Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a shared history of colonisation and forced removal of their children. To be culturally competent, we must acknowledge and tell the truth about Australian history and its ongoing impact for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and we should understand how the past continues to shape lives today.
Before colonisation, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people lived in small family groups linked into larger language groups with distinct territorial boundaries. These groups had complex kinship systems and rules for social interaction; they had roles relating to law, education, spiritual development and resource management; they had language, ceremonies, customs and traditions and extensive knowledge of their environment. In other words, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures were strong and well developed, Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities were self-determining, and Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander children were nurtured and protected.
European colonisation had a devastating impact on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and cultures. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were subjected to a range of injustices, including mass killings or being displaced from their traditional lands and relocated on missions and reserves in the name of protection. Cultural practices were denied, and subsequently many were lost. For Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, colonisation meant massacre, violence, disease and loss.