Led by nine Elders, the Ngulluk Koolunga Ngulluk Koort Project is working to generate a better understanding of early childhood development from an Aboriginal/Nyoongar perspective.
The team hopes their work will lead to a deeper, more meaningful and respectful connection between the Aboriginal community and others.
The Elders have been described as the ‘engine room' of this important research project. They lead a passionate project team who, over the past 2-3 years, have worked together to identify the priorities of Aboriginal people from across the Perth metropolitan area when it comes to their children.
After consulting with the community, three big ticket items were identified to concentrate on: child protection/removal; provision of appropriate housing; and early childhood education and care.
The Elders are now working to take their solutions and ideas to the boardrooms of government and non-government agencies and service providers to work alongside these organisations to better meet the needs of Aboriginal people.
"Our children are disempowered and voiceless…working with The Kids provides an international platform that gives our children a voice, that's why it's so important to take this to the community and have the community voice their children's needs and their perspective," Elder Millie Penny said.
"We all came in with a passion for our children, and we have been learning more about the socio-economic disadvantages between our community and other communities. It's been a learning curve that reinforces our lived experiences."
Among the Elders' recommendations are ensuring Elders are given a real and powerful voice in the child protection system as it makes decisions regarding Aboriginal children, and to encourage the Government to provide systems that support, rather than punish parents.
The Elders are also working to ensure that there is adequate Aboriginal input into the development of WA's housing policies particularly regarding appropriate and fit-for-purpose housing design and allocation. They would like to see a range of dwelling types and tenancy options made available to meet the needs of Aboriginal families.
Senior Research Fellow Brad Farrant said the team was engaging with a range of stakeholders, policymakers, politicians and Aboriginal community organisations to help facilitate change in how they meet the needs of Aboriginal people.
"In many areas the underlying issue is a lack of trust," Dr Farrant said. "The community has told us that there has been a lot of damage done to the trust between Aboriginal people and government and other service providers.
"In terms of childcare and early schooling, there's a sense among the community that many organisations and schools don't have an adequate understanding of Aboriginal/ Ngoongar culture and the different values and priorities Aboriginal families have.
"Therefore, Aboriginal families and kids often feel they are negatively judged in these contexts."
The project has been looking at the priorities of Aboriginal parents and how these differed from non-Aboriginal values. There has been a lack of acknowledgement of the strengths of Aboriginal children.
"Difference doesn't always mean deficit," Dr Farrant said.
Research Focus Area Head, Aboriginal Health, Glenn Pearson said Elders were the engine room of the project, with the nine Co- Researchers answering to a wider group of 90 Elders.
Glenn Pearson
About 60 Elders attended the most recent meeting to discuss the strengths of Aboriginal families and the challenges they faced.
"This is massive, not only in terms of the number of Elders participating in the project, but also the number of families, parents, children and communities this allows us to connect with, and them to us," Mr Pearson said.
He said a key to the success of the project was building trust between families and organisations and connecting people from organisations who were motivated to learn how to better interact with the community with an Elder.
He hoped the project would generate a deeper, more meaningful and respectful connection between the Aboriginal community and other communities.
"We need really good science behind this data, but it also needs to transfer into effect," he said.
What's next?
The Elder Co-researchers and the research team will work with policymakers, key stakeholders and service providers to improve the way services are delivered to Aboriginal children and their families.