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Trauma informed,
multi-disciplinary legal
practice:
Learnings for professionals
working with survivors of
childhood sexual abuse and
trauma
14th Australasian Conference on Child
Abuse and Neglect 2015
Auckland, New Zealand
Sunday 29 March 2015
3.30 pm – 5.00 pm
Kit Baigent | Lawyer
Jo Walker | Social Worker
Megan Krakouer | ATSl Engagement Advisor
Acknowledgement of Country
•
Acknowledgement
•
We are from te whenua moemoea (‘The land of the
Dreaming’)
Outline
•
Introductions – us and you
•
Workshop goals
•
Context - knowmore, the Royal Commission into Institutional
Responses to Child Sexual Abuse and the cultural and multiagency landscapes relevant to survivors in Australia
– Workshop 1 – Cultural responsiveness (20 mins)
•
Key learnings from knowmore’s multidisciplinary practice service delivery, client work and staff well-being
– Workshop 2 – Internal multi-disciplinary collaboration (20 mins)
•
Key learnings from external collaboration - multi-agency
collaboration
– Workshop 3 – Multi-agency collaboration (20 mins)
•
Concluding remarks
Introductions
•
Who are you?
•
What is your current profession and workplace?
•
What client group do you generally work with (eg children,
disability, homelessness, mental health)?
•
What do you expect to learn in this workshop?
Workshop goals
To profile a new trauma-informed service, including:
•
key learnings from knowmore’s practice, service delivery
and client work
•
the benefits and key learnings of multi-agency
collaboration and the strengths and challenges of
operating within a multidisciplinary environment
•
effective social and policy changes brought about by the
Royal Commission.
Workshop context
• Royal Commission into Institutional
Response to Child Sexual Abuse
• knowmore
• Cultural and multi-agency landscape
relevant to survivors in Australia
Royal Commission into Institutional
Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
A public inquiry set up by the Australian Government to
investigate institutional child sexual abuse across Australia.
Inquiring into:
•
measures that could protect children (ie employment
screening, governance structures)
•
best practice in encouraging the reporting of, and
responding to reports of, allegations, incidents or risks (ie
policies and child-safe practices)
•
measures that could eliminate or reduce impediments to
responding, reporting and investigating(criminal justice
system)
•
measures to address or alleviate impacts (ie redress
schemes, civil litigation systems, counselling)
Royal Commission into Institutional
Responses to Child Sexual Abuse
Hearings
Private
Sessions
Research
Community
Engagement
Public
Consultation
Report
Implement
knowmore legal service
•
an independent , national service giving free legal
assistance to people engaging with the Royal Commission
•
multi-disciplinary - staffed by lawyers, counsellors/social
workers and Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Cultural
Advisors
•
national telephone advice line and face to face
appointments in key locations
•
extensive community and agency engagement
•
legal issues?
Offices in Brisbane, Melbourne, Perth and
Sydney
Funded by the Commonwealth AttorneyGeneral
Established by, and a program of, the National
Association of Community Legal Centres
knowmore legal service
knowmore legal service
ESTABLISH
• Sydney Office (15 staff)
July 2013
BUILD
• Brisbane and Melbourne Offices (30 staff)
• 2284 Advices, 1150 clients, 202
March 2014 community outreach events
CONSOLIDATE
July 2014
• Perth Office (40 staff)
• 4060 advices, 1538 clients, 290
community outreach events
knowmore legal service
Five foundational Trauma informed principles in practice:
•
•
•
•
•
Safety (including cultural safety)
Trustworthiness
Collaboration
Choice
Empowerment.
