to achieve? What changes would you like to see? (your goals or aims)
• What will you do to achieve these? (your objecves)
In project management, people oen talk about seng SMART objecves. These are objecves that are Specic, Measurable,
Achievable, Relevant and Time bound (see Box 4).
Box 4. SMART objecve seng
Element Descripon
Smart Make each objecve as specic as possible.
It is useful to start with an acon word, eg Create, Establish, Extend, Improve, Increase, Reduce or Support.
Measurable Decide how you will measure your achievements and progress.
How will you know if you’ve achieved your objecve? Where will you get the data?
Including a variety of measures will make your conclusions more reliable.
Achievable Make sure what you set out to do is achievable.
Do you have the skills and resources to achieve the objecve? Can you get them? Is the objecve
dependent on factors over which you have no control?
It is good to have objecves that involve a bit of a stretch or a challenge but there is a good chance that
you can achieve them in the not too distant future. Objecves that are too hard or take too long can be
disempowering, while those that are too easy may not be movang at all.
Relevant Ensure each objecve is relevant to your goals.
Will it have an eect on the overall goals?
Evidence of relevance can come from a literature review, good pracces, or your program logic.
Time bound Make each objecve me bound by adding a reasonable target date.
When will this objecve be accomplished?
Even if you want to stay exible, a target date and some milestones help to keep things on track.
Milestones also oer opportunies for small celebraons on the way.
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Wring SMART objecves also helps you to think about and idenfy elements of the evaluaon—performance indicators and
measures (see Secon 8.3).
Having said all that, we recognise that it is somemes dicult to write all your objecves in advance because they will come out
of project itself. Process is also important. In cases like this, highlight the processes!
In deciding on your goals and objecves, remember your why, who for and ethics and principles!
Step 4: Idenfy the various acvies and tasks involved and who will be responsible for each of them, and develop a me
line.
Each objecve should be broken down into acvies and tasks. Think about who will be responsible for what and by when, and
what resources they will need. In addion to paid workers, volunteers play a major role in many Stolen Generaons programs
and projects. Consider administraon and reporng as well as service delivery and evaluaon. Also give some thought to
sustaining the program outcomes over me and risk management.
Somemes, especially if you have a partner or partners that you plan to collaborate with long term, it can be helpful to develop
a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU). MOUs specify mutually-accepted expectaons between two or more organisaons
or groups as they work together towards a common objecve. Generally, they are not legally binding and do not involve the
exchange of money.
Example 1
Key people and organisaons involved in delivering Link Up SA’s Reunion to Self were Stolen Generaons members and
Elders, local Tradional Owners from the Adelaide region, Tandanya Naonal Aboriginal Cultural Instute and the Kaurna
Living Culture Centre. Direct delivery of the program was guided by the two Link Up counsellors with support from the
case workers. The local Tradional Owners led the site visits. The rst project cycle was supported by the Link Up team
manager who observed the process and documented impacts and outcomes.
Example 2
In the Hearelt project “everyone” had a role in delivery: the PCYC provided a neutral safe place to hold the song-wring
workshops for Aboriginal young people; Yorgum and Centercare sta did pick-ups and drop-os and, also, aended the
group sessions as mentors, as did Goldelds-Midwest Medicare Local and Department of Child Protecon sta; the BTH
Counsellor gave support and contributed a poem about the Stolen Generaons that became a “touchstone” or focus for
the project; Link-Up facilitated; Bega Garnbirringu Health Service provided food; the youth groups provided youth worker
support; and the musical facilitators brought a range of musical skills and mentor abilies.
Your me line should take into consideraon the environment in which the program or project will be implemented, the scope
of the change expected, and how it ts into the overall work plans of everyone involved. Factor in other work and family
commitments, school holidays and annual leave. If an objecve concerns an ongoing acvity, break it into tasks or acons and
set target dates for each task.
Sustainability
Sustainability can mean dierent things: from extending the life and reach of a program or project, to building individual and
community capacity. Box 5 lists approaches to sustainability in the twelve projects reviewed.
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Muru Marri – A Resource for Collecve Healing for Members of the Stolen Generaons
Box 5. Working towards sustainability
• Collaborang with other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisaons
• Maintaining contact with counselling services
• Incorporang projects as part of ongoing programs (eg SEWB)
• Recording stories in books and on lm
• Developing resources (eg community learning tools, self-help tools and booklets)
• Sourcing addional funds and securing corporate sponsorship
• Extending programs to include Stolen Generaons descendants and the wider community
• Connuing with Stolen Generaon support groups
• Duplicang successful programs
• Strengthening capacity of community parcipants
• Including a training component for Aboriginal workers
• Educang and upskilling local service providers to beer serve Stolen Generaons clients
Risk Management
A risk is an uncertain event that can be either posive or negave. Risk management refers to the idencaon and assessment
of unfavourable risks or threats (what could go wrong), followed by acon to reduce or avoid those risks. Risks can come from
both external and internal sources. They are oen assessed in terms of consequences: What would be the resulng impact
on your project: insignicant, minor, moderate, major or catastrophic? What is the probability or likelihood of this happening:
almost certain, likely, moderate, unlikely or rare? You can nd more informaon on planning for risk in the book by Dwyer et al.
(2004)—See Secon 10.2.3.
Step 5: Determine costs and available resources and tailor the program accordingly
If your program can’t be done within exisng resources and is really going cost you something, you need to work out a budget.
