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Our commitment to reconciliation

Working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on the ongoing journey of reconciliation

As an organisation, Council to Homeless Persons has long acknowledged that the significant over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the numbers of people without a home is a direct and enduring consequence of colonisation.

We recognise the ongoing harm caused to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through dispossession from lands, families, communities, and cultures.

Our vision for reconciliation

Our vision for reconciliation is an Australia where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures across the country are valued and respected.

We envisage an Australia where Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander self-determination is meaningfully achieved and where the structural forces that can lead to homelessness do not impact disproportionately on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.

We are committed to combating discrimination and stigma wherever it exists, recognising that these forces impact on people’s likelihood of experiencing periods without a home.

We celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures as a core part of our work.

We celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures as a point of pride for all Australians, and recognise such celebration as an important means of combatting discrimination and stigma.

Our vision for reconciliation recognises that dispossession and colonisation are ongoing processes, needing to be addressed in the present.

Ongoing colonisation is realised through processes that result in increased homelessness, including over-incarceration, child removal, and housing discrimination. In our vision for reconciliation, the processes of colonisation cease, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are no longer over-represented in the number of people without a home.

Reconciliation includes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples determining the solutions and programs required to meet their own needs.

Our vision requires strong and well-resourced Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) that are empowered to develop and deliver unique, responsive solutions to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples without a home.

Our vision requires all specialist homelessness services to be culturally competent, committed to, and working to achieve reconciliation.

Together, we can address the housing instability and periods without a home that are an ongoing barrier to reconciliation.

You can learn more about our commitment to reconciliation, including detailed actions and timelines, in the Council to Homeless Persons Reconciliation Action Plan.

Mana-na woorn-tyeen maar-takoort

One in six Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Victorians will need assistance from a homelessness service each year. That number is far, far too high.

Council to Homeless Persons is a strong supporter of Mana-na woorn-tyeen maar-takoort (Every Aboriginal Person has a Home), the Victorian Aboriginal Housing and Homelessness Framework that provides the building blocks for reconceptualising Aboriginal housing in Victoria.

Homelessness and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples

Learn more about Homelessness and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in our about homelessness section, including a downloadable fact sheet.

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