'Stronger together': Indigenous groups see donation boom amid protests
One helps Stolen Generations survivors, another tries to keep Aboriginal families together, while a third provides legal services, but all report the same thing – donations are through the roof.
Spurred by the Black Lives Matter protests that have swept the world in the wake of George Floyd's death in Minneapolis, Australians are giving much more generously to charities aimed at assisting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Much more generously.
The Healing Foundation, which assists Stolen Generation survivors and their families, reaped $638 in donations last year in the period from June 1 to June 9, from 15 donors who spared what they could. This year the foundation collected $109,359 in donations from 2286 donors in the same period.
Similarly, the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service has booked $280,000 from about 4500 donors since May 1, compared to just over $3000 in the same period last year.
"This recent increase in donations shows that there's a lot of community support for Stolen Generations survivors, their families and communities, especially when discussions around race and the ongoing treatment of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is called in to question," said Healing Foundation chief executive Fiona Peterson.
She said many more donors than usual were once-off contributors who gave $50 or more to the Canberra-based charity this month.
"We have seen over the past week a real desire from the broader Australian community to want to know more about Stolen Generations history and Australia's true past since colonisation," she said.
The Black Lives Matter rally Melbourne.Credit:Chris Hopkins
The donations will help fund the development of a resource kit for teachers and students, she said.
"It's essential to learn and to teach, so students have a full understanding of the history of Australia," Ms Paterson said.
Grandmothers Against Removals (GMAR), a group that helps keep Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children with their parents through advocacy, has received an influx of donations as well as people wanting to volunteer their time.
"We are stronger together," said Helen Eason, who currently oversees GMAR, which was founded by her mother Aunty Hazel in NSW.
As well as an almost doubling in donations recently, GMAR has received a small spike in volunteers, receiving 10 expressions of interest in the last week and a half.
Helen Eason runs two organisations helping Indigenous people.Credit:Janie Barrett
Ms Eason said the group was still searching for people who can offer pro-bono professional and legal services.
She said keeping families together, and children out of foster care, was an important step in tackling the high incarceration rates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
"Often, once they’re in the system they go through the whole system. We need to change the whole cycle," she said.
The Australian Institute of Family Studies estimates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are 10 times more likely to be in foster care than other Australian children.
Ms Eason also runs a program called Nelly's Healing Centre in Sydney to support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and women. Part of their work is to address intergenerational trauma and help keep families together.
"To have somebody empower you and educate you, support you and believe in you makes all the difference," she said.
Victorian Aboriginal Legal Services director Moricia Vrymoet said the funding surge was welcome.
"We're incredibly appreciative of Victoria and the community for getting behind us," Ms Vrymoet said.
The service started a GoFundMe page for a new advocacy arm, Wirraway, three days ago and has already received nearly $10,000 in donations, she said.
Wirraway – the Wurundjeri word for challenge – will aim to champion the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through legal advocacy, she said.
Ms Vrymoet said that "ending the practice of police investigating police, legislating for independent investigations of deaths in custody and resourcing independent police oversight bodies" are among Wirraway's main goals.
"The funding will allow us to increase our services and make change to Indigenous life all around Victoria," she said.