First, list everything you can’t get for free. Also list things you can get for free (somemes shown in a budget as an ‘in-kind’
contribuon) since these will need to be factored in if you are working towards sustainability or plan to repeat the program
in the future. A typical budget might include some or all of the following items: sta costs, advisor/consultant fees, meeng
costs, venue hire, catering, prinng, communicaons, equipment, art and cra supplies, vehicle hire and fuel, travel and
accommodaon, gis, and evaluaon. Think carefully about travel and accommodaon as these oen end up cosng more than
ancipated.
Remember to plan for parcipants with special needs, eg disability access at your venue or special dietary requirements
and medical needs. If carers are accompanying elderly or frail parcipants, you will need to arrange and for their travel and
expenses too. Follow-up with parcipants aer a healing event needs to be factored in too.
Appendix A of the Healing Centres report contains guidelines for cosng a healing centre. They advise that costs need to be
oset against any revenue or income received to determine whether the healing centre will be viable (KPMG, 2012).
Step 6: Set up processes for monitoring, evaluaon and review
Monitoring, evaluaon and review need to be considered during the planning phase, rather than as an aerthought.
• Monitoring involves the connuous measurement of progress towards a goal or objecve. Monitoring is concerned with
checking outputs or acvies, eg if a lm or book capturing Stolen Generaons stories has been produced or if workshops
have been completed by a certain date.
• Evaluaon involves determining whether your program is eecve, using performance measures to see if you are
actually achieving your objecves. Evaluaon is concerned with processes and outcomes, eg if the lm or book results in
greater community understanding of the Stolen Generaons era or more people feeling comfortable to speak about their
experiences, or the workshops lead to more people using the available services. Evaluaon can internal (conducted by
you) or an external evaluator may be engaged.
• Review is the process of looking again at the overall program direcon and priories to check if you have the right
objecves or strategies.
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Example
The Healing Foundaon has developed a standard project reporng template. In addion to the number of parcipants
engaged and the number of Indigenous sta or consultants employed, all twelve projects reviewed were required to
indicate, from data collected, the degree to which the Stolen Generaons parcipants were sased with the project.
The average was 9 out of 10, with a range from 7 to 10. In addion, projects were required to report against relevant
naonal outcomes using a 10-point scale and say how they gathered these data. The nine Stolen Generaons projects
reported the following very posive results:
• For Outcome 1, Stolen Generaons members have an increased sense of belonging and connecon to culture, the
average response was 8.2 out of 10.
• For Outcome 2, Stolen Generaons members have an increased understanding and strength in caring for their loss and
grief, the average response was 8.1 out of 10.
• For Outcome 3, Stolen Generaons members have increased knowledge and condence in ulising support services
available, the average response was 8.1 out of 10.
Data sources included wrien evaluaon forms (completed by parcipants and counsellors); group yarning circles;
individual verbal feedback; follow-up phone calls; regular meengs and feedback sheets aer workshops; and feedback
from community and the services involved.
8.2 Implementaon – pung your plan into acon
This is where you do any preparaon required (adversing, organising the logiscs for healing camps, etc) and roll your
program out. Good management and communicaon within the organisaon or group, and good coordinaon with external
stakeholders, is essenal. You may want to start and end with a celebraon, eg launch or closing event.
Regular meengs of the management team and reference group will help keep everyone informed. For some healing programs,
which are more uid or organic and where you are feeling your way through, this is parcularly important.
In all acvies it is important not to be judgemental or prescripve; again “one size does not t all”. The nature of healing
requires that Stolen Generaons members have the freedom to set the agenda and decide for themselves. As one rst
generaon survivor explained, what made his rst healing camp so good was: “No expectaons or demands by any people of
authority. This was ours.”
The importance of creang and maintaining a safe space has already been discussed (Secon 3.3.3). Having counsellors
and support workers available at a workshop or camp allows for a combinaon of individual group work and provides an
opportunity for parcipants to get to know service providers, while follow-up aerwards can provide a bridge to ongoing care.
Remember that all referrals require informed consent.
Having a role for everyone and valuing all posive contribuons encourages a sense of connecon, belonging and achievement.
Each role, however small, in working together for healing is important. The following examples illustrate careful processes and
successful outcomes.
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Muru Marri – A Resource for Collecve Healing for Members of the Stolen Generaons
Example 1
Guthlan Indigenous Training for Stolen Generaons organised by Gurriny Yealamucka Health Service involved signicant
cultural input. Parcipants were connected to country through visits to sacred sites led by the Tradional Owners and to
their family history and identy through individual sessions with an Indigenous anthropologist. Tradional stories were
told through the yarning circles. Connuing support and care was provided by the SEWB Unit and the BTH Counsellor at
the Health Service. The main thing that made project so good was that “almost all partners were Indigenous from these
communies and understood all the issues”.
Example 2
In 2013, KSGAC organised healing art classes for the Stolen Generaons Support Group, with input from an independent art
instructor who is also a Stolen Generaons member. Various art forms (murals, banners, small canvas) and dierent styles
and techniques were used, with themes around their relaonship to their original country and memories. The project was
endorsed by the KSGAC board and implemented by sta based on the needs, wants and dreams of the Stolen Generaons
members. The process unfolded in their me and space and involved their stories and experiences. The parcipants
owned the program and the nal products and said they enjoyed the way the classes brought them together and brought
outsiders in too. The posive outcomes were seen in the products which, when publically displayed, gave a sense of pride,
identy, recognion and being loved: “Knowing what love is and what love is to each other – love in terms of healing”.
