Wednesday, 31 May 2023

 Ann-Marie HERMANS (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (18:06): (267) My adjournment is for the Minister for Treaty and First Peoples in the other place. On 12 May I had the privilege of attending the very successful and well-attended community children’s forum to receive feedback on the Aboriginal Children’s Forum held in 2022 in Dandenong, a short walk from my electorate office at 31 Princes Highway, Dandenong. It was an honour and privilege for me and my much-respected colleague Dr Matthew Bach to be part of this forum, and it was disappointing not to have the minister or any minister from the government present to learn from this crucial and very vital community. We enjoyed the enlightening truth-telling of our local Bunurong people, who have lived in Dandenong for over 30 years. I want to commend these families, who deserve acknowledgement for their selfless support of many Bunurong families and children, teaching culture and helping parents to keep their children with their families and within their local community. These local Bunurong people bravely raised concerns about Aboriginal children being taken from their families in higher than average numbers in their local area as opposed to other regions. Some said children who are swiftly taken from Aboriginal homes and placed in care often suffer more challenging circumstances and trauma. Many local Aboriginal people in the community feel their children are often worse off.

One brave Bunurong Aboriginal young adult raised a concern, which I now bring to the house. He said a few local people who are not biologically Aboriginal were ticking the Aboriginal heritage box, and this allowed people to access funding that was set aside to support Aboriginal communities. This was frustrating local Aboriginal people with the responsibility to teach and support heritage and cultural education when they knew the children under these claims had no family connection. There was a discussion about measuring this fairly. Therefore, Minister, on behalf of my constituents, the action I seek is for you to provide me with the information on the tests and measures that are being developed and implemented to determine Aboriginal heritage, thus ensuring claims and support for Aboriginal people are going to the people the funding was intended for.