Tailoring services to succeed in remote communities

Since 2014 NPY Women’s Council has been self-funding a Child Advocacy position driven by high demand of requests from families in the NPY Lands for support in understanding child protection issues. Anangu families were struggling to traverse language barriers, understand legal processes and fund travel to visit children placed in care.

Many families were feeling confused, overwhelmed and disempowered.

This work by the NPYWC Child & Family Wellbeing Service (CFWS) has now been recognised. While the CFWS will continues to self-fund this position, a Territory Families Out of Home Care Grant has allowed the CFWS to create a second position. These roles will support families seek reunification, find kinship carers and negotiate the Child Protection system.

“We are very happy to be able to increase our capacity. We are under a huge demand from remote families for this service.” said Shelagh Woods CFWS Manager. “These roles are a one of a kind in Australia and provide a pivotal interface between child protection agencies and families. “

This position will operate across NT, SA & WA boarders, assisting in what has been difficult terrain for families with children placed under care and protection orders within different statutory jurisdictions. Due to highly mobile living situations, families may find they are dealing with several agencies across states and finding children placed in out of home care in a different state far from the NPY Lands. It has been confusing and at times, devastating for families. Families have been having trouble maintaining access to children in care due to significant travel logistics and costs.

This service takes a rights based approach and commits to the Aboriginal Child Placement Principle, that children are best placed within family, community and culture. From this perspective, the CFWS looks to support reunification and kinship care in remote communities. Due to a lack of remote services, families may not be able to access programs that work on behavioral changes required of child protection authorities and reunification plans. Remote areas may also experience a lack of capacity from child protection bodies or other services to support supervised access visits. The CFWS Child Advocacy roles also advocate for interpreters in child protection communication and court processes and spend additional time assisting families understand child protection processes and requirements.

This position will work closely with the NT communities of Kaltukatjara (Docker River), Mutitjulu, Imanpa and Aputula (Finke) and include a broader tristate focus.

Find out more about the Child & Family Well-being Service

“I want to light a fire in you…….light a fire with spirit and knowledge.”

Behind the National Photographic Portrait Prize 2020 finalists Rene Kulitja & Rhett Hammerton’s work!

Rene Kulitja is a passionate Pitjantjatjara woman driven by a desire to enrich and care for the lives of Anangu people.

Rene was born at Ernabella/Pukatja (SA), then a remote Presbyterian mission. The mission was founded in 1938 by Charles Duguid, who insisted that all his missionaries learn Pitjantjatjara and that children be taught in their own language.

Growing up in the APY Lands in a world rich with culture, law and spirit, Rene now sees things changing:

“Today I see something happening. I see something coming towards us, something has come into our world……”

“This blanket represents English that is coming and pressing me down, I can only see through a tiny hole. I feel smothered by the blanket of English.”

“This blanket has come and covered over our language”

“I think a lot about the two worlds that we live in now – the non-Anangu world, whitefella world, the mainstream world, and the Anangu cultural world. I think about how to work within both worlds, how to bring them together so we’re supporting each other with strong knowledge about both worlds. And I think about how to pass on my experience and knowledge to my children so that they stand strong in their culture, stand strong in the two worlds.”

Rene Kulitja

Rene is a NPY Women’s Council Director, an artist for Tjanpi Desert Weavers, founding director of Walkatjara Arts and chairperson of Maruku Arts Governing Committee. She is an environmentalist, chorister with the Central Australian Aboriginal Women’s Choir, member of the Uti Kulintjaku mental health team at NPYWC, dancer, women’s rights advocate, law woman and grandmother.

Rhett Hammerton

Rhett is a long time photographer for NPY Women’s Council with many years working in and around remote communities. Rhett has built friendships and the confidence of many of his Anangu subjects. He works with a respectful and considered approach focusing on collaboration, inclusivity and adherence to cultural protocols.

Rhett has a background in Photojournalism and a growing visual arts practice.

Vote for Rene & Rhett in the National Photographic Portrait Prize Peoples Choice Award

Rhett Hammerton