Example 3
As part of the Connecve Art iniave, Link-Up (Qld) sta recorded the art works and people’s stories and then built
a travelling exhibion and movie of the stories which went to each community involved. One of the Aboriginal arts
facilitators remarked aerwards: “It’s been a very successful program; the community has shown a lot of support towards
the program, both the Indigenous community and the wider community. I hope that by our journey within the group
and where we’ve come as a group, will help us strengthen ourselves emoonally, and spiritually. We’re ready to explore
dierent places.”
Source: Link-Up (Qld) website.
8.3 Evaluaon – What have we achieved? What have we learned? How can we improve?
The Healing Foundaon is commied to building and verifying evidence for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander healing
iniaves. This involves supporng evaluaon at the program level and the organisaonal level—the Healing Foundaon itself
(Higgins et al., 2013).
Program evaluaon is a complex eld and there are many dierent and compeng views about how it should be done. Put
simply, evaluaon is an organised eort to understand how eecve a program or project is and how it can be made more
eecve. It can be undertaken in a ‘developmental’ or ‘formave’ manner that supports the development and renement
of the program design, or in a ‘summave’ manner that measures the eecveness of the program design implemented in a
parcular context. Summave evaluaon is used to provide evidence of outcomes, including unintended outcomes, and their
value. It should measure whether you have achieved your goals, not merely whether you have completed the acvies in your
program plan. Typically, evaluaon shis from developmental and formave to summave, and from informal to rigorous, over
me (Owen & Rogers, 1999).
By providing evidence and insight about the condions necessary for healing to occur and how healing works for dierent
people, as well as documenng the broader outcomes, evaluaon has an important role to play in helping Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander communies to strengthen their own healing pracces, as well as encouraging broader support for healing work.
As noted in the Healing Centres report (KPMG, 2012, p. 36), in order to full this role evaluaon must be undertaken in a way
that:
page 40
• reects an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander worldview,
• is accountable to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communies, and
• acknowledges and respects Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures, and knowledge systems.
Evaluaons that are responsive to, and ulmately owned and led by, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communies will
work dierently to mainstream evaluaons. Timeframes, methods, relaonships between evaluators and stakeholders, and
the idencaon and measurement of outcomes all need to be adapted. As with program design, “it is important that each
community have the opportunity to shape evaluaon of their own healing centre or programs, and to select measures, tools,
approaches and responses which are meaningful to them” (KPMG, 2012, p. 36).
There are a numerous guides and tools available to help with planning and managing an evaluaon—see Secon 10. Methods
that have been idened as promising opons for evaluang Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander healing programs include
Parcipatory Acon Research (PAR) and the Most Signicant Change (MSC) Technique (Gilmour, 2014; KPMG, 2012). MSC is a
narrave technique that is oen used in evaluaon to supplement numerical indicators (Wadsworth, 2014).
It is good pracce to collect data using a range of tools and from a range of sources. You may nd an exisng measurement tool
that suits your purpose and use it as it is or modify it, or you can create your own. Some people don’t like wring while others
are happy to ll in a survey or feedback form. Some prefer to talk about the changes they have experienced and others prefer
to draw or paint. Among the twelve Healing Foundaon-funded projects reviewed, formal and informal verbal feedback during
service delivery and aerwards were found be parcularly helpful.
The Growth and Empowerment Measure (GEM; Haswell et al., 2010) is based on extensive qualitave research and
consultaons with Aboriginal people who had parcipated in the Family Wellbeing Program. The GEM has undergone validaon
in a range of sengs and is now being used to evaluate several programs working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
adults and youth. The Dulwich Centre Foundaon’s ‘Tree of Life’, although designed primarily as a healing tool, can also be used
to illustrate changes experienced by program parcipants over me.
Quality measures focus on client experience and sasfacon with the service or program itself.
You can measure sasfacon with services by using a tool such as a short quesonnaire (which could be administered as an
interview) and by quanfying responses. Client stories and case studies collected on a periodic basis would provide addional
informaon about the quality of care that individuals receive and the associated health and social outcomes. Connuous
Quality Improvement (CQI) refers to a system of regular reecon and renement to improve processes and outcomes that will
provide quality care (see Lowitja Instute CQI website).
In summary, evaluaon involves appraising the implementaon of a program, considering what has been achieved, what has
been learned and what can be improved, and documenng these results and good pracce. Like the rest of your program or
project, evaluaon requires ethical pracce. These issues are discussed briey in the Healing Centres report (KPMG, 2012),
which also includes a list of ps to bear in mind if you are looking for an academic partner or a consultant to help with the
evaluaon phase of your program or project.
Quesons to consider when thinking and yarning about evaluaon include:
• Will your evaluaon be developmental/formave or summave?
• What evaluaon methods and measures will you use?
• How will you collect the data?
• What are the ethical issues involved? How will you address them?
• If you think you will need technical assistance, who can you get to help?
Secon 10 provides a list of resources that can guide you in this area.
