00:33
I started living in care when I was two
00:36
down from home time about twelve homes
00:40
and four or five years when I was nine I
00:43
got into a family and other do them for
00:46
about four or five years and then went
00:48
into care with carers and did boarding
00:52
at my school for a year and then lived
00:54
with my grandmother for a year and now
00:56
I'm living in Kerrigan at the moment I'm
00:59
doing you 12 equivalent doing big help
01:02
and also doing a TAFE course I'm in my
01:04
second year of Community Services I've
01:06
been in care for almost five years since
01:10
I was 13
01:11
me and my sisters and feel my cousin's
01:12
were living with my nan and then got
01:15
sick so me and my sisters went into the
01:17
foster placement and my cousin's went a
01:19
little bit mom carry twin she's been
01:21
alright normal ups and downs but getting
01:25
their participation means to me like
01:33
working together and as a group and no
01:35
hassles with each other and just working
01:37
together to do things participation is
01:40
getting involved and taking
01:42
opportunities that you wouldn't have
01:43
otherwise doing stuff that involves
01:47
meeting new people and learning new
01:49
things is a good way to participate and
01:51
stuff me and my sisters who hates us off
01:53
every week my sister's ghost to me
01:56
they're both doing Junior development
01:58
squads at the moment every Friday night
02:00
I go to Planet broom which is a youth
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ministry run through my church called
02:06
Planet shakers in the city every
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holidays YMCA run camps and I'm involved
02:11
in them as a family me my foster family
02:15
and my sisters go support Arlington for
02:17
three weeks and stay in a caravan every
02:20
month are you access with my family
02:22
we're like all my cousins and my
02:23
auntie's come together and we just like
02:25
normal have a barbecue and just chill
02:27
laid off week is running June July
02:29
holidays and
02:30
my carrots normally take us down to them
02:32
so like a NATO Christmas party and flag
02:34
raising party years I've been involved
02:37
in that I played soccer for a few years
02:41
and cricket for four or five years
02:44
tennis sort of rugby they have done a
02:49
few things so just get involved in
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activities participate with people and
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meet new friends
02:57
actually have a pretty good relationship
02:58
with foster carers nice to talk about
03:00
pretty good decisions we speak about
03:02
well it's a good choice with things I
03:04
like the decisions I've made my parents
03:07
aren't indigenous but they're completely
03:09
supportive or like a culture and they
03:11
take us to like NAIDOC week or stuff
03:14
like that participation is important
03:23
because it boosts your confidence and
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your self-esteem and you meet new people
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and you get to do things that you most
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likely you wouldn't do on your own but
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you especially care oh the young
03:34
person's opinion in here is important
03:37
because they should have a say where
03:38
they're going or what they're doing with
03:40
their lives instead of having workers or
03:43
other people in the house make the
03:44
decisions for them last year I won on a
03:46
school camp and I really wanted to do
03:49
that because it was kind of a once a
03:52
lifetime opportunity to do a ski trip
03:54
and work on a farm for a week I had to
03:58
get the funding to pay for my flats and
04:01
that to get there and my clothing and my
04:04
caseworker helped me it was really
04:08
pushing for it I when I first saw the
04:10
snow I just felt this sense of amazement
04:13
because it was just really beautiful and
04:16
surreal I guess but the worst part was
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the cold it's really cold
04:24
my arrow sister has ambitions to be in
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the Olympics my time she's 16 she's been
04:30
swimming since she was four and pretty
04:33
much every year she's with the top of
04:34
the class
04:35
she puts a head to it but she pretty
04:36
much has been doing she'll get there
04:38
and I supported the whole way it was
04:43
important to me cuz I'd always wanted to
04:45
go to the snow and see the snow and just
04:47
be in it probably the best experience
04:50
I've had guess if the Karason listen to
05:00
what the kids had to say the kids were
05:03
things that no one cares and they build
05:06
barriers and not let anyone else in
05:08
I enjoy going to school but in my area
05:11
there was a few business kids that don't
05:13
go to school and normally they get this
05:15
out into trouble with the police or they
05:17
get involved with drugs and alcohol and
05:19
pretty much turn their life be on track
05:22
instead of going to school and getting
05:24
an education to get somewhere in life
05:26
they kind of get withdrawn and put a
05:30
shell around themselves and don't open
05:32
up to anyone and don't really talk to
05:35
anyone about it because they don't have
05:37
that opportunity to do things and open
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up
05:45
it's important for caseworkers to build
05:48
relationships with kids by first
05:51
starting with like taking them out and
05:52
like didn't know them better then
05:54
getting into the serious stuff so like
05:57
their decision-making and stuff like
05:58
that I had a case with her a few years
06:01
ago and I got along really well with him
06:03
because he kind of was the older brother
06:05
to me it was quite tough for me when it
06:08
came to doing the wrong thing but in
06:10
that sense he could also be
06:11
understanding as the reason why I might
06:16
do something wrong which I found was
06:17
good to have in that relationship
06:20
I guess my Moses had a positive
06:24
experience in care because from day one
06:26
our carers were supportive of their
06:28
culture and stuff like that
06:42
when I first come into camera and was
06:44
sick and there was one work I was not in
06:46
foster care who or my Nan's last night
06:48
took me out to the hospital women and
06:49
was so I say goodbye it was like took
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off in the morning and she come and
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picked me up and drove me all the way in
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New England was going to pass away she
06:55
gave me her out-of-work number and she
06:58
said if anything comes up just call me
07:00
and I'll come and get you
07:00
it meant a lot because I got to say
07:02
goodbye to my name was as yes
07:04
the one thing they can do is do more
07:06
things for the clients and help them out
07:09
more instead of just like shoving them
07:12
out there and telling them to go do it
07:14
the bacillus give them more help on
07:15
things that they need to do like job
07:18
searching getting a license if you're
07:20
old enough helping them out with getting
07:23
to school and stuff like that Aboriginal
07:26
kids in care don't put was Aboriginal
07:28
carers so the carers don't really know
07:30
about much about culture and some don't
07:32
really like to participate a lot of them
07:34
come along to accesses and stuff like
07:36
that and got to know my family members
07:38
and say life just sitting back and
07:40
watching and observing what we were
07:41
doing instead they got involved in
07:43
conversation and let my mom or my auntie
07:45
know what's going on and things I've
07:47
been doing so maybe if they had like a
07:49
better understanding and instead of like
07:52
just throwing a worker into the mix with
07:54
the workers knows it's another child
07:56
better just to try and get that
07:58
relationship working and be there for
08:00
the client because you do get quite sad
08:03
after a while if you're just being
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passed on and you eventually just feel
08:09
like there's no one there for you and
08:10
you're just all alone in the world a lot
08:12
of the workers left without letting us
08:15
know we didn't find out one or two weeks
08:16
later so if like workers are going to
08:18
leave at least say goodbye
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at the moment I've decided to save my
08:23
placement until I finish school and
08:25
everyone's really supportive of Jack I
08:27
really see myself what I could be doing
08:31
in the future I've just learned to take
08:33
it as it comes and take it the
08:35
opportunity and when it arrives and my
08:37
plan is just to get a job and get myself
08:40
working and just get up on my own Chiefy
08:44
it's important for the kids in care to
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be involved in the making because what
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they do in their care experience
08:52
reflects on what happens in their future
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you
