Bringing-Them-Home-Report-Web

operation.The funding constraints limiting services generally, the lack of qualified Indigenousresearchers, genealogists and counsellors and the impossibility for some of State-widecoverage all indicate a failure of commitment at the State and Territory government levelto full, effective and equitable service delivery in this area. States and Territories have notyet developed a coherent package of responses to heal the effects of the forcible removalpolicies.Adequate resourcesFunding for reunion assistance, as discussed above, is inadequate and unfairlydistributed. Outreach is limited. Services are constrained in securing training for theirstaff. Potential clients in rural and remote areas are disadvantaged in obtaining access toassistance and those in some regions have no access to assistance at all.RecommendationsTo date family tracing and reunion services have been critical to the success of mostIndigenous family and community reunions. Even when all the Inquiry’srecommendations are implemented, the role of these services is not likely to diminish. Allgovernments have accepted the principle that ‘in the implementation of any policy orprogram which will particularly affect Aboriginal people the delivery of the programshould, as a matter of preference, be made by such Aboriginal organizations as areappropriate to deliver services pursuant to the policy or program on a contractual basis’(RCIADIC recommendation 192).Services required to support and facilitate family and community reunions and/orpersonal background research will be unique for each client. Services could includeassisting with or making on the client’s behalf initial contact with record agencies or theIndigenous Family Information Service, pre-access counselling to cover the possibilitiesthat records have been lost or destroyed, are incomplete, offensive and/or distressing, preaccesscounselling to cover the possibilities that family members are deceased or do notwant contact, family history research and tracing, support for reunions which may includecounselling for all parties, being present during initial and even subsequent contacts,translation services, referral to professional counselling services when reunions provokegrief and trauma, and assistance with recording personal and family testimony.Establishment of family tracing and reunion servicesRecommendation 30a: That the Council of Australian Governments ensure thatIndigenous community-based family tracing and reunion services are funded in allregional centres with a significant Indigenous population and that existing Indigenouscommunity-based services, for example health services, in smaller centres are fundedto offer family tracing and reunion assistance and referral.Recommendation 30b: That the regional services be adequately funded to performthe following functions.1. Family history research.