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Muru Marri – A Resource for Collecve Healing for Members of the Stolen Generaons
9 DISSEMINATION – Sharing your experience and learning
Before you move on or plunge into another project, think about sharing your experiences and the lessons learned. This will
help others, as well as helping to build the evidence base for this emerging eld of collecve healing for members of the Stolen
Generaons.
You might like to take some me to think about the following quesons:
• Who needs to know about this work?
• Are there other organisaons or groups who would benet?
• What is the best way to let them know?
• What would they like to know?
There are many ways of leng people know what you have done. Most funding agencies will require a nal report, usually in a
prescribed format. Other opons include producing your own wrien report presented in your own way (give some thought to
best way to do this), giving a verbal report at meengs (perhaps accompanied by a 1-page summary sheet), making and showing
a video recording (again with a short wrien summary), or pung together a photographic collecon, a poster, or a CD or DVD.
Think about what your target group reads: newspapers, magazines, newsleers. Don’t overlook the Internet and social media,
eg Facebook or a YouTube clip.
Example
Link-Up (Qld) distributes 2,000 newsleers quarterly and has an e-version on their website. Volume 10 May–June
2014 contains reports on the Lake Tinaroo and Tambourine healing camps, as well as lengthy feedback from one of the
parcipants that was tled: “Awesome! Just what the Health System ordered!”
You might want to present your ndings directly to government to advocate for ongoing support. You might also think about
presenng your work at a conference (this can be an oral presentaon or a poster), or wring an arcle for publicaon in a
journal or book, or providing short descripon for Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet. It depends on who you want reach.
Example 1
Link Up SA gave a presentaon on Reunion to Self at the SEWB conference held in Brisbane in June 2014, aended by
180 SEWB workers from around Australia. Conference delegates shared good pracce projects and iniaves from their
communies, including many healing programs.
Example 2
Marumali was rst presented by Aunty Lorraine Peeters at the NSW Mental Health Conference in 1999. Chapters wrien
by Peeters, Powell and Wanganeen are included in Working Together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health
and Wellbeing Principles and Pracce (Dudgeon et al., 2014).
page 42
Many projects do not lead only to verbal presentaons, reports to stakeholders and published papers. Some have other outputs
that may be of use to others such as educaonal resources or workshop tools, or a collecon of stories or songs or painngs.
If these are to be used and acted on, they need to be promoted and marketed. Again, think about which groups are likely to
be interested and the best ways of leng them know about the product and, if you are intending to charge for it, how much it
costs.
Example
From the Connecve Art project, Link-Up (Qld) produced a coee-table book, Respecul Designs, which they then
oered for sale through their newsleer on their website with income being used to support ongoing cultural and healing
programs. “The visual strength of these works and the record of expressions of social and emoonal.connecon promoted
by this program are a testament to the resilience of our Indigenous cultures. Some of these works delve into the wounded
spaces of forced removal and .community dislocaon; others deeply express the cultural integrity of our people.”
Source: Link-Up (Qld) Newsleer, vol. 5, February–March 2013, p. 23.
10 OTHER SOURCES OF INFORMATION AND RESOURCES
10.1 Internet resources
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Healing Foundaon website, hp://healingfoundaon.org.au/
Reports available online include:
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Healing Programs: A Literature Review
Why healing services are a good investment
Healing Centres
Our Healing Our Soluons
Our Healing Our Soluons: Sharing Our Evidence
Our Men Our Healing
The Story of the Healing Foundaon – YouTube www.youtube.com/watch?v=zDN7R6qRpUg
Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet website, www.healthinfonet.ecu.edu.au/
The Australian Indigenous HealthInfoNet is an innovative Internet resource, based at Edith Cowan University
in Perth, which aims to inform pracce and policy in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health by making research
and other knowledge readily accessible. It has an extensive secon on social and emoonal wellbeing including mental
health and healing.
Dulwich Centre website, www.dulwichcentre.com.au/tree-of-life.html
Informaon on collecve narrave pracce and applying the Tree of Life approach in working with vulnerable children,
young people and adults in dierent contexts.
The Lowitja Instute Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health CRC website, www.lowitja.org.au/licrc/
The Lowitja Instute is Australia’s naonal instute for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health research. Social and
emoonal wellbeing and connuous quality improvement (CQI) are two of the many research themes.
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Muru Marri – A Resource for Collecve Healing for Members of the Stolen Generaons
BeerEvaluaon website, hp://beerevaluaon.org/
BeerEvaluaon is an internaonal collaboraon to improve evaluaon pracce and theory by sharing informaon
about opons (methods or tools) and approaches. RMIT University in Melbourne was of the founding partners. The
website is a useful source from which to select guidance to apply to your evaluaon work, as well as providing links to
more detailed arcles and advice.
10.2 Reports, books and guides
10.2.1 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander healing
In addion to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Healing Foundaon reports listed above that can be accessed through
their website, the following books and guides may be useful.
Sheehan N. (2012). Stolen Generaons Educaon: Aboriginal Cultural Strengths and Social and Emoonal Wellbeing.
Brisbane: Link-Up Queensland.
This book (232 pages) was designed as a resource for counsellors, teachers and community members to give them an
understanding of the history of Aboriginal and child removals in Queensland and the resulng impact on Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander people and their communies. It includes an excellent annotated bibliography and resource
directory.
