Social Work Graduates Archives - ...metaphorically speaking

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‘Striving for Fairness and Equity in a Colonised World’ with Sammi Lillie

July 11, 2018

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It is a fitting tribute for NAIDOC week, that I should be interviewing Sammi Lillie on ‘Talk The Walk’ this week. In this conversation, Sammi honours the many Aboriginal women that have supported and vouched for her on her journey into social work with First Nations peoples. Having just graduated from her Masters of Social Work, Sammi reflects on her placement experience of co-ordinating the Child Removal campaign at ANTAR Qld (Australians for Native Title and Reconcilitation). Driven by personal family interests as well as deeply held values and a commitment to self determination, Sami shares the ingredients that have made practising Indigenous policy and advocacy work successful as a non-Indigenous woman. Social work students considering their future placements will find this episode invaluable and current non-indigenous practitioners will discover pearls of wisdom for standing alongside our Indigenous brothers and sisters for recognition and justice.

In episode 24 of Talk the Walk we explore:

Why social work students should consider a placement experience in policy and advocacy work
The current state of affairs in relation to the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families
The state of child protection legislation in Queensland after adopting the principle of self determination in 2017
The need for a national inquiry into the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out of home care
How you can support the Family Matters initiative to make a difference
Sammi’s greatest learnings working on Indigenous advocacy campaigns and policy development
The social work theories that influenced Sammi’s developing practice framework
Sammi’s concept of a ‘pro-Indigenous theory’ arising out of her interest in the work of Bob Pease on pro-feminism
Sammi’s personal connection to the Stolen Generations and the other motivating factors that make her so passionate about addressing discrimination
How Sammi has avoided major struggles in the work by acting with integrity, honesty and ‘cultural courage’
Knowledge that social workers should have but are just not getting
Unpacking the values underpinning Sammi’s work and life
The mentors and rolemodels that continue to inspire Sammi in her work
Reflections on proud moments, avoiding mistakes easily made, and Sammi’s plans for the future
Final advice for other social work students considering their placements

To listen to this episode simply click on the Play button below or listen via the Stitcher App for iOS, Android, Nook and iPad.

You can also subscribe to podcast and blog updates via email from the Menu on the Home Page.

Don’t forget, if you or someone you know would make a great interview on ‘Talk the Walk’, send us an email from the Contact Page.

Things to follow up after the episode

ANTaR Queensland website and Sign Up here for their Newsletter

ANTaR National website and Sign Up here for their Newsletter

Social Work Focus, Autumn Edition, featuring Sammi’s article ‘Support for Self Determination imperative to address the over-representation of Indigenous Children in the Child Protection system’. You will need to be a member of the AASW to access this resource.

Like Sammi’s Facebook Page ‘Ally Through Advocacy’

Sammi’s Reading List
Clare Tilbery, ‘The over-representation of indigenous children in the Australian child welfare system’, International Journal of Social Welfare.
Bob Pease, ‘Men as Allies in Preventing Violence against Women: Principles and Practices for Promoting Accountability’.
Bindi Bennett, Sue Green, Stephanie Gilbert, Dawn Bessarab (eds), Our voices : Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social work.
Bindi Bennett, Joanna Zubrzycki, J & Violent Bacon, ‘What Do We Know? The Experiences of Social Workers Working Alongside Aboriginal People’.
Christine Fejo-King & Linda Briskman,‘Reversing colonial practices with Indigenous peoples’
Christine Fejo-King, Let’s Talk Kinship.
English, Peter. ‘Land rights and birthrights, (the great Australian hoax) : an examination of the rights of ownership of former Aboriginal land in Australia’.
Aileen Moreton- Robinson, Whitening Race, Aboriginal Studies Press, Australia.
Robyn Lynn, Rosamund Thorpe, Debra Miles, Christine Cutts, Anne Butcher, Linda Ford Murri Way! Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders reconstruct social welfare practice.
Tom Calma & Emily Priday, ‘Putting Indigenous Human Rights into Social Work Practice’, Australian Social Work.
Elizabeth Fernandez, ‘Child Protection and Vulnerable Families: Trends and Issues in the Australian Context’, Social Sciences.

Contact Sammi at sammililli(at)gmail(dot)com

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‘Magic Wand Dreaming’ with Emily Hapea

September 20, 2017

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What’s it like to walk in two worlds, as a non-Indigenous social worker in a remote Aboriginal community, fresh out of university?

While that might seem daunting, Emily Hapea saw the opportunity for growth, developing authentic relationships and honouring the truth of First Nations Australians.

Emily lives and works in Cairns in northern Queensland. In this episode of ‘Talk the Walk’, Emily shares the journey that has shaped her understanding of trauma-informed practice influenced by experiences of institutional racism and a denial of Australia’s black history.

