Mia Mia Aboriginal Community Development Fostering Cultural Security

Aboriginal-led community development provides the means to effect positive change in our communities and realise our right to live with dignity, equality, freedom and security of person.

In Australia there may never have been a more important time to present this collected work of some of our most experienced Aboriginal thought leaders, professionals and dedicated community workers as we seek the realisation of fundamental rights for our people.

I have known and worked with many of these tough leaders over the last 30 years and am in awe at the depth of their experience and knowledge. These are people making enormous contributions to the ‘quiet revolution’ in Aboriginal communities to which Dr Cheryl Kickett-Tucker has referred, and I salute their extraordinary contributions, the depth of their specialised knowledge and their generosity of spirit in sharing it here in this book.

This is a comprehensive work that takes as its starting point the strengths and talent in our communities. Importantly, its title uses the Noongar word for ‘home’, with the book exploring how this notion of home, including country, family and community, is fundamental to Aboriginal-led community development.

This collection provides practical examples, case studies and a wealth of information that can be used by practitioners, policy makers, researchers and anyone interested in using the extraordinary experiences captured here as a map for the way forward for Aborginal communities. As Dr Kickett-Tucker said to me: ‘The work of these authors draws the threads of our lives together, like strings that are woven and intertwined into a big colourful tapestry. The book doesn't cover everything; like a woven rug there are spaces, but it gives a sense of the many threads that make up home.’

As the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, my focus is the development of deeper, stronger relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the broader Australian community, between governments and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and within these communities.