Dudgeon P, Milroy H & Roz Walker R. (2014). Working Together: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Mental Health and
Wellbeing Principles and Pracce, 2nd edn. Perth: Telethon Instute for Child Health Research/Kulunga Research Network,
in collaboraon with the University of Western Australia. hp://aboriginal.telethonkids.org.au/kulunga-research-network/
working-together-2nd-edion-(1)/
This book (588 pages) was developed as an informaon source for health professionals working with Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people with social and emoonal wellbeing and substance use issues. Many of the chapters were
authored by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The nal part covers healing models and programs for specic
groups including the Stolen Generaons.
Chapters of parcular relevance to healing include:
4. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social and Emoonal Wellbeing
Graham Gee, Pat Dudgeon, Clinton Schultz, Amanda Hart & Kerrie Kelly
24. Community Life and Development Programs – Pathways to Healing
Helen Milroy, Pat Dudgeon & Roz Walker
25. Enhancing Wellbeing, Empowerment, Healing and Leadership
Pat Dudgeon, Roz Walker, Clair Scrine, Kathleen Cox, Divina D’Anna, Cheryl Dunkley, Kerrie Kelly & Katherine Hams
27. Red Dust Healing: Acknowledging the Past, Changing the Future
Tom Powell, Randal Ross, Darryl Kicke & James F Donnelly
28. Seven Phases to Integrang Loss and Grief
Rosemary Wanganeen
29. The Marumali Program: Healing for Stolen Generaons
Lorraine Peeters, Shaan Hamann & Kerrie Kelly
page 44
10.2.2 Human rights
Australian Human Rights Commission/AHRC. (2010). The Community Guide to the UN Declaraon on the Rights of Indigenous
Peoples, www.humanrights.gov.au/publicaons/community-guide-un-declaraon-rights-indigenous-peoples
The Declaraon is described as “the most comprehensive tool we have available to advance the rights of Indigenous
peoples”.
van Boven T & Bassiouni MC. (2005). Basic principles and guidelines on the rights to a remedy and reparaon for vicms of
gross violaons of internaonal human rights law. Geneva: Oce of the United Naons High Commissioner for Human Rights.
10.2.3 Project management and planning
Dwyer J, Stanton P & Theissen V. (2004). Project Management in Health and Community Services: Geng good ideas to work.
Crows Nest, NSW; Allen & Unwin.
A praccal guide to project management in health and community sengs with useful chapters on planning (including
planning for risk), implementaon and evaluaon.
Field R. (2012). Planning and Budgeng Skills for Health and Social Work Managers. Los Angeles, CA: SAGE.
A small handbook designed to support front-line managers and team leaders working in a service delivery context with
planning and with budgeng and nancial management. It contains lots of examples as well as ps for success.
10.2.4 Evaluation and research
Wadsworth Y. (2011). Everyday Evaluaon on the Run: The User-Friendly Introductory
Guide to Eecve Evaluaon, 3rd edn. Crows Nest, NSW: Allen & Unwin.
This easy-to read book includes a very useful chapter that describes a range of dierent evaluaon approaches, models
and techniques including Appreciave Inquiry (AI) and the Most Signicant Change Technique (MSC).
Crane P & O’Regan M. (2010). On PAR – Using Parcipatory Acon Research to Improve Early Intervenon. Canberra:
Department of Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Aairs.
www.dss.gov.au/sites/default/les/documents/05_2012/reconnect_0.pdf
This manual is designed to assist human service praconers and agencies, and the communies they work with, to
enhance their skills in undertaking Parcipatory Acon Research (PAR). It outlines how PAR can be implemented to
help improve the situaons of young people, families and communies and provides praccal examples, tools and links
to complementary resources.
Davies R & Dart J. (2005). The Most Signicant Change (MSC) Technique: A Guide to Its Use. [Self- published].
www.mande.co.uk/docs/MSCGuide.pdf
From the Naonal Health and Medical Research Council (NHMRC):
Keeping Research on Track: A guide for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples about health research ethics is a
companion document to Values and Ethics: Guidelines for Ethical Conduct in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health
Research. Both are currently under review.
Keeping Research on Track is designed for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communies to use when they are
considering conducng or being involved with health research. It helps people become familiar with the stages in
the research journey and make decisions about health research. This helps ensure that the research journey respects
shared values as well as diversity, priories, needs and aspiraons of communies; and benets Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander peoples as well as researchers and other Australians. Values and Ethics and Keeping Research on
Track are to be used together, along with the Naonal Statement on Ethical Conduct in Human Research (2007-updated
2014).
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Muru Marri – A Resource for Collecve Healing for Members of the Stolen Generaons
GLOSSARY OF TERMS
Term Denion
Colonisaon and
decolonisaon
Colonisaon refers both to the Brish occupaon of the land called Australia and the
ongoing control of the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Decolonisaon
starts with an understanding the colonisaon process and how it works. It is the
responsibility of all Australians.
Connuous Quality
Improvement
Connuous Quality Improvement (CQI) refers to system of regular reecon and renement
to improve processes and outcomes that will provide quality health care.
Source: Lowitja Instute website.
Cultural knowledge An accumulaon of knowledge that has been handed down from generaon to generaon
which could be held by parcular individuals or family groups. It includes knowledge
about spiritual relaonships; relaonships with the environment and the use of natural
resources; and relaonships between people, which are reected in language, stories, social
organisaon, values, beliefs, and cultural laws and customs.
Source: Healing Foundaon’s Glossary of Healing Terms.
