Meet Ben, a Ngandawal Midjungbal man of the Bundjalung Nation and a Cultural Support Worker at Anglicare Southern Queensland, who supports young people in out of home care.
Our Cultural Support Workers play a vital role and are committed to keeping Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, who are in care, connected to their family, kin, community and culture.
“I feel that I make a difference by supporting our young people and giving a cultural lens to situations, and helping staff understand different situations,” Ben said.
“I also feel that I’m able to share my cultural knowledge with the young people so that they can grow up with some sense of identity in who they are and being able to carry that through their life.”
Ben has extensive experience working in the community services sector and has worked with young people across different areas including youth mentoring, youth experiencing homelessness, youth detention and cultural advisory.
Ben’s passion for working with young people
“I have a passion for working with young people and for sharing my culture and knowledge. I believe that sharing knowledge is key to breaking down barriers as it helps us to develop an understanding about each other,” Ben said.
“The feedback that we get from staff about how excited the young people are to learn about their culture makes me feel proud. It’s usually after we have met with them or participated in an activity with them. It’s something that really stands out for me.”
Some of the work he does with young people includes yarning, taking them into nature or connecting them through cultural activities, such as art.
Another part of his role involves connecting young people to culture through bush walks and showing them things in nature and engaging them in local community events for significant dates such as NAIDOC Week and Reconciliation Week.
“It’s all about immersing them in their culture and teaching them more about each aspect,” he said.
Ben recognises the hard work done by the young people he works with, and the support from other teams.
“I would like to acknowledge the staff that work with our young people day-to-day as they have been doing an amazing job. I would also like to acknowledge how open the staff have been to the Cultural Support Program and how supportive they have been,” he said.
“Our staff and young people have really made this possible by engaging and supporting us in what we are working to achieve.”
Find out more
To learn more about how Anglicare is connecting young people to culture, check out this article.
