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This report explores 'Acknowledgement of Country' practices in early education through listening to what children have to say about Acknowledgement practices. This work builds on our existing research with educators, parents and carers of children (Grace et al. 2021). As indicated by the report title, 'We love sharing your land', this research is conducted with predominantly non-Aboriginal children, by non-Aboriginal researchers. The research was conducted in early childhood settings in which both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal practitioners have developed and embedded Acknowledgement of Country practices and guided children in their understandings over time. Important guidance was provided by a steering committee which included Aboriginal members with practitioner and research expertise in early education. We conducted focus groups with children in five early learning centres. We recognise that the children know more about Indigenous knowledges than we were able to elicit or hear during the focus groups. We use these four themes to analyse and report on the conversations with children: Acknowledgement practices; the Land on which we play; First Peoples first; and imagination and play. An important aim of this body of work is to provide research data that informs the development of professional training for educators, particularly non-Aboriginal educators, to support them as they embed Acknowledgement of Country in early learning environments. We aim to make children's understandings visible, for the benefit of other early learning centres. Our recommendations are intended to support and enhance practice. Our recommendations are based on what children told us about the inclusive practice of educators and other staff at all WSUELL centres.

The Fibonacci Forum Cultural Wellbeing Research engaged with 130 cultural practitioners from 8 sectors to investigate the Cultural Wellbeing Framework within community. In each forum community practitioners presented their work and commented on how it related to the framework. In this way the forums could illuminate how important it is to understand and consider the wellbeing needs of a community. The framework is thus an important tool with which to evaluate the wellbeing needs of communities and also to document what is already being done. Therefore, the forums, together with the framework, were able to instigate conversations about wellbeing and potentially germinate new projects that embed cultural wellbeing from the start. Curating the forums (who was asked and why) brought in changemakers who were committed to bringing together arts and wellbeing with innovative strategies and models of creative expression that can send a community message about lived wellbeing. The research found that while many individual researchers and cultural practitioners incorporate arts, culture and wellbeing outcomes in their work, there is currently no Australian State or National body for Cultural Wellbeing. Such a body would make it easier for researchers and practitioners to advocate for the creative cultural wellbeing needs of their communities and work in a cross-sectoral way to address societal inequalities.

Researchers from TeEACH were commissioned by Uniting to document the experiences of service organisations in disadvantaged communities in South West Sydney during the 2021 lockdowns of the COVID-19 pandemic. We interviewed 27 workers, in 10 focus groups, to gather service provider perspectives on the impact of COVID-19 restrictions on families, service delivery agencies, and the system more broadly. Understanding the experience of street-level social care workers and managers is critical for understanding the lived reality of how this process actually occurred, what the stressors were, what was deliberately retained or abandoned, and what emergent features enabled or hindered responses. We found that: the COVID response was driven based on COVID being a medical emergency, which hid the extent of the psychosocial impact on people in South West Sydney; the public health response made a number of assumptions about how people in Sydney lived, and the resources to which they had access. These assumptions do not hold for large numbers of people in South West Sydney; there were barriers to service integration at the system level in the response to the impact of the pandemic; the impact on staff from trying to respond to the depth and volume of need was significant. We identified recommendations to strengthen the service system.

Becoming a parent is a time of transition and learning new practices. Friendship networks change, and there is a risk of social isolation. Although many mothers find social support in Australian community playgroups, others do not feel welcome. The processes of inclusion and exclusion are not well understood. This thesis employs intersectionality theory to examine the processes of inclusion and belonging that operate through identities and power. A mixed methods approach is utilised to investigate how playgroup parents understand their choices about and experience of participating in community playgroups, and how playgroups are constructed in policy. Interviews with 18 mothers across four playgroups are combined with an analysis of the membership database of a playgroup peak body, narrative policy analysis based on interviews with policy practitioners, and interviews with the founders of the playgroup movement. The four playgroups are a Japanese language playgroup, an LGBTQ playgroup, and two local playgroups. This research demonstrates that social support is intimately connected to parents’ existing identities, and their newly developing parenting identity. Parents need to feel that they belong in a playgroup to feel supported. In a search for such a community, many mothers seek an identity-based playgroup, where they can connect with people like themselves in some way. Other playgroups are organised around a strong sense of being local. However, in a number of ways, the community playgroup spaces in this research reflect Australia’s wider Anglocentric heteronormative culture. I find four narratives present in playgroup policy and practice. The classic narrative positions playgroups as sites of child development and adult social support. The vulnerability narrative is concerned with targetted intervention through supported playgroups. The third, a belonging narrative, is that playgroups are for everybody, but since we are all different, families should search for the playgroup that suits them. The fourth is a narrative of interculturality, where playgroup are spaces where people meet across difference, based on a well-established concept of local connection being paramount in playgroups. Because social support is embedded in identity specific practices and a sense of belonging in a playgroup, additional resources and support are required for more families to feel welcomed and included in both identity-based and location-based community playgroups.

