Safe houses and safe kids

Developing best practice procedures is one goal of new research investigating ways of ensuring a safe residential home environment that will keep Indigenous children connected to their family, community, country and culture.

Monash University’s Dr Zane Ma Rhea from the Faculty of Education is working with ACT for Kids and five remote communities to undertake participatory action research into an effective transition of ownership and authority of safe houses to local Indigenous communities.

Safe houses, developed by the then Department of Communities (Child Safety Services), provide short-term safe accommodation for Indigenous children in remote communities. Act for Kids is working with the Aboriginal Corporation of the West Coast Cape York Peninsula Traditional Land Owners for the Cape safe houses and respected Indigenous Elders in Doomadgee to develop an effective partnership model with the goal to hand over the running of these houses.

Dr Ma Rhea said a recent trip to the remote communities gave her a deeper understanding of the issues facing the communities in implementing the change.

“The visit allowed me to meet with the reference groups for the safe houses that serve these communities and gain a greater understanding of how the existing houses operate and the progress that has been made in developing governance structures,” Dr Ma Rhea said.

“I was able to meet with key reference group members and key stakeholders from the local school and health centres, and with traditional owners to discuss the challenges facing ancillary services for children in these communities.”

The research is still in development but already Dr Ma Rhea has realised the importance of  ACT for Kids’ commitment to build the capacity of each remote community so they are able to take over the operation and ownership of the program  and provide the best care, protection and cultural connections  for their children.

“By working with ACT for Kids and the communities, this research engagement will enable all parties to identify clearly the issues facing the traditional owners and other Indigenous key personnel in taking up the governance, leadership and management responsibilities associated with the running of their safe houses,” Dr Ma Rhea said.

“The research will support ACT for Kids to focus attention on how to adapt policies and procedures, particularly HR, that work well in mainstream situations but need to be tailored to working in remote communities.”

ACT for Kids Executive Director of Programs, Research and Education Dr Katrina Lines said this research was needed as they realised that ownership means different things to different people.

“We need to explore those concepts and definitions to ensure a successful hand over, these things take time and communication and shared understanding is critical,” Dr Lines said.