On Tuesday, 30th May, the Queensland Government launched Our Way, a twenty year strategy to improve the safety and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, aimed also at ending their over-representation in the child protection system. The Our Way strategy has been developed in partnership with Family Matters – a national campaign led by over 150 Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous organisations from across Australia that our eNews subscribers should be very familiar with by now.
At a ceremony held at Parliament House, Minister for Child Safety Shannon Fentiman said that Queensland is proud to become the first government to work with Family Matters to develop a shared commitment to ensure the wellbeing of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families.
When announcing the release of Changing Tracks 2017-19, the first in a series of action plans that will sit under the umbrella of Our Way, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Mark Furner said that, by working in partnership across agencies, and with affected families and their communities, Our Way strives to deliver a flexible and culturally appropriate response to achieve generational change where it is needed.
Co-Chair of Family Matters Queensland, Ms Natalie Lewis said that the partnership approach reflected a change in the way in which the Queensland Government and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities work together.
“As a result of our open and honest engagement with the Queensland Government, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and organisations are being empowered to craft a new narrative for the futures of our children, families and communities,” she said.
At the launch ceremony, Minister Fentiman also announced funding of up to $100,000 now available under the new Empowering Families Innovation Grants program and invited potential applicants to “re-imagine what might be possible for our children and families”. Click here for details.
As a proud supporter of Family Matters, PeakCare welcomes and commends Our Way and theChanging Tracks action plan.