Multi-Agency Collaboration
Government
(Royal Commission, law enforcement, victim support agencies)
SURVIVOR
ADVOCATES
Bravehearts,
Broken Rites,
Tuart Place
DHS-FUNDED
SUPPORT
ORGANISATIONS
Relationships
Australia,
Interrelate,
Anglicare, ASCA,
Sexual Assault
Services
‘FORGOTTEN’
AUSTRALIANS
Find & Connect
Support Services,
Care Leavers
Australia
Network (CLAN),
Suicide Call Back
Service
PEAK BODIES
Victorian
Aboriginal Child
Care Agency
(VACCA), National
Disability Services
(NDS), Peakcare
knowmore
CHILD MIGRANTS
Child Migrants
Trust
ATSI ADVOCATES
National Stolen
Generations
Alliance (NSGA),
Link-Up, Coalition
of Aboriginal
Agencies
Responding to
the Royal
Commission
Workshop 1: Cultural Responsiveness in
the Australian context
• Indigenous Diversity in Australia
• Cultural Considerations
– Languages
– Lore Business
– Skin Groups
– Social Structures
• Social Considerations
– Native Title
– Stolen Generations (Missions)
• Discussion
• Groups present finding
• KM present findings
Workshop 1: Cultural Responsiveness
in the Australian context
Workshop 1: Cultural Responsiveness in
the Australian context
Martu Kinship System
(Warti)
Milangka
Purungu
Karimarra
Panaka
Marriage
Children
©
Workshop 1: Cultural Responsiveness
in the Australian context
Workshop 1: Cultural Responsiveness
in the Australian context
Workshop 1: Cultural Responsiveness
in the Australian context
Workshop 1: Cultural Responsiveness
in the Australian context
• 5 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisors
• Culturally Appropriate Services - Female/Male
• Examples – Tiwi Islands and Cherbourg
Workshop 1: Scenario
Workshop 1: Scenario
Workshop 1: Scenario
• Remote Aboriginal community in the
Kimberley Region of Western Australia.
• 500 people
• Two telephone boxes
• Limited English and service providers
What cultural considerations and challenges
would you take into account to ensure
successful engagement with the
community?
Workshop 1: Scenario Discussion
Considerations:
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
The importance of family/community/social structures
(including respect for Elders)
Cultural protocols
Gender
Shame
Healing from a cultural perspective (western vs
indigenous approaches)
Layers of trauma (removal, racial discrimination, family
sexual abuse, poverty, domestic violence, drug and
alcohol issues, intergenerational trauma)
Leveraging existing cultural connections (referrals by
clients)
Stolen Generations awareness (loss of country, language
and cultural – identity and reconnecting kin)
Awareness of lore business and customary law
(ceremonies, Sorry Business, skin groups)
Workshop 1: Scenario Discussion
Challenges
•
Access to service barriers:
– trust, shame, privacy and apathy (eg participation
in failed past inquiries and redress)
– Language (implications for resources and service
delivery)
– costs to access, availability of services in remote
areas (including specialist sexual assault services)
– Experiences
•
•
Safety: current threat from perpetrators and
reprisal from community members
Legal perspective: trust in white fella legal
systems, compensation and police
Workshop 2 – Internal Collaboration
• Client focused - disciplines ethical duties?
• Trauma informed – how this plays out in the
workplace
• Development of interdisciplinary meetings - results
• Reflective practice
– Mindfulness sessions
– Formal team debriefs
– Individual sessions
• Transforming vicarious trauma – vicarious resilience
• Cultural safety training
Workshop 3 – External
Collaboration
•
•
•
•
Thea is a 55 year old Aboriginal woman.
She has significant physical health issues, including vision impairment.
Thea is living out of her car in a rural area, having fled a domestic violence
situation. Her children remain in the home.
She is on parole for alcohol-related driving offences.
Thea presents to knowmore:
• She experienced abuse in state government homes after she and her
siblings were removed from her mother.
• She has never told her story and never had any compensation.
1.
2.
What issues does Thea need help with? What would you prioritise?
Given your professional background and location, what types of services
could you engage to help Thea address these issues?
Workshop 3 – External
Collaboration
• Discussion
– Cultural dimensions
– Social dimensions
– Legal dimensions
Reflections
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
.
Locating key agencies,
Accessing key meetings with these agencies,
Free flow of info about “practice” but not about client sessions etc.
Some barriers had to be broken down – no one an expert in this – shared
learnings about the client group.
Becoming a resource to agencies not sure about RC and knowmore.
Finding an “in” in agencies – using old professional networks and
relationships to move forward and create new ones.
Not going off on a tangent – or frolic of own, need to ground these
collaborations in reality – knowmore is a legal service.
Contact Us
More than happy to help with any questions that you may have now or in future!
Jo Walker, Social Worker
02 8267 7409
jo.walker@knowmore.org.au
Kit Baigent, Solicitor
02 8267 7413
kit.baigent@knowmore.org.au
Megan Krakouer, ATSI Engagement Advisor
08 9225 0201
Megan.krakouer@knowmore.org.au