Delivering culturally sensible services to the Koorie community was the focus of a family and children services forum yesterday.
Aboriginal community members and elders gathered at Morwell’s Kommal Hall for the ‘Family and Children Services’ forum to learn about local programs and services available to indigenous people.
Services present included Wulgungoo Ngalu Learning Place, Latrobe Valley Koorie Court, Department of Human Services Child Protection, Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency and the Aboriginal Family Violence Prevention and Legal Service.
Gippsland Family Law Pathways Network project officer Michelle Anderson said the event was about information sharing across services and the community.
“It’s educating the community about what programs and services they can access, but it’s also educating the service providers and agencies around what programs are available and how they can access the programs,” Ms Anderson said.
She said the services also aimed to be culturally sensible, recognising the group and what was appropriate for their traditions.
“They reflect more on their family and their beliefs and that plays an important part of their journey in life.”
Anglicare Morwell child first and integration family services representative, Susan Mullet said indigenous people were probably not utilising programs and services to their full potential.
“There’s not enough education in the community about what the services are,” Ms Mullet.
An invitation was also extended to the Aboriginal community and elders to attend a networking lunch.
