New national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peak body to address family, domestic and sexual violence
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled family, domestic and sexual violence services have a stronger voice and more support thanks to a new peak body formally launched today at Parliament House.
Our Ways Strong Together represents a wide range of community-controlled organisations involved in crisis response, prevention and early intervention, behaviour change, healing, and support for children.
The new peak body will help to grow and strengthen the community-led frontline services doing this crucial work.
It will also work in partnership with governments on the legal, policy and funding reforms needed to prevent family, domestic and sexual violence and support victim-survivors.
Our Ways Strong Together has been set up with the support of the Coalition of Peaks, which represents more than 80 existing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled peak bodies in sectors including health, housing and family services.
Our Ways Strong Together Interim Chair and Lead Convenor of the Coalition of Peaks, Donnella Mills said:
“Our Ways Strong Together is built from community, for community. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander services and peak bodies have been leading this work for generations without a national, integrated sector body to represent them. Today we unite their voices at a national level. This peak body is about strength, culture and healing. It’s about ensuring our communities have the integrated support they need to keep families and communities safe.
“Our Ways Strong Together is an example of the Priority Reforms from the National Agreement on Closing the Gap in action. It is a concrete action towards strengthening the community-controlled sector and enabling Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to have a seat at the decision-making table.”
Our Ways Strong Together will contribute to Closing the Gap Target 13: that by 2031, the rate of all forms of family violence and abuse against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children is reduced at least by half, towards zero.
The peak body has been established in response to calls from the community and the sector, and co-designed with them in a process led by the Coalition of Peaks.
It builds on decades of work by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, community-controlled organisations and peak bodies to improve life outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.