The Supporting Healing for Families program will deliver Indigenous-led healing initiatives to support First Nations peoples affected by child sexual abuse.
This program is part of the first Commonwealth Action Plan under the National Strategy to Prevent and Respond to Child Sexual Abuse 2021-2030 (National Strategy).
The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses into Child Sexual Abuse (recommendation 9.2) recognised that healing approaches are a vital part of services for First Nations peoples.
Overview
The program will establish culturally-based healing approaches that strengthen families and support safety, connection to identity and recovery from trauma in five locations across Australia.
Co-design and delivery through a community partnership process
The National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) is supporting an Indigenous Expert Group, who is providing advice and expertise, to ensure the program is trauma-aware and healing-informed, and centred on Indigenous values and priorities.
The Indigenous Expert Group members include the Healing Foundation, SNAICC - National Voice for Our Children, the National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) and Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Australia.
SNAICC and The Healing Foundation will work with the five communities to design the service models, ensuring the values and priorities of each community are at the forefront.
A grants process in 2023 will engage service providers to deliver the locally designed healing services in each location.
Embedding evaluation and monitoring
An evaluation will be undertaken and embedded from the beginning of the project to strengthen the evidence base for culturally-based healing approaches.
Contact
For questions or further information, please contact the project team at familyhealing@niaa.gov.au.