Like many social workers who are expected to wave a magic wand, Emily prefers to draw on deeply engrained values of equality, compassion for others and a sense of justice, to create a way of working that sustains her.

In this refreshing conversation, we explore:

- The beginnings of Emily’s social justice journey from childhood; the influences and myths that have shaped her ethics and values in life and work
- Why Emily believes that it is impossible to be born in Australia and avoid being racist
- Seeing intergenerational trauma as a truth, not a theory
- Emily’s framework for social work practice
- Beginnings and sparkling moments from working with vulnerable Aboriginal women seeking to get Child Protection out of their life, working within Noel Pearson’s Welfare Reform agenda for Cape York, and an innovative accommodation and early intervention support service for new mums
- The biggest learnings of being thrown in the deep end, fresh out of university into Cape York communities
- What can help when starting work in a new cultural context and the importance of developing relationships with cultural mentors
- Differences between social work in Indigenous and mainstream contexts
- The knowledge and skills Emily developed that she wouldn’t have, if she hadn’t worked with Indigenous communities
- Advice for social workers new to the field
- The sickness of denial about Australia’s true history and owning our racism, contrasted with Aboriginal people’s resilence and passion
- What Emily would do if she had a magic wand

Don’t forget, if you or someone you know would make a great interview on ‘Talk the Walk’, send us an email from the Contact Page.

Things to follow up after the episode

‘Trauma Trails’ by Professor Judy Atkinson

‘Why weren’t we told’ by Henry Reynolds

Jackie Huggins

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Another day in the life of a remote social worker

‘Giving Back to Community’ with Alison Grant

August 16, 2017

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Alison with a local Centrelink worker on the Tiwi Islands

On Episode 6 of ‘Talk the Walk’ I sit down and chat with Alison Grant. This is the first time we had met and it seemed appropriate to invite her along to my favourite haunt in Darwin, a community café run by volunteers at my local community garden. This set the scene for a delightful conversation with Alison, full of birds, children playing piano and lots of other people making fun connections over fair trade tea and coffee.

Alison arrived in the Northern Territory in 2010, taking up a locum position at the VicDaly Shire Council to set up a community development and education initiative to reduce the disadvantage of Aboriginal women on surrounding remote communities.

Alison then moved to Wurli-Wurlinjang Health Services in Katherine as the Coordinator of Targeted Family Support Services, a pilot program aimed at reducing the incidence of statutory interventions. Alison worked with families with high needs requiring intensive family supports, due to substance abuse, incarceration, disability, family violence and poverty.

And her current role is just as demanding, flying in and out of remote communities across the NT undertaking crisis intervention, assessments for crisis payments and supporting vulnerable Centrelink customers who may be experiencing financial exploitation, homelessness or domestic violence. Alison also works in the School Enrolment and Attendance Measure program.

Another day in the life of a remote social worker

In this episode of ‘Talk the Walk’ we explore:

Alison’s interest in language and how she came to be working with Aboriginal communities in the Northern Territory
Humble beginnings noticing cultural differences to her own Fijian heritage
A typical day in the life of a social worker in a remote community health clinic
Leaving off the rose coloured glasses and adopting a realistic view of making a difference
What it’s like being a migrant social worker and living with culture shock
Providing essential Centrelink services in a remote context
Why giving back to the community is a driving passion for Alison
Alison’s biggest struggles as a feminist in a patriarchal world
The ethics, values and principles guiding Alison in her work
Insights into the factors contributing to ‘the gap’ in health in Aboriginal communities
Alison’s top 3 skills, abilities and knowledge for surviving and thriving in remote social work
Alison’s keys to building respectful relationships
Differences between social work with Aboriginal communities and other contexts
Implications of understanding the kinship system
Alison’s final tip for those starting out their career in this field

So make yourself a cuppa, put your feet up and just click on the Play button below. Join Alison and I as we ‘Talk the Walk’ in our local community.

We hope to have ‘Talk the Walk’ listed on popular podcatchers like iTunes very soon. Or subscribe by email via our Home Page.

Don’t forget, if you or someone you know would make a great interview on ‘Talk the Walk’, send us an email from the Contact Page.

Things to follow up after this episode

Connect with Alison Grant on LinkedIn

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‘Just Start with the Little Things’ with Tony Kelly

August 9, 2017

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Do you remember the first time when you heard your favourite song?

Anthony Kelly, co-author of ‘With Head, Heart and Hand: Dimensions of Community Building’

I remember very clearly the first time I was introduced to Paul Kelly’s ‘From little things big things grow’. I was sitting in a lecture on ‘Working with Indigenous communities’ with Tony Kelly. I was moved, confronted and teary. It was the moment that a small flame was sparked in me. I remember it so clearly. Unexpectedly, the voice in my head piped up and said ‘this is the work you will do’. So I latched onto Tony as an idol and from there a little spark grew.

