The Blak Women’s Healing project was a two phased project that set out to understand and support Aboriginal women living in Melbourne’s west whose families had negative encounters with child protection services. Fourteen women took part across different aspects of the program, while four women participated in the two-year program. 

The aim of the second stage of the project was to translate the learnings from the women’s yarns – from the first stage of the project – into activities to bring about change to policy and practice.

The findings from the project demonstrate that cultural healing and projects like the Blak Women’s Healing project are central to better understanding and supporting the healing and resilience of Aboriginal communities. It also demonstrates the importance and need for epistemic justice to bring about meaningful practice and policy change relating to Aboriginal women and their families and community. Finally, the findings from the project show how colonial systems are being reproduced throughout taken for granted ideologies/assumptions, policies and practices of the child protection system.

Key themes emerged of systemic, harmful behaviours and attitudes experienced by the participants in their interactions with child services:

• silencing
• controlling (decontextualised) narratives
• (mis)representation: Framing of Aboriginal Mothers as incapable
• coercive practices
• practice of surveillance.