Rachel Siewert (WA, Australian Greens) Share this | Hansard source

Today I would like to talk to the Senate about the Healing Foundation. There is overwhelming evidence that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' mental health and social and emotional wellbeing is well behind that of other Australians and is a key contributor to the health gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. The cumulative effect of intergenerational trauma and what the foundation and others term 'malignant grief', combined with social and economic disadvantage, has resulted in high rates of psychological distress, substance abuse and self-harm.

Suicide rates among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are, I think everyone would agree, a national tragedy. In my home state of Western Australia, the number of Aboriginal suicides between 2004 and 2008 was triple that of other Western Australians. That really is appalling. The Healing Foundation is now playing an important role in addressing issues of intergenerational trauma, particularly the trauma of the stolen generations.

While the apology to Australia's Indigenous peoples and its acknowledgment of the legacy of colonisation, forced removals and other past government practices was an important first step on the road to healing, it was quite rightly followed by concrete policy responses and funding measures. I would maintain that those policy responses have not yet gone far enough. One of those responses was to set up the Healing Foundation. As people will be aware, the Greens and many others were calling for financial reparations to the stolen generations and we continue to make that call. We also said that there needed to be services like those now being provided by the Healing Foundation. The policy responses need to include action to address the trauma of past practises and also adequate reparations. We remain firmly committed to this issue and we will continue to pursue it with government. We are disappointed that the government has not pursued this option, because we believe, as the Bringing them home report said, that there is a need for financial reparations and other forms of reparations.

However, it is pleasing that there has been a significant commitment to providing culturally appropriate healing services to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to begin the process of recovering from the trauma that has been inflicted on many generations. A lot of that work is now being done by the Healing Foundation. It is hitting its straps now in the work that it is doing. The Healing Foundation was established on the first anniversary of the apology to the stolen generations, and it is an independent Indigenous organisation engaging and empowering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The Healing Foundation promotes increased wellbeing and resilience among Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and helps to address unresolved trauma, grief and loss, particularly among members of the stolen generations. The Healing Foundation achieves this through culturally strong, locally-run healing programs and by funding education and research on Indigenous healing. In line with the Healing Foundation's vision of locally delivered programs, 93 per cent of the organisations selected are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander non-government organisations.

The foundation grew out of some significant consultation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Participants in the consultation process agreed that healing is a spiritual journey that requires initiatives to assist in recovery from trauma and addiction and reconnection with family, community and culture. Healing services must be culturally appropriate and take a capacity-building approach. They need to be multidisciplinary and mix modern therapeutic practices with traditional methods. Healing services must be available to all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are experiencing, or have experienced, trauma and its effects—particularly members of the stolen generations and their families. The initial agreement was that the Healing Foundation should have three broad roles: supporting grassroots healing initiatives by providing funding and workforce development; health promotion, education and skills training in the prevention and treatment of trauma; and evaluating and documenting best practise in healing.

So far the Healing Foundation has done an excellent job of delivering on these goals. Throughout Australia Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are creating their own healing through programs they are designing, developing and running. The Healing Foundation is currently funding 97 successful projects, but there is much more to do. Projects and organisations include the    Link-Up healing camp in Queensland, Tangentyere Council Men's Place project in the Northern Territory, the Yothu Yindi Foundation and Halo. I was at a conference on Friday and Saturday in Western Australia and we heard from the Halo Foundation. What they are doing is truly inspiring. They are working with young people as they grow. The people who were initially going through the program are now helping other people as they come into the program. In other words, they are becoming mentors. These are the sorts of things that are so important.

Some of the new projects that are about to be funded are a conference involving participants from the east and west Kimberly districts as well as neighbouring Northern Territory communities on the topic of preventing and healing from violence. A film is being created about life under the Aboriginal Protection Act in Cherbourg, which will then be used as a tool for healing and reconciliation and to enhance understanding of the Cherbourg experience among the broader community. There are training programs on the Western Cape York Peninsula and a locally based program is being developed to address trauma in Western Australia. There are school holiday camps and a range of very worthy programs are being funded.

One of the projects that I am particularly excited about is a new intergenerational trauma program in Darwin, Kununurra and Brisbane, which aims to build resilience in children, families and communities in dealing with loss and grief, using the strength of culture to address the trauma passed down from generation to generation among people who are affected by the stolen generations policies.

The Healing Foundation has a very focused commitment to research. I was fortunate enough to attend a forum where we heard from Professor Pat Dudgeon, from the University of Western Australia, and Professor Michael Chandler, a Canadian expert who is looking at what is best practice for healing in communities.

Overwhelmingly, the finding from both professors is that programs need to be developed, driven and implemented by the community, and they have to be culturally appropriate. Helen Milroy was also there, as was Tom Calma. All of the speakers spoke about the need for culturally appropriate, community owned programs. That is where the strengths are.

Research from Canada, which Professor Chandler pointed out and shared with us, showed the striking differences involving communities where culture is strong and programs are owned and run by the community. They are closing the gap. They are not getting the appalling suicide rates, they are finding employment and people are healing. This is as opposed to communities where programs are top-down ones that are foisted on them. This is not where we are seeing success and healing. Culture is absolutely critical.

The projects the Healing Foundation supports are all about those community driven programs. Overwhelmingly, the participants want it to be independent of government. They want it to focus on empowering Aboriginal people and having them take control of their healing. The funding for this program runs out in June next year. They are very keen to get an early indication from government that it is committed to further funding of the project. I understand that there is a requirement for around $26 million for this very important ongoing work. They have just started this work. It would be a tragedy if funding ceased just as they are finding their straps, just as these programs are getting off the ground. There is an urgent need to keep this foundation funded and doing this vital work.