VACCA is the lead Aboriginal child and family welfare organisation in Victoria.
The Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA) is a state-wide Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation (ACCO) servicing children, young people, families, and community members.
VACCAs Vision: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander self-determination - Live, Experience and Be.
VACCAs Purpose: Supporting culturally strong, safe, and thriving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
VACCAs Principles:
- Best interest of the child
- Aboriginal Cultural Observance
- Respect
- Self-determination
- Healing and Empowerment
- Excellence
For more information on VACCAs vision and principles see Our Guiding Principles.
History
In early 1976 Aunty Mollie Dyer attended Australia’s First National Adoption Conference where she talked about the ‘cultural and genealogical confusion of the Stolen Generations and the need to show caution before placing Aboriginal children in white foster families’. With the concern that Aboriginal children were being removed from their families only to be placed with non-Aboriginal carers who could not properly care for our children she used her platform at the conference and advocated for the establishment of an Aboriginal run agency that would support our children and their families.
She received unanimous support and the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service secured funding for Aunty Mollie Dyer to complete a study tour. Through this tour she was able to learn from First Nations people in the United States, the models and practices they had in place to reduce the rate of child removal in their communities.
Returning from this study tour Aunty Mollie Dyer founded the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency in late 1976.
Because of the chain of historical events which has led to the fragmentation of our Aboriginal families of today, it is up to each and every one of us to do all we can together to ensure that this situation is halted and reversed – Aunty Mollie Dyer
VACCAs first office was located in Fitzroy with 5.5 staff, 205 clients, and a small budget. It wasn’t until 1978 that VACCA received its first funding from the Federal Department of Social Security’s Office of Child Care. In 1977 roughly 4.5% of Aboriginal children were in out-of-home care and within 3 years VACCA was able to reduce that by 40%.
Programs were established that aided non-Aboriginal families who had adopted or fostered Aboriginal kids and encouraged by the advocacy of VACCA ‘the Victorian Social Welfare Department adopted the principle that the removal of an Aboriginal child from [their] family or community environment should be a last resort’. VACCA also acted as a major contributor to the Victorian Children Youth and Families Act (2005).
For more information on VACCAs history see VACCA History.
VACCA Today
Today, VACCA is the lead Aboriginal child and family welfare organisation in Victoria, protecting and promoting the rights of Aboriginal children and young people. The organisation has grown now with almost 500 staff, across 10 locations, and running over 70 programs.
VACCA provides programs and services to reinforce Aboriginal culture and encourage best parenting practices and advise government in relation to child abuse and neglect in the Aboriginal community. This includes:
- Youth Services
- Cultural Strengthening Programs
- Community Support
- Family Violence Programs
- Training
- Justice Support