Uncle Jim Berg, a Gunditjmara Elder
Gunditjmara Elder Uncle Jim Berg

Submissions

Through submissions to Yoorrook, people right across Victoria have shared their truths on the impacts of colonisation on First Peoples and the strength and resistance shown.

We invite all Victorians to engage with these powerful truths that document experiences of land dispossession, child protection and criminal justice systems, health and education and ongoing systemic challenges, as well as stories of cultural resistance and community connection. 

These submissions are more than just documents - they are living testimonies to help learn the truth of our shared history, and walk together to transform our shared future. 

Please be aware that some of the content on this page contains potentially offensive or controversial material. If you are affected by the content and would like support, please contact 13 YARN on 13 92 76 or Lifeline on 13 11 14.

Yoorrook reserves the right not to publish all or part of a submission if it considers it inappropriate to do so. By publishing a submission, Yoorrook expresses no opinion about the content or accuracy of the submission or material referred to in the submission. Submissions are not published where the person making the submission has asked that it be kept confidential.

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Anonymous 1415

This submission outlines the difficulty in obtaining support for a child with developmental delays. Despite notifying Child Protection and initiating a referral, it took 1210 days to receive help from a Speech Pathologist. It notes that the lack of timely support for developmental delays is causing lifelong implications for vulnerable children.

26 November 2024
Format:
PDF
Size: 40.98 KB

Anonymous 1331

This submission highlights that the Kinship Care System fails to address developmental delays in children under 6, relying on the NDIS to be in place prior to needs being met, which cannot happen in the first 5 years of a childs life. It calls for better use of the Special Negotiated Adjustment (SNA) process to meet these needs.

21 November 2024
Format:
PDF
Size: 41.35 KB

Anonymous 1291

This submission discusses VACCA excluding Kinship Carers from the process of obtaining help through what are known as ‘professional meetings’. It outlines how these meetings are culturally unsafe and lead to placement breakdowns.

21 November 2024
Format:
PDF
Size: 39.78 KB

Anonymous 1290

This submission states VACCA removed a child from their Kinship Care in 2023 without adequate reasoning.

21 November 2024
Format:
PDF
Size: 38.71 KB

Jesse Milne

Jesse Milne is a Waka Waka man who was in and out of foster homes as a child and ended up in residential care. Feeling lonely and abandoned he coped with his pain through drugs and alcohol, which led to a life of crime, violence and prison, starting with juvenile detention from the age of 12 or 13. As an adult, the cultural rehabilitation program Wulgunggo Ngalu helped turn his life around by connecting him back with community and culture. He is now a proud dad himself. Jesse says the child protection system should look to place kids with their families instead of foster homes and residential care.

17 October 2024
Format:
PDF
Size: 197.45 KB

Anonymous 534

This submission details a family’s experience of failures and injustice within the child protection system.

11 April 2024
Format:
PDF
Size: 385.14 KB

Lily Woodward

Please be aware that this submission contains sensitive material.

Lily Woodward’s submisison describes the abuse and challenges she faced as a child in the child protection system and her subsequent experiences of having her own children removed.

9 April 2024
Format:
PDF
Size: 185.49 KB

Christina Secombe

Please be aware that this submission contains sensitive material.

Christina Secombe is a Wotjobaluk woman.

This submission outlines traumatic experiences Christina faced growing up and the impact it had on her later life.

5 April 2024
Format:
PDF
Size: 167.61 KB

Anita Mobourne

Anita Mobourne is a Wamba Wamba, Yorta Yorta, and Gunditjmara and Wotjobaluk woman.

This submission is a transcript of Anita talking about her family’s experiences, her working life and the importance of connection, culture and identity.

5 April 2024
Format:
PDF
Size: 1.01 MB