19 November 2014 | General Interest
The SNAICC Training Team has been out and about in force over the last few weeks, connecting with communities across Australia, delivering workshops based on exciting new SNAICC resources.
The first workshop for our family violence research and best practice package — Safe for Our Kids — was launched in Sydney in October with the help of AbSec. SNAICC spent some time filming discussions and interviews in NSW on best practice principles, and would like to thank a number of services that gave us valuable insights into how the principles can be put into practice in services. The services were Mudgin-Gal Aboriginal Corporation, Yenu Allowah Aboriginal Child and Family Centre, and Wirringa Baiya Aboriginal Women’s Legal Centre
A second workshop will be held in Melbourne this month, and the combined footage and advice will be used to inform SNAICC’s family violence and other training next year.
Several Journey to Big School workshops, on transition to school issues for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families, have been held in Mt Druitt and Port Macquarie/Taree in NSW. These workshops were held by SNAICC Training Manager Dave Ellis and SNAICC Resource Service Project Officer Kate Booth in partnership with Deb Mann from NGROO Education services and six people from the Aboriginal mentor team. Their input enhanced our workshops, as they were able to provide strong cultural activities and content, offering insight into how services can provide better learning and support programs for Aboriginal children and their families during the critical transition period.
Kate and Deb worked well together, drawing on their extensive sector experience and understanding of how to help early years services partner with other organisations and build their capacity. Through the Port Macquarie workshop, two new networks for the areas of Taree and Port Macquarie were established.
Our kinship and trauma workshop, Tracks to Healing, has been delivered in partnership with the Australian Childhood Trauma Group (the ACT Group). Separate workshops were delivered for workers and for carers. Thanks to funding from the Department of Human Services, we have successfully delivered workshops in Shepparton, Werribee, Melbourne and Warrigal, and have a further workshop lined up for February.
Congratulations to Kate Booth, Ralph Doole (our Social Work student) and Nick Joseph (our newest trainer) on your great work with our partners from the ACT Group, Gregory, Nick and Mary.
The team has also been working in partnership with VACCA to further develop our new trauma training package. The program development and pilot delivery was funded by the Healing Foundation, and was researched and developed by the SNAICC training team and Vina Duplock (our Queensland consultant). Our first trial is about to be held in Lismore, followed by a workshop in Ballarat later this month.
We are looking forward to next year, where we hope to provide a range of these workshops, along with our regular family violence Train-the-trainer workshop Through Young Black Eyes (TYBE) and our cultural awareness program Working and Walking Together. There will also be a final TYBE for the year in Melbourne so check the website if you are interested in attending.
If SNAICC is successful with its funding submission, the training team is looking at developing a range of new programs to address demand for trauma training and family violence prevention work. This would include a focus with a range of services including early years programs, along with building a new family violence program for dads and other men.
This greater diversity in our training reflects SNAICCs’ commitment to develop responsive training that better meets the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and organisations across Australia.
The training team is committed to working in strong partnerships and using evidence-based approaches derived from our project work and research work, and the advice and input of our members. We look forward to working with you in the future, so let us know if there are particular training programs you would like to sponsor or need in your area.
A special thank you to Grace Brown, our Training Support Officer, who has helped bring everything together for the team and made our training work so well for the community. We really appreciate your work Grace!
