Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre worker Uncle Ron Murray wins Bendigo NAIDOC prize

The Wamba Wamba elder won the award for Aboriginal Recognition, acknowledging his many years supporting youth in the justice system.

"[It was a] bit of a surprise, you just do those jobs you don't think about being recognised," Uncle Ron said.

"To be recognised by your own people is pretty special."

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Uncle Ron has many feathers in his cap as a cultural educator, storyteller and musician, and after some years with Victoria Police he began work with the Parkville Youth Detention Centre, initially with the Aboriginal Legal Service.

To gain trust, he first went in to play the didgeridoo and show the young Indigenous boys how to make the instruments before expanding his lessons to boys of all backgrounds.

Then, after five years working with the under 18s there, he transferred to Malmsbury Youth Justice Centre where he has worked now for more than 20 years.

"I didn't have any brothers growing up - I had six sisters," Uncle Ron said.

"When you get to work with young men you do get really connected to them and feel for them.

"You might not understand their crimes but then you hear their background, about their upbringing and you feel really sorry for them and have emphathy for them.

"And then you try to work on, not what they are now, but what they can become."

Uncle Ron's titles over the years have changed but he has come to see himself as mostly a mentor, preferring to work with the older boys.

"When you're under 18 and you're in [here] , you're immature and they're probably not that interested in rehabilitating themselves," he said.

"But when you hit Malmsbury, there's a big jump in maturity."

Uncle Ron said the frontline staff at the centre were "amazing" - with some remaining at the centre but others who were on sick leave having dealt with very difficult situations.

"I know they get a bad wrap at times some of these centres, but when you hear the things that happen in there they're everyday people like me and you, they've all got feelings and they've all got families," he said.

He wants to work for better outcomes for all involved including the staff with the motto, 'What can Uncle Ron do for you?'

"I like to help out anybody not just 'my boys' and that includes the staff."

In his work with storytelling and education across the ages, Uncle Ron has sadly seen the numbers of Indigenous children in care going up with limited Aboriginal families to take children in.

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"It starts so young," he said.

"Any kids that start in the foster care system and get out the other side and become really good people in the community, you know that they've been through hell and back.

"We do need jails but they need support when they get out as well.

"Some of them come back, their lives are better in there - they've got friends, they've got staff that are like mum and dad that they've never had, I'm not saying it's five star but for some of them their life is better in there."

Uncle Ron sees himself as a "good bandaid". He believes there need to more elders speaking to the boys of all cultures to address the over-representation of other groups.

He wants the boys to get reading and writing skills, and for the Indigenous boys he wants them to connect with their culture.

He describes cultural camps and learning about their Indigenous heritage as "a way home a lot of them [the boys]" and a way of healing.

And the most important thing is hope.

"You can tell whether they've got hope," he said.

For the Indigenous elder, the saddest part is getting connected to the young men and hearing later that they've passed away or had an accident and died.

"They're good boys, good hearts, they've just done silly things," he said.

At Malmsbury, there is a Koori or Coorong Tongala room built to commemorate those who have died in custody, built with money received in the wake of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.

To go in that roo, the boys have to reach "another level of maturity" Uncle Ron said.

"This room was built for people just like you who died in custody," he said to the boys.

"So don't disrespect this room."

It is a spiritual place he said filled with art supplies and books, and represents a tragic part of the job for him.

He recalled working with a young offender during his time at the Aboriginal Legal Service. He took the young man camping as part of the program.

"He said, 'gosh, Uncle Ron, that's the first time I've seen the stars for three years'."

A few years later Ron heard that he had died by suicide in Port Philip Prison.

For Uncle Ron, Jodi Henderson who runs Malmsbury is an amazing person and runs the centre as it should be run.

"It is a prison, but it's not," he said.

"The young men have got hope, you can't ruin it.

"You've got to love the young men, treat them like they're your own sons, would you put your son through this or what would you do, how would you parent them?"

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