KEEPING IT DEADLY
Get out, Get Deadly, Stay Deadly, On the Road
Sydney Region Aboriginal Corporation has identified the need for healing and greater Indigenous community control over child safety issues. Our organisation is invested in delivering programs that empower our Mob and heal our people.
Our Keeping it Deadly program© has been created based on the feedback from our pilot program ‘Aunts and Uncles’ that we delivered in Cobham Juvenile Justice Centre and through consultation with the staff and many of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander detainees there.
The Keeping it Deadly program© is designed to address the over representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth in detention, build on their strengths and proactively work to reduce recidivism.
The program is run in three distinct components
Get Out, Get Deadly, Stay Deadly and On the Road.
The Australian Institute of Health and Welfares report on Youth justice in Australia, 2016–17 found that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander over-representation has increased over the last 5 years. In 2012–13,
Indigenous youth aged 10–17 were 15 times more likely than non- Indigenous youth to be to be in detention, rising to 18 times more likely in 2016–17. Although our kids only make up 5% of the Australian population between the ages of 10–17, 50% are in detention or detained while on remand.
Get Out, Get Deadly provides Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth an opportunity for capacity building, improve individual social and emotional well-being through cultural connection strengthening and gain community support. We run this program both in NSW Juvenile Justice Centres and to the local community from the SRAC Community Hub.
The successes of this program are the opportunities for the youths to build capacity, we were able to achieve this by:
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Improving social and emotional wellbeing through developing greater self-awareness and developing positive responses and coping mechanisms.
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Developing understanding around health and fitness through learning about basic nutrition and importance of physical activity.
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Learning basic cooking skills and exploring cultural cooking experiences.
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Facilitating external services to engage with the youth’s and provide referral pathways for youth who are detained to access when they are released.
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Strengthening the youth’s connections to culture as Aboriginal people we know the importance of connections to culture and the ability of these connections in healing trauma. To meet this goal, we engage local Aboriginal Elders to support and teach the youth through the sharing of knowledge, wisdom and healing that only our Elders possess.
Camps are run 4 times a year and target youth at risk of offending, disengaged in school, living with a developmental or psycho-social disability or other identified need. Camps have a strong focus on cultural connection, strengthening identity and capacity building, and include a comprehensive 3 day itinerary of activities that embrace the individual, respecting family, culture, connections, differences and strengths. The camp reinforces the knowledge and experiences participants have shared and promotes belonging and acceptance.
The 'On the Road’ program utilises the knowledge and skills participants have gained through GOGD and Stay Deadly, by giving them the responsibility of leading and mentoring other youth. Mentor participants are selected by demonstrating values such as leadership, resilience and initiative, and travel with the SRAC Team to remote NSW communities to mentor youth and run community events and sporting clinics that are inclusive of people of all ability - promoting team building, problem solving and sportsmanship.
SRAC typically take participants to the Country of one of our Staff - leading by example to reengage youth with culture, our connection to land and people. It is an initiative within itself for SRAC to promote self-care to our Team and allow them to return home and be the leader in showcasing to the kids how important a sense of identity, self and pride is.
Our strong network relationships with local and regional sporting, cultural and community groups allows us to collaborate on activities that educate mainstream society to be more inclusive of all people; Indigenous, culturally diverse and people living with disability, through universal enjoyment of sport and recreation.wn time to come. We are extremely grateful for their continued commitment, support and partnership.