Moving Forward Together in Aboriginal Women's Health: - Theses ...

Moving Forward TogetherJanet KellyA multi-disciplinary conference focussing on collaborative ways ofknowing and experiencing action research and action learning.For community groups and services, workers, volunteers,researchers, professionals, educators, policymakers and managersAn interactive conference with a range of themes, disciplines andlearning, teaching and information sharing styles including:ooooSpecial interest yarning & discussion groupsPeer reviewed papersPoster sessionsMeeting Place stalls(Team SA November 2006)Once our agreed vision was endorsed by ALARA management and executive,we began planning in earnest following our collaborative process of Look andListen, Think and Discuss and Take Action individually and together,underpinned by concepts of Dadirri (deep respectful listening), Ganma (twowaylearning and creating new knowledge), cultural safety, respect and socialjustice. These underlying beliefs were shared by most of us and led us to makespecific decisions, as discussed below.Keeping costs lowTeam SA envisioned a conference that was accessible to a wide range ofpeoples regardless and regardful of income or financial circumstance. With nofunding source other than the conference fees, this was a challenge. In theinterests of inclusion and social justice, we argued for low registration fees andsought additional sponsorship to enable rural and remote people to attend.Team SA members spent considerable time and energy seeking, arranging andensuring sponsorship through their networks to enable Aboriginal people fromall over Australia to attend.A culturally safe venueWe also spent a considerable energy debating which venue was mostappropriate. To meet our social justice mandate, we needed a venue that wasnot expensive, was accessible via public transport, had low cost or free car303