Empowerment Empowerment is an acve, parcipatory process through which individuals, groups and
communies gain greater control over their lives.
Evaluaon Evaluaon involves determining whether a program is eecve, using performance
measures to see if the goals and objecves are being achieved.
First generaon, and later
generaons
First generaon members of the Stolen Generaons were forcibly removed from their
families, their wider kin and community, and their country. They were forced to forgo their
language and cultural tradions. Their children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren are
referred to as second, third and fourth generaon members of the Stolen Generaons.
Identy Identy is the disncve characterisc which belongs to an individual, or is shared by
members of a group. It can be a sense of who you are and the community or communies
you are a part of. For many Stolen Generaons members, their sense of identy is
incomplete.
Adapted from: Healing Foundaon’s Glossary of Healing Terms.
Intergeneraonal trauma Intergeneraonal trauma is a form of historical trauma transmied across generaons.
Survivors of the inial experience who have not healed may pass on their trauma to
further generaons. In Australia intergeneraonal trauma parcularly aects the children,
grandchildren and future generaons of the Stolen Generaons.
Source: Healing Foundaon’s Glossary of Healing Terms.
Healing Healing refers to recovery from the psychological and physical impacts of trauma. For
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people this trauma is predominantly the result of
colonisaon and past government policies. Healing is not an outcome or a cure but a
process; a process that is unique to each individual. It enables individuals, families and
communies to gain control over the direcon of their lives and reach their full potenal.
Healing connues throughout a person’s lifeme and across generaons. It can take many
forms and is underpinned by a strong cultural and spiritual base.
Source: Healing Foundaon’s Glossary of Healing Terms.
page 46
Term Denion
Holisc A holisc approach to healing is a complete approach, dealing with the whole of a person’s
or community’s experience.
Kinship Kinship refers to the paerns of social relaonships, the way people are organised into
groups and how they are related to one another. It denes how people behave within a
community and how they understand their roles and responsibilies.
Source: Healing Foundaon’s Glossary of Healing Terms.
Monitoring Monitoring is involves the connuous measurement of progress towards a goal or objecve.
Program, project and
acvity
An acvity is specic undertaking that a person or group does; a project is a collecon of
planned acvies; and a program is a collecon of projects.
Program logic Program logic describes how a program or project is supposed to work. It can be
represented in many ways, both visually and in words, and can be applied not only to
programs but also to policies, strategies, funding iniaves and projects.
Resilience Resilience is an individual or collecve inner strength, developed over me, as a result or
reacon to stress or trauma. Resilience is about experiencing and idenfying adversity
and learning how to cope. Coping may include developing supporve relaonships,
strengthening links to culture and community, or engaging with support programs or
services.
Adapted from: Healing Foundaon’s Glossary of Healing Terms.
Reconciliaon Reconciliaon involves building mutually respecul relaonships between Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islanders and other Australians, allowing us to work together to solve problems
and generate success that is in everyone’s best interest.
Recovery Recovery refers to both internal condions experienced by persons who describe
themselves as being in recovery—hope, healing, empowerment and connecon, and
external condions that facilitate recovery—implementaon of human rights, a posive
culture of healing and recovery-oriented services.
Source: Sheehan (2012).
Self-determinaon The freedom of a group of people to determine their own future, including polical,
economic, social and cultural development. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
it means taking control over their own aairs.
Social and emoonal
wellbeing
Social and emoonal wellbeing is a broad concept. It is a state where individuals and
communies are strong, proud, happy and healthy. It includes being able to adapt to daily
challenges while leading a fullling life. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people land,
culture, spirituality, ancestry, family and community are central to wellbeing.
Spiritual health Spiritual health is a focus on the strong spirits of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
and is an important part of culture. It emphasises people’s relaonships with each other,
with land and place; and the connecon between past, present and future. Over me,
spiritual health has been weakened as a result of colonisaon, assimilaon and Stolen
Generaons policies.
Source: Healing Foundaon’s Glossary of Healing Terms.
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Muru Marri – A Resource for Collecve Healing for Members of the Stolen Generaons
Term Denion
Stolen Generaons The Stolen Generaons are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children who were forcibly
removed from their families as a result of past Australian government policies, from the late
1800s to the 1970s. The removed children were sent to instuons or fostered or adopted
to non-Indigenous families. Ulmately, the intenon of child removal was to break parental
links and sever cultural aachments to kin and country.
Adapted from: Healing Foundaon’s Glossary of Healing Terms.
Trauma Trauma is an emoonal response to a deeply distressing or disturbing event or series of
events; it can occur at a personal level and at a collecve level. Trauma aects a person’s
physical or emoonal safety. It is oen accompanied by feelings of intense fear, helplessness
and horror, and can aect a person for many decades and in many dierent ways. If people
have not had the opportunity to heal, then they may act out their pain in negave ways
including physical or emoonal violence, abuse or addicon.
Adapted from: Healing Foundaon’s Glossary of Healing Terms.
Trauma-informed pracce Trauma-informed pracce is a strengths-based approach to healing that: is based on an
understanding of, and responsiveness to, the impact of trauma; emphasises physical,
psychological, and emoonal safety for people seeking help and for the helpers; and
creates opportunies for people aected by trauma to rebuild a sense of control and
empowerment. It recognises the prevalence of trauma and is sensive to and informed by
the impacts of trauma on the wellbeing of individuals and communies.
