Australian Aboriginal Ministry

In 1838 the Sisters of Charity, the first women religious to come to Australia, brought with them a crucifix on which there was a black figure of Christ. Mary Aikenhead knew that her sisters were coming to a land which had been in the care of the Aboriginal people long before the British turned it into a penal settlement, and she wanted to honour them in this way and to remind these five sisters of this priority.

Mary Aikenhead founded her Congregation to walk and work with the poor and in walking with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders, we have in every way tried to be faithful to this.

The Sisters of Charity have always worked in criminal justice, education, health and various forms of pastoral, welfare or social work. At no time were they involved in or part of Aboriginal Missions in Australia. At the same time, through their ordinary work there were Aboriginal people present in some aspects of their work and daily lives. In the early years of the twentieth century, Sister Agnes was appointed to work with Aboriginal people who lived in a camp at Blackheath in the Blue Mountains NSW in addition to her work as a music teacher.

Sister Ignatius Jenkins, affectionately known as 'Connie', became involved with the Aboriginal community of Redfern and the metropolitan area of Sydney in 1971. She worked a few nights a week in the Redfern Medical Service and gave support to Mrs. Shirley Smith known widely as 'Mum Shirl'. In 1982 when Sister Ignatius was concluding her work there, Bishop David Cremin wrote in a letter:

"It hasn't always been easy for her, and I know that she 'copped' a lot of the hurt that Aboriginals feel towards the Church on behalf of all of us. She has made the Church in Sydney and Australia more credible because of her presence and her constant caring". August 1982

In 1989 Olive Frances Moore, sister of one of our Sisters, died and left a small bequest to the Sisters of Charity for our work with Aboriginal people in Australia. Olive had grown up in Hurlstone Park, Sydney, where she met and became friends with many Aboriginal people. Throughout her long and fruitful life, Olive had shown outstanding qualities of deep faith and love of God, combined with concern for others. Her greatest love was for the Aboriginal people whom she saw in great need and suffering from entrenched injustices. At the time the Sisters of Charity received the bequest, they did not have anyone working directly or full time with Aboriginal people. The Congregational Leadership Team, in accordance with Olive's wishes, asked for advice and assistance in honouring her intentions. The Leadership Team wished to ensure that the Sisters of Charity became aware of Aboriginal peoples' efforts to establish their independence as the first custodians of our land.

Following the first Awareness Day in 1991 and the ideas that came from Aboriginal speakers and the reflections of the Sisters of Charity, a sister was appointed by the Congregational Council to take the findings of the day further. After extensive consultation with the Aboriginal people and in light of our own vision and commitment, the Aboriginal Awareness Project was established by the Sisters of Charity.

Since July 1991, the Project has taken a number of interesting directions. The national focus remains a top priority and the Melbourne local programs provide a practical model of partnership. As the money from the Bequest lasted only a couple of years, the Sisters of Charity continue to support the Aboriginal Awareness Project through yearly funding.

An essential aspect was the education of ourselves. We have attempted to do this through Awareness Days and through the Director of the Aboriginal Awareness Project's visits to each of the Sisters of Charity communities to inform and discuss the aims and future directions of the Project.

As a result, an Aboriginal Awareness Network was established; study circles have taken place through the Aboriginal Reconciliation Unit and the Australian Adult and Community Education Association; Trainee Aboriginal Administrative Assistants and Gardeners were appointed, and a Resource Centre has been set up.

An equally important priority was the provision of educational and training opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders whose life circumstances had denied them such opportunities. So the garden project began in 1994.

Participants in the Aboriginal Awareness Project are at the cutting edge of the very poorest in Australian society today. The participants, from the most marginalised groups - from material poverty, stolen culture and lives, to homelessness. They are urbanised and often rootless; they come from all over Australia and often are still trying to find their family and culture. It is our privilege to be part of their lives.

In early 1996, the local aspects of the Aboriginal Awareness Project expanded its operations with a move to an ecumenical centre in Thornbury known as 'Minajalku'. We were invited to establish the Indigenous Garden there which is now thriving. Minajalku, which means 'coming together', is a venture in partnership with indigenous people from five major Christian churches. The Centre provides programs and services for Melbourne's Koori community as well as raising awareness in the wider community. The garden was finished by the end of 1997. Then in 1998 the AAP received a grant from the Australia Council for Project Dreaming Trail. And so the project grew in strength and expanded what could be done to enable us to walk and talk more closely with Aboriginal people.

In 1998 when the AAP was embarking on its Dreaming Trail which continues into the future wherever that may take us, two Sisters of Charity were missioned to Cherbourg to a ministry of presence and outreach to the Aboriginal Catholic Community. This was a place of great need and much despair, and they came to see what hope and help they could give. Immediately callers came to talk or pray or to do both. They represented a variety of needs. The Sisters visited an aged care hostel, hospital, respite unit and later on the homes. They conducted Sunday and other services, provided a Lenten program and conducted a Reconciliation Class. At the same time there were a number of break-ins and there was violence among the young people to the extent that the Sisters of Charity Council, in conjunction with the Cherbourg Aboriginal elders, found it necessary to withdraw the two sisters at the end of 1998.

In 1999 another Australia Council grant funded a mentor program enabling the dreaming trail to continue. For a few years the Aboriginal Awareness Project local programs operated from three locations, Strathmore, Thornbury and Glenroy. The National Focus, Personnel and Community Awareness Program operate from Strathmore and the local programs from the Minajalku Centre in Thornbury. These programs are integral to the philosophy and objectives of this Aboriginal ecumenical centre.

Among the basic needs of this project is homelessness and the project is represented in a newly formed indigenous housing network where we raise issues such as the urgent accommodation needs of those released from prison. It is at this stage that the effects of mainstream's separation of ATSI people from their community is often highlighted.

The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander participants in the Aboriginal Awareness Project, come from a group well documented by all social indicators as the most disadvantaged and marginalised group in Australian society. They come from that nucleus of the group that is profoundly affected by the policies of assimilation and protection - a stolen people. They come from prison or from families who have people in prison, the homeless, mothers struggling to raise their children against the odds having themselves inadequate models of parenting, as well as the elderly and lonely and young people struggling with drug usage.