Page 2435 - Week 07 - Tuesday, 31 July 2018
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every child and young person as part of her extended family. The care she shows and the way she guides and leads her team to support young Indigenous people and their families is outstanding. Kim has an enormous heart, and the love and guidance she gives has played a massive role in the lives of so many young Indigenous Canberrans throughout her career.
It is women like Kim, female leaders who care deeply about the future of children and young people, that will hopefully help to turn around some of the terrible statistics we see for Indigenous families. I love meeting with Kim and having a coffee and some cake. I learn so much from her experience and can see the path she is trying to put in place for young Indigenous children.
Another outstanding female advocate and passionate community leader that I want to acknowledge is Deborah Evans. Deborah is the executive director of the Tjillari Justice Aboriginal Corporation. Tjillari is relatively new compared to Winnunga and Gugan, but it has grown since its establishment in 2014 because of the important services it provides to the local community. Tjillari provides a range of support services, case management and programs to address the toxic stress and trauma that children experience when they have a parent involved in the justice system. The service is based on the family justice model, which tries to build on and draw out the strength of families and community to manage issues associated with incarceration and, hopefully, to break the cycle of reoffending and recidivism.
I have met with Deborah on many occasions and learned about the types of programs they deliver to complement their case management activities, including simple things like cooking classes with detainees at AMC and their children. Not only are these sessions vital for bonding and maintaining a relationship with parent and child but through them Tjillari teaches traditional food practices and culture—things that are just so important to maintain the sense of community. Again, it is because of the dedication of women like Deborah that I have strong hopes for the future of the Indigenous community.
Again, I thank Ms Cody for submitting this topic and want to reaffirm how important it is to recognise the achievements of the ACT’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, and in particular their local leaders. However, I would like to add that not only should we acknowledge and celebrate the positive stories on special days and in weeks like NAIDOC but we should do it all the time, as a matter of course. The achievements of everyday women, raising families, passing on cultural knowledge, demonstrating their passion and showing Indigenous people the strength and power that they can have, contribute to these women giving great hope for the future.
Remember the theme—“Because of her, we can!” I look forward to continued celebrations and relationship building with the outstanding Indigenous women we have here in Canberra.
MS LE COUTEUR (Murrumbidgee) (4.16): I am pleased to stand today to discuss the importance of recognising the achievements of the ACT’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women. This is very timely, and I thank Ms Cody for the motion, given the theme for the 2018 NAIDOC Week was “Because of her, we can”. Throughout
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