Indigenous Parenting Project

Main Report

Executive Summary

For at least 40,000 years Indigenous Australians lived as hunter-gathers within a spiritually rich environment. The family life of Indigenous Australians was structured around complex kinship systems, which located each person within a clan structure, with clear lines of rights and obligations to others within the family, the clan and ultimately the linguistic group. (Atkinson and Swain, 1999)

Children were highly valued by their family and clan (Bourke and Bourke, 1995) The education and socialization of young children took place within the rhythms of family life with an emphasis on observation, imitation and interaction with the extended family and the land.

‘The invasion and subsequent colonisation of Australia took a particularly heavy toll on Indigenous families, systematically separating children from their parents under the guise of welfare and assimilation and destroying intergenerational links’ Atkinson, S and Swain S 1999, p 219.

The intergenerational effects of removing Indigenous children from their families have been profound.

‘With several generations Indigenous people being denied normal childhood development, the opportunity to bond with parents and experience consistent love and acceptance, both the skills and the confidence to parent have been damaged, with the result that Indigenous children tend to be over-represented in the child welfare system’ (Atkinson and Swain 1999, p 222).

Although Indigenous families are daily living with the legacy of dispossession and continuing oppression in terms of poor health, early deaths, poor housing, poor educational outcomes, high unemployment and high numbers of Indigenous people in custody, the Indigenous family continues to survive as a site of Indigenous culture and identity. This is highly significant in the light of sustained assaults on its existence and demonstrates the strengths of Indigenous communities in spite of the devastating impact of colonisation.

The information gathered from this part of the project aims to support the development of new parenting initiatives for Indigenous communities that
help address the continuing effects of dispossession by identifying programs, information and resources that build on the strengths and voices of Indigenous communities.