Wungening Aboriginal Corporation delivering strong results for community

This year’s Reconciliation week theme Be Brave. Make Change calls for us to reflect on the culture and history of First Nations people. Wungening Aboriginal Corporation is one of 14 offices in WA that provides free services to Aboriginal people in important areas such as alcohol and drugs support, mental health, homelessness, child protection and justice. Wungening also manages Wooree Miya — a family and domestic violence refuge — and Boorloo Bidee Mia, a homelessness accommodation service in Perth. In the 2020-21 financial year, Wungening supported 13,701 people through 72,123 occasions of service. Noongar, Yamitji and Gija man Daniel Morrison, Wungening’s chief executive, said the organisation;s services were delivering strong results to community. “Wungening has developed a strong presence in Rockingham, where we deliver alcohol and other drug services, child protection and family support services, and counselling for people in the community,” Mr Morrison said. “We partner with other Aboriginal community-controlled organisations like Moorditj Koort, Ebenezer and Coolabaroo to deliver services driven by Aboriginal ways of working. “Our services are producing great results for our community. For example, we have been able to keep 96 per cent of the families in our child protection programs together and in their homes instead of needing to remove children into State care. “Put simply, services for Aboriginal people work best when they are run by Aboriginal people.” With Reconciliation Week in full swing, Mr Morrison said this year’s theme of Be Brave. Make Change is a call for action for the community to confront the uncomfortable history of how Aboriginal people have been treated and reaffirm our commitment to the path of change before us. “We must continue to work at developing genuine partnerships between Aboriginal community, government, business sectors and the community more broadly,” Mr Morrison said. “The only way we will achieve reconciliation is by building up Aboriginal people and communities through truth-telling, and listening and learning from one another. “It is incredibly important that events like Reconciliation Week enable reflection on the part that we can all play in ensuring Aboriginal people are valued members of our society who are able to contribute to it meaningfully.“ To make a donation or find out more about support services at the Wungening Aboriginal Corporation, go to www.wungening.com.au.