It's the break-through Kim Davison has been waiting more than two decades for.
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The director of Gugan Gulwan Youth Aboriginal Corporation said an Australian-first therapy trial, launched this month in the ACT, will be a game-changer for at-risk Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families.
Just three per cent of Canberra children are Indigenous but they make up about a quarter of all kids in the child protection system. While the problem is nation-wide, the ACT has second-highest rate of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in state care, sparking fears of an over-representation "crisis" and a government inquiry.
Malcolm Towney is one of 16 workers at Gugan Gulwan, where he already supports more than 50 families. Under the new program, which will be run by the service along with OzChild, more than 40 families will receive intensive at-home therapy aimed at keeping their kids out of foster care.
Sessions with trained therapists will run multiples times a week to identify problems and help the family implement solutions.
Chief executive of OzChild Lisa Griffiths said the organisation had been running a similar program in NSW for more than a year, without a single child being removed from home, but this was the first time the program would focus solely on Indigenous families.
Jointly funded by the ACT government, Gugan Gulwan and OzChild, it would offer "culturally specific" interventions and draw on the services' existing community connections.
Mr Towney said too much policy was still being written by people who "just don't know" and he was hopeful the trial would help turn things around.
Ms Davison echoed the sentiment, saying it was crucial to work with "the whole family" to keep kids in their community.
"In 12 months time, we’re going to see something different because...it's not hard to produce outcomes when you believe in something so strong," she said.
ACT Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Rachel Stephen-Smith said the government was committed to "changing the way we do business" and working alongside the community.
While the 'Our Booris, Our Way' inquiry was announced back in June last year, its committee did not meet until February, having spent time setting up partnerships with a number of Aboriginal organisations.
"Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have the answers, it is up to governments to listen to them," Ms Stephen-Smith said.
"While this review is underway though, we cannot stand still."
The review, which will likely run until September 2019, is expected to release an interim report in August.