Source: Healing Foundaon’s Glossary of Healing Terms.
page 48
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Muru Marri – A Resource for Collecve Healing for Members of the Stolen Generaons
APPENDICES
APPENDIX A: METHODS USED IN CREATING THIS RESOURCE
The project to develop this resource was conducted in four stages as described below. The Muru Marri consultancy team
worked closely with the Healing Foundaon’s program sta throughout. Members of the Healing Foundaon’s Stolen
Generaons Reference Commiee provided general guidance as well as contribung to the stakeholder consultaons.
Stage 1 involved a project incepon meeng between Muru Marri and the Healing Foundaon to establish relaonships and
ongoing guidance and communicaon mechanisms, and to nalise the methodology and project milestones.
Stage 2, establishing what was already known in this area, involved three components:
1. a brief literature review and analysis of the policy context
2. a review of Stolen Generaons specic projects funded by the Healing Foundaon
3. a series of consultaons with key stakeholders to ascertain their views and input.
The literature review was designed to build on exisng work by the Healing Foundaon and others, rather than starng anew.
This preliminary work led to idencaon of the issues which would be explored in the stakeholder consultaons:
• What is the nature of the healing required?
• What will collecve healing look like for these groups?
• How will healing cater for similaries and dierences in circumstances and contexts?
• What kinds of program/service delivery models are available? What kinds are desired?
• What kind of funding models would work to sustain programs?
• What are ‘best pracce’ approaches to providing healing in a collecve space?
• How do we ensure the capacity to evaluate our approaches?
• What kind of program logic would work for us?
Twelve projects that focussed wholly or partly on the Stolen Generaons were included in the project review (see Appendix
B). These were selected by the Healing Foundaon Project Ocer to provide a mix across target groups (gender, age and
experience) and geographic locaons, as well as Healing Foundaon funding streams. The Project Ocer also looked for
projects with detailed service delivery plans and performance reports as these were more likely to provide rich informaon
for analysis. The nal 12 included projects designed for former residents of instuons, for Link-Up clients and for the local
community.
A total of 19 people from organisaons around the country parcipated in the stakeholder consultaons (see Appendix C).
Sixteen of them took part in telephone interviews loosely based on the issues idened previously, and 13 took part in a
naonal workshop.
Stage 3 involved a one-and-a-half day workshop with key stakeholders held in Sydney. Parcipants included most of the
stakeholders interviewed, plus the Muru Marri and Healing Foundaon teams. Conducted by an independent facilitator, the
workshop allowed further exploraon of the nature and shape of collecve healing for Stolen Generaons members. There was
extensive sharing of experiences and discussion on the topics of program design, program delivery and evaluaon (including the
types of changes expected as a result of a successful program), and program logic.
Stage 4 involved the development of this resource. Following agreement on structure and content, an inial dra was produced
by Muru Marri. This was submied to the Healing Foundaon’s Programs Director and circulated to all workshop parcpants for
comment and feedback.
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APPENDIX B: LIST OF PROJECTS REVIEWED
The twelve Healing Foundaon-funded projects reviewed are each briey described below.
Nine of the twelve were funded under the Healing Foundaon’s ‘Stolen Generaons Iniave’. Two (no. 9 and 10) were ‘Training
and Educaon’ projects and one (no. 8) was a ‘Healing’ project.
Four projects were located in in New South Wales (including one on the NSW/Victoria border), three in Queensland, two each in
South Australia and Western Australia, and one in Victoria.
No. Organisaon, Locaon and Title Descripon
1 Gurriny Yealamucka Medical Service
Yarrabah QLD
Healing Workshop
Healing journey for Stolen Generaons Elders: taking people back to
country and connecng with lost family from Cape York, Hopevale and
Wujal Wujal communies.
2 Kinchela Boys Home Aboriginal
Corporaon
Redfern NSW
KBH: Reconstruct, Reconnect, Restore
As part of the KBH Reconnect, Reconstruct, Restore Project,
strengthening the KBH brotherhood by undertaking individual and
group healing acvies.
3 Pangula Mannamurna Inc
Mt Gambier SA
Our Yarning Together
Stolen Generaons members and families healing camp, grief and loss
workshops and counselling sessions.
4 Rumbalara Aboriginal Cooperave Ltd
Mooroopna VIC
Yamutj Healing Gathering
Stolen Generaons healing camp including tradional ceremonies,
healing circles, spiritual healing workshops, tradional arts and cras
workshops, and Aboriginal music, song and dance.
5 Sister Kate’s Home Kids Aboriginal
Corporaon.
Perth WA
Stolen Generaons Cultural Healing Bush
Camp
Bringing together Stolen Generaons members to share, heal and
celebrate their survival: cultural healing acvies in Moora, Lower-
Midlands region WA
6 Winangali Marumali
NSW
Marumali Journey of Healing Workshop
for former residents of Cootamundra
Domesc Training Home for Aboriginal
Girls
Marumali Journey of Healing workshop designed specically for ‘All
One’, a group comprised of former residents of Cootamundra Domesc
Training Home for Aboriginal Girls.
7 Nunkuwarrin Yun – Link Up SA
Adelaide SA
Reunion to Self
Series of 6 day trips and nal overnight camp for Link-Up SA clients
who are either unlikely to achieve family reunions or return to country
due to inadequate records of origins, or have experienced reunions but
failed to reconnect sasfactorily to family, community or country.
