The Service has an “open door” policy – we will do our best to assist anyone who comes to us for support or advice. However, because we have limited funds and therefore limited staff time we are unable to take on everyone as a client and we have to prioritise who we can help according to our funding requirements and program guidelines. For those we cannot take on as clients we will provide search advice and appropriate referrals.
We will take on case files from:
The Stolen Generations
We have been funded to assist members of the Stolen Generations as the program was established from recommendations of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from their Families presented in the 1997 Bringing Them Home report. Our first priority is members of the Stolen Generations because the Service was created specifically to help this group of people and their families.
We have a broad understanding of the term “Stolen Generations” as we believe it encompasses Koorie people who may not officially be termed “stolen” but have been removed or separated from their Koorie family and therefore from their culture, heritage and identity. This also includes Koorie people whose parents or grandparents have been taken from their families as their links to culture, heritage and identity have been affected.
Koories in custody
Another high priority group for the Service is Koories in custody. We have been funded to provide an outreach service to Koories in gaols and juvenile detention centres as:
‘There is a clear correlation between the breakdown of Aboriginal families, involvement of children in the protection and care system, and subsequent contact with the justice system.”
Victorian Aboriginal Justice Agreement (1999)
Clients in custody are also a high priority for the Service as there are many Koories inside who do not have links to their culture and history and cannot undertake searches without someone on the outside acting on their behalf.
The Koorie community
The Service has been funded to assist the Koorie community to find links to family, culture and heritage. This is especially important as Koorie people and communities often exist at a level of disadvantage disproportionate to the rest of the Australian community or live in rural areas where service provision is not as extensive as it may be in metropolitan areas.
Working to assist individual members of the community also assists the Service with our aim of developing a collection of family trees and information that will provide a valuable resource for people such as the Stolen Generations who are still searching for their family.
Contact us on 03 8622 2600 or by email familyhistory@koorieheritagetrust.com
We do not take on the following as clients: