SAFeST Start Coalition
Supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families to stay together from the start.
Introduction
We are an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led advocacy and research group. Our goal is to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families to stay together from the start.
We work towards collaborative systems and practice that are
- rights-based
- holistic
- trauma-informed
- culturally safe
We are concerned about the rising number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander newborns being removed from their families and placed into out-of-home-care.
Supporting Aboriginal Families to Stay Together from the Start (SAFeST START) is the sixth work stream of the Replanting the Birthing Trees project.
What we do
In response to systemic failures in the health system, we advocate and work towards the wellbeing and safety of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families during pregnancy and the first year.
We do this across four key functions.
1. Research
We inform research to understand and expose breaches of human rights, and areas where government policy and practice endangers Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents and their babies.
2. Evidence
We advocate for evidence-based change in line with the five elements of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle (ATSICPP).
3. Expertise
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowledges and perspectives guide the design of new systems and policies to ensure the safety and wellbeing of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families.
4. Self-determination
We support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander self-determination in developing priorities for change. This includes partnering with and empowering families to address the challenges they face and support their children to thrive.
Our work centres the knowledges, lived experiences and expertise of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, families, and communities.
Going through the child protection system during pregnancy
Tip sheets for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander parents and families when child protection steps in:
Tip Sheet 1 - Child Protection Process
Tip Sheet 2 - Child Protection During Pregnancy
Tip Sheet 3 - The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Child Placement Principle
Tip Sheet 4 - What Child Protection Might Say and Why
Tip Sheet 5 - Tips from Parents for Parents
Wise Counsel
The Wise Counsel model is a strategy proposed by SAFeST Start which aims to protect First Nations families at risk of child protection intervention, and to ensure that all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander babies have the best start in life. The intention of the Wise Counsel model of care is for families experiencing highly complex needs to keep and expand culturally safe care within the perinatal health care sector. It aims to do so by drawing on the wisdom of a Wise Counsel of wellbeing champions selected by the family to support the parent(s) and family during pregnancy and post-birth.
Among the intended outcomes of the proposed model are two primary goals:
- To provide safe, nurturing, Aboriginal-led wrap-around care to families at risk, allowing them and their new babies to thrive in a supportive environment, and
- To reframe the understanding of perinatal service providers and mandatory reporters to prioritise therapeutic support over “risk management”, and reduce the number of notifications to child protection agencies.
In April 2023, the first Replanting the Birthing Trees symposium, Gathering the Seeds, took place, comprising nurses, midwives, doctors, allied health professionals, researchers, community members and Elders, sharing models and experiences of Aboriginal led maternity and perinatal support services and care. This included a Wise Counsel Mock Panel which highlighted how the Wise Counsel Model of Care would respond to the needs of Aboriginal parents-to-be, through lived experience, service provider and academic perspectives. Read the Symposium Report.
Co-design project
SAFeST Start undertook their first Wise Counsel Service Provider Co-Design Workshop in February 2024. The aims of the Workshop were to:
- Share and discuss what is already known about integrated models of care for women and families who are at risk of child protection involvement in the perinatal period,
- Refine the aims, objectives, and core components of a Wise Counsel model,
- To identify barriers and anticipated challenges, as well as facilitators and enablers; and finally,
- To discuss practical implementation and evaluation of the model.
The workshop was attended by people with lived experience of child protection removal, health care providers, and partners of the Replanting the Birthing Trees project, with the group aiming to further refine the Wise Counsel model. This included refining the model’s principles, aims, and values and its core components, as well as looking at practical implementation of the model. This included the exploration of barriers, facilitators, and enablers, as well as identifying the need for parent and community co-design in a Wise Counsel model of care.
You can read more in the Wise Counsel Workshop Report.
SAFeST Start Future Focus
SAFeST Start intends to continue to explore the feasibility of further refining and implementing the Wise Counsel model in the Replanting the Birthing Trees project.
Next steps include performing further scoping reviews, and setting parameters and pathways around the implementation of the Wise Counsel model. Parent co-design and community co-design workshops will be a critical component of progressing the project towards implementation.
Publications
Supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Families to Stay Together from the Start (SAFeST Start): Urgent call to action to address crisis in infant removals (2022)
Get involved
Our members include community members, academics and professionals working in community-controlled child and family services, health and community services.
Membership is open to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous professionals, who work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families.
Get in touch
Contact the SAFeST Start Coalition by email