8 2 Women Dreaming Healing Inc
La Perouse NSW
Keeping Our Spirit Strong Healing Circles
Healing and wellbeing program ‘Keeping Our Spirit Strong Healing
Circles’ with several components: trips to country/healing retreats;
counselling (skills to cope with trauma and grief); Elders’ yarning circle
and oral history; Elders’ and young women’s yarning circles;
and journey of healing through art and culture workshop
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Muru Marri – A Resource for Collecve Healing for Members of the Stolen Generaons
No. Organisaon, Locaon and Title Descripon
9 Albury Wodonga Aboriginal Health Service
Albury NSW
Stolen Generaons Support Group
Red Dust Healing Workshops
Fortnightly support group for 12 months for Stolen Generaons
members and their support people incorporang healing sessions to
assist in self-help and social acvies.
‘Red Dust Healing’ workshops for Stolen Generaons Support Group,
community and workers in relevant agencies and organisaons in the
area.
10 Cherbourg Historical Precinct Group Inc
Cherbourg QLD
Film: The Domo Boys
Creaon of an oral history lm about the Boys’ Dormitory in Cherbourg
to increase the knowledge of the impact of the trauma that that past
government policies have created.
11 Yorgum Aboriginal Corporaon
Perth WA
Healing Projects – Stolen Generaons
Hearelt: hopeful notes for the lost and the stolen – Songing
workshops for Stolen Generaons descendants in Kalgoorlie–
Wongatha community.
12 Link-Up (Qld) Aboriginal Corporaon
Brisbane QLD
Far North Qld Healing Camps
Southern Regional Qld Healing Camps
Healing camps for Stolen Generaons in Cairns, Brisbane and
Bundaberg/Fraser Coast regions; also healing acvies and support for
those forcibly relocated from Old Mapoon Mission at 50th anniversary
events.
page 54
APPENDIX C: LIST OF STAKEHOLDERS CONSULTED
Stakeholder input was obtained through individual telephone consultaons and parcipaon in a workshop held on 18–19 June
2014 in Sydney. Many workshop parcipants also undertook local consultaons with members of their organisaon and the
broader community.
Name State/
Territory
Organisaon Telephone
interview
Workshop
Carolyn Fyfe QLD Healing Foundaon Stolen Generaons Reference
Commiee
X X
Cynthia Sariago NT Healing Foundaon Stolen Generaons Reference
Commiee
X X
Florence Onus QLD Healing Foundaon Stolen Generaons Reference
Commiee
X X
Ian Hamm VIC Healing Foundaon Stolen Generaons Reference
Commiee
X
Mark Bin Bakar WA Healing Foundaon Stolen Generaons Reference
Commiee
X X
Michael Welsh NSW Healing Foundaon Stolen Generaons Reference
Commiee
X X
Daniel Millgate WA Yorgum Aboriginal Corporaon X X
David Wragge QLD Royal Commission into Instuonal Responses to
Child Sexual Abuse (Ex-Domo Boy)
X
Frank Spry NT Northern Territory Stolen Generaons Aboriginal
Corporaon
X
Helen Akee QLD Link-Up (Qld) X X
James McKenzie WA Kimberley Stolen Generaon Aboriginal Corporaon X X
John Domme VIC Connecng Home
Lou Turner SA Nunkuwarrin Yun – Link Up SA X X
Lynn Hazelton WA Yorgum Aboriginal Corporaon
‘Songing’ facilitator
X X
Muriel Bamble VIC Link-Up Victoria/VACCA X
Norm Sheehan NSW Southern Cross University,
Gnibi College
X X
Rosemary Wanganeen SA Australian Instute for Loss & Grief X
Shirley Prider SA TAFE SA, Family Wellbeing Course X
Terry Chenery NSW Link-Up NSW X
APPENDIX D: PROJECT PLANNING TEMPLATE
This appendix contains a copy of the project planning template currently provided by the Healing Foundaon to assist projects
they fund under their Stolen Generaons Iniave. The template does not include performance indicators as these will be
developed at a later date based on idencaon of common themes across the Iniave. This is just one example.
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Muru Marri – A Resource for Collecve Healing for Members of the Stolen Generaons
SERVICE DELIVERY PLAN
Organisaon Name Name of Project
Key Contact Name Phone number & email address
Your Project (150 words maximum)
Please provide a short descripon of your project, what it will do and who it will work with. You should only include parts of
the project that the Healing Foundaon is funding. This will be used in publicaons and on the Healing Foundaon website as
our summary of your project.
Project Locaon
What communies will benet from my project?
Target Group
Please dene the diering people that your project is trying
to reach. For example, Elders, men, women or people with
a disability.
page 56
Your Project Outcomes
How would you know that your project has made a dierence? What posive changes would you see in your parcipants
from the project acvies?
Short-term changes may take place during, or aer the acvies, or within 1 year as a result of the project.
The outcomes that you dene here will need to be measurable. Your project will be required to report against these
outcomes.
Your Project Goals
To help dene your project goals, you might want to ask yourself the following quesons:
What do you want to see dierent for your target group? What changes would you like to see occur?
Goals need to be realisc to the me frame and length of your project. Thinking about these quesons will help you to
dene you project goals.
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Muru Marri – A Resource fo<