As Rotarians we are uniquely placed to have greater impact in supporting aboriginal people than individuals, we have our Club Community Service initiatives, our District networks, fund raising capabilities and our strong reputation in the broader not-for-profit community.
At RIMERN we’ve learned a lot about the disproportionate levels of hardship and homelessness experienced by aboriginal Australians, the impact of racism when trying to secure an affordable rental or a job, the higher than ‘white fella’ risk of being separated from your children, of being incarcerated, of feeling marginalised and dispossessed.
At RIMERN we’ve learned a lot about the disproportionate levels of hardship and homelessness experienced by aboriginal Australians, the impact of racism when trying to secure an affordable rental or a job, the higher than ‘white fella’ risk of being separated from your children, of being incarcerated, of feeling marginalised and dispossessed.
As a RIMERN member Club will you join us in making a real difference to Aboriginal homemakers? We all know that a secure home is the absolute bedrock of a stable life, without it, health issues can’t be addressed, families are at risk of separation, employment can’t be sustained, education completed…. the list goes on.
Background
Aboriginal homelessness in Melbourne is a critical issue, with Indigenous Victorians making up 10.2% of homelessness service users despite being only 0.8% of the population. Often stemming from intergenerational trauma, family violence, and systemic housing inequality, this crisis is rising four times faster for Aboriginal people than non-Indigenous Victorians. [1, 2, 3, 4, 5]
Key aspects of Aboriginal homelessness in Melbourne include:
- Persistent Crisis: 31.8% of Victorian Aboriginal people accessing Specialist Homelessness Services (SHS) experience persistent homelessness, often living in severely crowded dwellings or temporary, inappropriate conditions.
- Underlying Drivers: The primary causes include family and domestic violence (25%), housing crisis (17%), and inadequate/inappropriate dwelling conditions (14%).
- Youth Impact: There has been a near 25% increase in Aboriginal children aged 10-14 accessing homelessness services.
- Support Services: Specialist, culturally safe support is provided by organizations like Aboriginal Housing Victoria (AHV), Ngwala Willumbong (with entry points in St Kilda and Melbourne CBD), and the Victorian Aboriginal Community Services Association Limited (VACSAL) and others listed below.
- Systemic Approach: The Mana-na woorn-tyeen maar-takoort (Every Aboriginal person has a home)>framework aims to tackle this issue through a self-determined and community-led approach.
RIMERN works with the following 8 aboriginal referral agencies:-
Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service (VALS) www.vals.org.au
Supporting aboriginals of all ages and genders with legal & other advice.
Supporting aboriginals of all ages and genders with legal & other advice.
Victorian Aboriginal Child & Community Agency (VACCA) www.vacca.org
1,000 aboriginal employees supporting people in multiple programs and services.
1,000 aboriginal employees supporting people in multiple programs and services.
Victorian Aboriginal Community Service Associated Limited (VACSAL) www.vacsal.org.au
Advises government and provides multiple support programs statewide.
Ngwala Willumbong www.ngwala.org.au
Providing a range of social services in metro & regional Victoria.
Grandmothers Against Removals Victoria
https://www.woor-dungin.com.au/gmarvictoria
Supporting children & families at risk of separation.
https://www.woor-dungin.com.au/gmarvictoria
Supporting children & families at risk of separation.
RIMERN recently surveyed 41 accredited workers from the above agencies to learn more about household sizes, average age of clients, usual causes for referral, usual size of homewares support needed and barriers to referral to RIMERN.
To date, only 6 replies have been received but while all praise our RIMERN service and support, all note that paying for white goods is a hurdle most can’t cross and that they struggle with the cost of deliveries (preferring to use their own vans or getting their clients to arrange for friends to assist with vans, utes or trailers).
To date, only 6 replies have been received but while all praise our RIMERN service and support, all note that paying for white goods is a hurdle most can’t cross and that they struggle with the cost of deliveries (preferring to use their own vans or getting their clients to arrange for friends to assist with vans, utes or trailers).
Will your Club help Aboriginal Homemakers get set up?
There are many benefits to Clubs in being part of a large, impactful project to support aboriginal people in inner Melbourne, including the opportunity to engage your Youth Alumni, to promote your engagement with first nations people at local events and in media, to invite guest speakers and story tellers to your Club meetings so that the wider membership can learn and understand more about the systemic challenges faced by our aboriginal neighbours. Most of our members know little or nothing about aboriginal people, we’re learning ourselves and only now understanding how we can help, one fridge, sofa and cookware pack at a time!
Thanks for your support, RIMERN is YOUR Club’s Community Service and Environment project, we are doing a LOT for Melbourne’s most vulnerable people, please help us to do more?
Susie Cole
Susie.cole@rimern.org.au 0414 907 263
www.rimern.org.au