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Indigenous Law Bulletin

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Hughes, Alice --- "Wummuninji (from ILB's Special Forum on Chroming)" [2003] IndigLawB 40; (2003) 5(25) Indigenous Law Bulletin 16


Wummuninji

by Alice Hughes

My name is Alice Hughes. I am a youth worker for a program called Connecting Koori Kids (‘CKK’), which was established to address the inhalation of volatile substances or ‘chroming’ by youth in our community. I am from Gippsland in Victoria’s Latrobe Valley. On my mother’s side, I am from the Yorta Yorta people whose country runs right up along the Murray River in Mildura. On my father’s side, I am from the Gunai/Kurnai people whose country runs right through the Latrobe Valley in Gippsland.

The CKK program involves a youth worker operating a Koori Youth Group for young people, and working with the community to develop strategies to address youth drug and alcohol problems. The program is a collaboration between the Victorian Youth Substance Abuse Service (‘YSAS’) and Ninde Dana Quarenook Cooperative (‘NDQC’). YSAS is a drug and alcohol service for young people, which supplies home-based withdrawal services, residential services, supported accommodation services, education and training. NDQC provides the Indigenous community with services such as health, housing, legal aid, and drug and alcohol counselling. The CKK youth worker receives training, direction and cultural support from YSAS and NDQC.

CKK is based in the Latrobe Valley area, which is a region badly affected by chroming. The program was established after concerns were raised by the local community about the high number of young people who were chroming. CKK set out to work with the community to develop a long-term solution to chroming. Community input is very important to this process. The program takes a community oriented approach, which supports, encourages and empowers community members to take responsibility and recognise chroming as a major health hazard. CKK also works with the Indigenous community to develop strategies to strengthen the family and community connections of young people. The program brings the community together to talk about chroming and why it is happening, as well as allowing the community to identify other problems. CKK educates the community about the damage chroming does to our youth.

The CKK program adopts a preventative strategy to counter inhalant abuse by Indigenous youth. We work directly with young people who are at risk of using inhalants. CKK has a particular focus on using social, recreational and group activities as a means of preventing drug abuse amongst young Koori people.

CKK established a Koori Youth Group (‘KYG’) for Indigenous youth aged between 12 and 25. The KYG is a place ‘for young people run by young people’. The steering committee of the KYG is made up of older youth. The youth group involves Indigenous youth in recreational activities as a diversion from chroming. These activities include the Koori Air Radio Program, cultural performances, sports tournaments, and educational programs. The activities promote an awareness of drug and alcohol issues among the youth.

The KYG runs on a Tuesday night. We have pick up points in each town where the young people are picked up and dropped off. We supply the youth with a nutritious feed on the night. Attendance numbers are consistently high. There is a lot of interest when activities like the National Aboriginal and Islander Day of Celebration (‘NAIDOC’) or sports tournaments come up. We organise the KYG to be a part of these activities. This might involve training for a basketball tournament, organizing a junior NAIDOC ball, or nominating people for achievement awards. One of the highlights of the KYG program was the Croc Festival, where Gippsland youth were invited by the Premier’s Drug Prevention Council to perform an educational show about drug and alcohol awareness. The Young Gunai Dance Group performed traditional Gunai/Kurnai dances in front of 1900 people. The KYG is proving to be successful in reducing chroming among local Indigenous youth.

Alice Hughes is a Koori Youth Worker employed by YSAS. She is currently studying for a Diploma in Drug and Alcohol Studies and was La Trobe City’s Young Person of the Year in 2001.


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