Listen up!

As the Family Matters’ National Week of Action for 2019 draws to a close, there is one more thing YOU and YOUR organisation can do to demonstrate your support. Make a commitment to actively listen and respond to the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders and child protection spokespersons about what changes are needed and how these changes can be made. You can demonstrate your commitment by making sure that your organisation is well represented at theNational Child Protection Conference to be co-hosted by the Child and Family Welfare Association of Australia (CAFWAA), Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Protection Peak (QATSICPP) and PeakCare on 24th and 25th June at Rydges, South Bank, South Brisbane.

In particular, make sure you attend the session during the morning of the 25th June at which you will hear and see Natalie Lewis, CEO of QATSICPP and Co-Chair of the Family Matters Campaign yarn with a panel of eminent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander spokespersons from across the country, including Karla Brady(CEO of Inala Wangarra), Phillip Brooks (Queensland Family and Child Commissioner), Isaiah Dawe (CEO and Founder of ID. Know Yourself), Professor Boni Robertson (Director, Indigenous Community Engagement at Griffith University and Co-Chair of the Queensland First Children and Families Board) and Richard Weston (CEO of the Healing Foundation and Co-Chair of the Family Matters Campaign). Their topic will be, ‘What are the responsibilities held by non-Indigenous agencies – government and non-government – in relation to self-determination by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in relation to the safety, wellbeing and protection of their children?’ Surely, there can be no topic of greater importance than this one to be faced up to by non-Indigenous agencies within and across all Australian States and Territories.

Click here to register. Registrations close on 6th June or when all available places are filled.

Click here to view the conference program and watch out for regular updates made to the program.

Make a BIG WEEK of it and after attending the conference, stay on for (1) theAdvocacy Masterclass led by Professor Cindy Blackstock on the 26th June and (2) the QATSICPP Members’ Conference on the 27th and 28th June. To register for these events, click here.