Link-Up Victoria: Enhancing support for the Stolen Generations
Link-Up Victoria (VACCA)
Who funded the project
Karabena Consulting worked with Link-Up Victoria to identify the needs and aspirations of members of the Stolen Generations and their families. The project was part of Link-Up Victoria’s broader efforts to support cultural reconnection, healing, and intergenerational empowerment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Victoria.
The project provided Link-Up Victoria with actionable insights and strategic recommendations to enhance its services, improve visibility, and foster collaboration with Traditional Owners. These strategies aim to strengthen cultural safety, promote healing, and ensure ongoing support for the Stolen Generations and their descendants.
Summary
The primary aim of the project was to identify and address the unique needs and aspirations of the Stolen Generations and their families to enhance cultural reconnection, healing and support services.
The project sought to:
strengthen cultural safety and visibility of Link-Up Victoria’s services
provide actionable recommendations to promote intergenerational healing and empowerment
develop strategies for collaboration with Traditional Owners and community organisations to enhance service delivery and engagement.
Project Aims
To achieve the project’s aims, Karabena Consulting employed culturally appropriate methods, guided by ethical practices and principles of Indigenous data sovereignty. The methods included:
Culturally safe practices: All consultations were conducted using yarning to create a respectful and safe space for participants to share their experiences.
Engaging with stakeholders: Consultations involved in-person, online, and phone engagements. This included focus groups, individual interviews and group discussions with members of the Stolen Generations, their families, Link-Up staff, and other relevant stakeholders.
Thematic analysis: Transcriptions of the consultations were analysed to identify shared themes, challenges and opportunities, ensuring the findings were both robust and culturally relevant.
This approach ensured that the voices and lived experiences of participants were prioritised, fostering a deep and authentic understanding of the needs and aspirations of members of the Stolen Generations and their families.
Methodologies
The key output from this project was a final report.
Outputs
The project achieved several key outcomes, including increased awareness of the unique needs and aspirations of the Stolen Generations and their family members. In the medium term, the project’s recommendations are expected to inform service delivery improvements, enabling more accessible and culturally responsive support for individuals and families. Over the long term, these efforts aim to influence systemic change, including enhanced policies and funding frameworks to address intergenerational trauma and support the continued empowerment and cultural connection of the Stolen Generations.
Project Outcomes
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