This unit develops important practice and theorising skills to support culturally secure practice and decision making for the protection of children and young people. The unit incorporates a focus on the intergenerational impact on First Nations Peoples of racism and oppression, and the legacy arising from colonisation, dispossession and the Stolen Generations' experience in relation to child and family welfare.
First Nations community-led models of care and protection are considered against mainstream contemporary statutory child protection systems and practices and the resilience and spiritual strength demonstrated by First Nations Peoples, families and communities is highlighted. Students will develop problem solving skills to support culturally safe decision making for children in need of care and protection. Students will also be required to reflect upon the complexity and fluidity of cultural constructs in relation to children's welfare, issues of personal, political and structural power and their relationship to culturally safe practice.
