Bendigo and District Aboriginal Co-operative has celebrated its official authorisation to make decisions on behalf of Indigenous children within the community who could otherwise be at risk of being separated from their families in the child protection system.
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BDAC chief executive Raylene Harradine said the program Mutjang Bupuwingarrak Mukman would see Indigenous children in central Victoria grow up stronger, more resilient and better connected tho their families.
It’s the result of a successful pilot program of Section 18 of the Children, Youth and Families Act of 2005, which gave the Department of Human Services power to authorise an Aboriginal agency such as BDAC to take responsibility for a child’s case.
BDAC and DHS work together to identify children who should be part of the program.
At the moment BDAC has authority over 10 children. During the program’s first year of full authorisation BDAC aims to work with 36 children, by the second 72 and by the third 110.
Ms Harradine said the key thing about the program was that Aboriginal children were staying with their families, whether nuclear or extended.
“Since we’ve taken on the pilot… we’ve seen a massive change in our community where our children aren’t in limbo in the child protection space, because we’re working without families to put supports around them,” she said.
“I don’t want to see kids grow up and become the next stolen generation.
“We don’t want to lose our kids, we want to see our kids grow strong and make a difference within our community.”
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