Sarah is a proud Torres Strait Islander woman living and working on Kaurna country. Being able to grow up strong in culture, Sarah is able to see the benefits of connecting back to culture for healing families from the adverse effects of colonisation and racism. As Practice Manager -Family Led Decision Making across the whole of Relationships Australia SA (RASA), she provides cultural information and guidance to the mainstream, culturally diverse and Aboriginal staff. Sarah’s work for the last 5years as a therapeutic practitioner focused on attachment has led to Sarah creating early intervention service working with families with an infant aged under two years, who are involved with the child protection system. With the changes in SA laws on child protection, Sarah is influencing the way statutory services and community based, mainstream services include family led decision making practices into their work to reduce the number of Aboriginal infants and children entering out of home care.
Sarah has designed and developed a professional training program called ‘Working Better with Nunga Kids’ and a Family Group conferencing restorative relationships training that is delivered to community service organisations across the state, and she is the NAPCAN State Award winner for her work. Sarah’s heartfelt and powerful presentations at national and international conferences inspire pride in culture and describe how Aboriginal ‘old ways’ can be reclaimed, for the benefit of the whole of Australia.