This report explores ‘Acknowledgement of Country’ practices in early education. The report identifies key features of Acknowledgement of Country practices, examines the process that contribute to their implementation, and explores how families and educators perceive the significance, meaning, benefits and impacts of Acknowledgement practices. An important aim of this research is to provide research data that informs the development of professional training for educators, particularly non-Aboriginal educators, to support them as they embed Acknowledgement of Country in early learning environments. The research was informed by an Indigenist research framework (Martin & Mirraboopa, 2003) and yarning methodology (Bessarab & Ng’andu, 2010). Guidance was provided by a steering committee which included Aboriginal members with practitioner and research expertise in early education. We interviewed 20 educators and six adult family members, including Aboriginal educators and an Aboriginal family. However, since one explicit purpose of the research was to contribute to professional development for non-Aboriginal educators to better embed Aboriginal Ways of Knowing, Being and Doing, the predominance of non-Aboriginal voices was appropriate to understanding the development needs of this group. From the research data we constructed five themes, and the report is structured around these themes. These are: the range of Acknowledgement practices present; the land on which we play; living with many cultures – acknowledging the First Peoples; Getting it right / just start; someone to ask; and begin with the children. We have developed seven guiding principles, and our recommendations for practice are clustered by these principles. 1. Develop relationships with local Aboriginal people. 2. Seek out and honour local Aboriginal knowledge. 3. Privilege Aboriginal culture in celebrations of diversity, because we are on land that belongs to the First Peoples. 4. Encourage families to travel this journey with you. 5. Prioritise time for professional reflection and learning. 6. Decide as a centre the extent to which you will share difficult knowledges with the children. 7. Invest in a shared collection of resources. We acknowledge our recommendations are based on the inclusive practice of educators and other staff at all WSUEL centres. These recommendations are intended to support and enhance this practice, and make it visible, for the benefit of other early learning centres.

This research explored WSU cisgender staff understandings of trans and gender diversity (TGD), school-based support for TGD students and staff, and University policy on TGD. A key aim was to identify the needs of staff in regard to working more effectively with TGD students and staff in order to develop more inclusive policies and practices and to contribute to reducing inequalities based on gender diversity. Research Methodology: This multi-method research included a staff on-line survey (multiple choice and open-ended questions) and a focus group. The online survey was completed by 346 staff members – 61% were professional staff and 39% academics. Seven participants volunteered to be involved in the focus group discussion. Key Findings: There was considerable misunderstanding and confusion around terminology (e.g. transgender, gender diversity, non-binary), with sexuality and gender identity often conflated; The majority of participants (approx. 80%) believed knowledge of TGD issues was important to their role or function at WSU; with 20% having been in a situation where gender identity was pertinent to their work (e.g. Affirmed names being different to names on staff roles and ID cards); There was a lack of awareness and knowledge of institutional procedures and guidelines relevant to TGD (e.g. gender affirmation/ use of pronouns). Participants requested resources and clear guidance in this area; A minority of participants did not believe TGD students and staff required ‘special treatment’, commenting they treated all people the same. Some considered TGD issues were concerns relevant to individuals only, rather than being reflective of structural problems; Participants overwhelmingly requested greater culturally appropriate awareness training opportunities on TGD issues. Eighty-five percent of survey participants were aware of the ALLY Network, but only 23% were members, with 90% of those having competed the training; Strong, supportive, vocal leadership at all levels and a whole institutional approach to TGD issues is also key to enhancing current practices in this area.

This scoping research was an exploration of the lived experiences of LGBTQ+ people, of the issues they encounter in relation to access to services in the region, and of best practice service provision to sexuality and gender diverse communities in Western Sydney. The research participants included LGBTQ+ community leaders and members as well as key service providers from relevant organisations in Western Sydney. This mixed method research included both quantitative and qualitative approaches: an online survey targeting LGBTQ+ community members living in Western Sydney, focus groups with LGBTQ+ community leaders in Western Sydney, and focus groups with key relevant service providers from organisations in Western Sydney. The research found that LGBTQ+ people reported significantly higher levels of distress than the Australian population generally, particularly trans and gender diverse participants. The majority of participants reported witnessing racism, and participants from CALD backgrounds were significantly less likely to feel safe and included in their own homes. Access to welcoming, inclusive, culturally safe services in Western Sydney was a high priority for LGBTQ+ community members and leaders, with healthcare services of utmost importance. Service providers identified that many people and organisations do not have the knowledge, understanding and expertise to address the needs of LGBTQ+ community members, especially those with CALD, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander identities. Lack of social connections and feelings of isolation were common experiences among members of diverse LGBTQ+ communities. A range of recommendations are made to develop culturally aware health, social and community services for sexuality and gender diverse people, and to build the capacity of LGBTQ+ community groups in Western Sydney.

The project is a partnership between the Sexualities and Genders Research initiative of Western Sydney University (WSU) and the Great Lakes Agency for Peace and Development (GLAPD). The project is guided by three research questions: - what are the views and attitudes of Great Lakes community members in Australia on domestic violence within their communities?; - what are the views and experiences of health professionals on domestic violence in the Great Lakes community?; and - how can health and welfare responses to domestic violence in the Great Lakes community be improved? We found five overlapping themes to be core to understandings and responses to domestic violence. These were cultural dissonance resulting from migration and displacement; responsibility within and outside of communities; trust; cultural codes of shame and respect; and broader social and structural factors such as racism and socio-economic disadvantage arising from unemployment. Our recommendations were for education within the Great Lakes communities, and of service providers; building trust within Great Lakes communities and between service providers and these communities; and legal sanctions as a last resort.