It was an absolute privilege (and entirely nerve-wracking) for me to reconnect with Tony Kelly recently and bring you this conversation. That same gentle and invitational demeanour of Tony’s took me back to where my heart for this work began. To revisit, the ‘head, heart and hand’ dialogical community development approach which Tony espoused, reconnected me with the principles that I fell in love with, all those years ago and which has shaped more than any other modality, the practitioner I have become today.

Tony brings over 40 years of experience in community development work both in Australia’s indigenous communities and globally. I hope you enjoy this conversation as much as I did.

Episode 5 of ‘Talk the Walk’ explores:

How Tony came to be working in the Northern Territory after the acknowledgement of Indigenous Land Rights
Learnings from entering Aboriginal communities for the first time
The foundation, principles and technicalities behind the dialogical approach to community development
The skill of really listening
The delight of big things that grow from little things
How participatory development programs differ from service delivery; and why governments rarely get it right
Small first steps for social workers in getting started in a dialogical approach to your work
How Tony’s ‘head, heart and hand’ approach differs from other community development approaches
Tony’s struggles of witnessing ‘white on black’ racism, ‘black on white’ racism and ‘black on black’ racism, and how these experiences shaped his international work
Tony’s biggest learnings from the Northern Territory and its influence in global community development
A funny story about a pet kangaroo!
Essential tools for your communication toolbox
The mentors that helped Tony develop an international perspective to his work
Making sense of the text of people’s complicated lives

Just click on the Play Button below and enjoy! We hope to have ‘Talk the Walk’ listed on popular podcatchers like iTunes very soon. Or subscribe by email via our Home Page.

Don’t forget, if you or someone you know would make a great interview on ‘Talk the Walk’, send us an email from the Contact Page.

Things to follow up after this episode

‘From Little Things Big Things Grow’ by Paul Kelly

‘With Head, Heart and Hand’ by Anthony Kelly

‘The Wretched of the Earth’ by Frantz Fanon

Contact Anthony Kelly via LinkedIn

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‘Just Do It’ with Lissy Suthers

July 11, 2017

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On location at healing bush camps on Bathurst Island

Yippee, you made it. Welcome to my first ever episode of ‘Talk the Walk’ – the podcast putting legs on social work in Indigenous communities through story.

This podcast will appeal to social workers that find themselves in many different contexts in Australia, who come across Aboriginal or Torres Straight Islander people in their work, as well as new graduates contemplating this area of practice. The podcast may also appeal to social workers internationally, interested in learning more about what its like to walk alongside Australia’s First Nations peoples.

And now to my first guest.

Working out bush comes with rewarding challenges

Rather than sink, Lissy Suthers chose to swim when she moved from Ipswich in Queensland to the Northern Territory in 2012. Fresh out of university, her first placement was co-ordinating and facilitating healing bush camps for families on the Tiwi Islands. Having supervised Lissy during this time, it was my absolute privilege to interview her for my first episode of ‘Talk the Walk’.

Although she might look like she’s drowning at times, Lissy has moved her way up through Relationships Australia NT to the role of Manager of the Children’s Therapeutic Team, operating on the Tiwi Islands, Darwin and Katherine.

This is a beautiful and honest conversation with a social worker who survives on humour and laughter. There is no sugar coating in this episode. Enjoy!

This episode explores:

Why I decided to start this podcast
Why social workers move up through the profession in remote areas of Australia very quickly
The importance of Aboriginal history and world view in social work study
The values, life experience and family influences which have shaped Lissy’s social work journey
White privilege and class privilege and it’s impact on social work practice
Reflections on student placement in a remote community
Differences in communication
The unique skills and knowledge Lissy has developed from her experience in remote work
Considerations for entering a community for the first time
The values and ethics which shape Lissy’s culturally fit practice framework
Equality and the myth of ‘all the free stuff that Aboriginal people get’
The difference between social work in Indigenous communities and social work in other contexts
The development of inner and external resources
Encouragement for new graduates to dive into social work in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities

We hope you enjoy this episode. If you or someone you know would make a great interview on ‘Talk the Walk’ send us an email from the Contact Page. I am currently working on listing ‘Talk The Walk’ with podcasters including iTunes to make subscribing easy. Stay tuned.

Things to check out after today’s episode

Lissy’s reflection on student placement on the blog – ‘Culturally Fit Social Workers: We need more of you!’

Connect with Lissy on LinkedIn

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…metaphorically speaking

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