Speak Out October 2020 DIGITAL EDITION FINAL

Branch News

Fundraising and Developing

Northern Territory

Relationships in the NT On Sunday 30 August, Northern Territory SPA Branch participated in a fundraising event at the Deckchair Cinema in Darwin in partnership with Darwin Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Women’s Shelter (DAIWS). In the Northern Territory, one of our current branch targets is to develop our links and working relationships with Aboriginal organisations in the NT to learn from their examples to improve our services and support for people and their families who have communication and swallowing disorders. Through this focus issue, we became aware of some of the important work that DAIWS do. DAIWS is a domestic violence service managed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People which provides safe and culturally appropriate services for predominantly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and children who are escaping domestic and family violence, and who are homeless. DAIWS’ vision is to provide culturally appropriate services in the community through crisis accommodation, education and healing programs to decrease incidents of all kinds of violence to enable families to live peaceful, sustainable, happy and resilient lives. Through initial conversations prior to the fundraising event and a visit to the shelter, our awareness of the wide range of services that DAIWS provide to make a real difference in the lives of Aboriginal women, children and their families continues to grow, as well as how their work connects with speech pathology. We believe that as speech pathologists we can learn lessons from such organisations about working with the whole person, whole family, and whole community. Volunteers from both SPA NT and DAIWS came together on the night to build connections, spread awareness of the work DAIWS do with the wider community, talk about speech pathology, enjoy delicious baked goods and watch a wonderful film. Together, we raised over $1000 through a bake sale and raffle to supplement the proceeds from ticket sales on the night ($2,438) which Deckchair also generously donate to the fundraising organisation. DAIWS plan to use the raised funds to put towards a women and children’s healing and cultural camp for their clients. As a branch, we look forward to continuing to develop our relationship with DAIWS, expanding our understanding of the work they do, and to listen, share and learn together to make our speech pathology services more culturally responsive. A big thankyou to all the wonderful volunteers from both organisations who gave up their time to plan, bake, attend and help make the night a success. You can find out more about DAIWS by following them on Facebook www. facebook.com/DAIWS8589/ or contacting (08) 8945 4014.

NT 73 members as at September 2020

56

Speak Out | October 2020