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Hi Dawn, Glenda, and Rose,

Thank you so much for taking the time to speak with us a couple of weeks ago; I was deeply moved by the stories you so generously shared.

The learnings I took away relate to my work with Aboriginal children as a residential youth worker (carer). As a wadjela, I often question my place within this role given that I am appalled by the staggering overrepresentation of Aboriginal children in care, and by the lack of implementation of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle for these children. While I am always aiming towards practice that is culturally safe and responsive, I have struggled with how (and even if) I can support these children's connection to culture as a carer (not a case worker) with very limited decision-making power. Someone braver than me asked a version of this question towards the end of the session and Rose gave an example of giving power back to children through choice as a way to privilege collectivist ways of being and doing. Dawn also gave an example of engaging children with local Aboriginal art or cultural exhibitions. These suggestions caused me to reflect on how cultural connection could be supported in perhaps less overt or obvious ways than I had considered before, as well as in ways which I have previously feared could be tokenistic. I have since wondered about other ways I could support cultural connection; for instance, should I be advocating for the development and better implementation of cultural support plans for the children I care for? It is my strong belief that control of Aboriginal child welfare must be returned to Aboriginal families, communities, and organisations. This is something I hope to advocate and fight for in my future social work career, but as a residential carer, I wonder how I can do better now.

Again, thank you all so much for your time and I really hope we can meet again in the near future.

Jess

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"If you look for hope, you'll find hope. If you look for courage, you'll find courage" - Rose

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"If you look for hope, you'll find hope. If you look for courage, you'll find courage" - Rose

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Rose, I'm not sure if you remember saying that above quote in our session but I definitely do. I personally hope that I remember and continue to follow that advice forever. We all need to keep working towards something better but we can't do that without hope and courage.

I really want to thank all of you for the knowledge and experience you have shared with us, along with all of your time you spent in our class. It was greatly appreciated and will be remembered throughout our work.

- Meg

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"Please post here what you would like Glenda, Dawn and Rose to know about how and in what ways their presentation has informed your practice."
Dear Glenda, Rosemary and Dawn, I acknowledge the great gift that we, UWA Social Work students, were offered in the form of first-hand access to the time and words of three of the most esteemed women of our Western Australian community. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for sharing your wisdom, your grief, your experience and inviting us to walk with you towards a better future. Please believe that I take this honour and obligation very seriously.
Sincerely,
Klara B. Starr

*I have not capsulated my 'key learnings' succinctly but hope I have more broadly indicated the great honour in being given access to your ways of knowing, doing and being by spending time with you and hope to carry these knowledges forward.

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What I learnt from the presentation by Dawn, Glenda and Rosemary and how what I learnt informs my practice.

There was so much rich and heartfelt information and learning in the presentation, and I thank you kindly for your wisdom!

Below are two learnings that stood out to me:

The use of intuition and trusting the gut. This is a tool I would now use in every interaction and situation with Aboriginal people. Using the gut /or intuition in times when I will work within our westernised system. I can keep check on myself in reflections on my work and others that I will work with. I will seek to understand from the Aboriginal family and/or community perspective, to inform my practice. I can always double check my own worldview and ensure I am not the oppressive voice. This is a way to balance all worldviews. Sometimes this will not seem logical to me because I have a differing world view. If I listen to intuition this will open my thinking up and this will help me become a better social worker.

Determine who the Elder is in the Aboriginal community. In this presentation the Elder was described as the "Influencer" in the community/family.

I would, in practice spend time and put great importance in researching and discovering who is the influencer. That is, who makes the decisions, who is the person who guides all and is respected and known as the leader. The influencer can be the person within a family that can support me as a social worker and who can stand with me when it comes to more challenging issues. The influencer can assist me with connecting family to their culture and to country.

Again thankyou so much and I hope to see you and attend other presentations in the near future.

Joelle

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Thank you from the bottom of my heart for coming so openly and honestly to share with us. It was a privilege and honour to listen to all three of you moorditj yorga and really hear what you were saying to our hearts and our minds. I am blown away by your generosity in sharing with us, especially given everything that is going on right now. As a wadjela person, I dedicate to put in my own time and energy to do the work towards decolonising social work. Our session on Tuesday came at the perfect time before my interview for a placement with CPFS. Listening to you all share your stories helped re-centre my focus and remind me of the kind of social worker I would want to be in child protection. I am committed to find ways everyday to make my practice relational, person-centred, and culturally secure. After you left, we spent time doing a cultural security audit that made us check in with ourselves. This tool will be really useful to me in the future to keep me accountable.

If you are able to answer questions, here is something on my mind:
How as a non-Aboriginal person, can I best support the Aboriginal community and be an ally during times that affect your community, such as the death of young Cassius?

Thank you again and hope to meet again in the future.

Warmly, Martha Dodge

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The key learnings and reflections that impacted me the most following the yarning session was that as a both a social worker and ally to Aboriginal people, it is essential to be a proactive change agent in the fight against racism and discrimination. By committing to the social work discipline, we must be political and stand with Aboriginal people to address injustices. Another take away that I always seem to come away with following a yarning session (though its power is never lost on me) is the unparalleled resilience, hope, and goodwill of Aboriginal people. Despite colonisation, the Stolen Generations, everyday institutional, systemic, and casual racist actions that Aboriginal people face, the hope to work together in an intercultural way always touches my spirit and drives my passion to decolonise practice.  - Olive Whennen