2026 Elder Care Support: Broome State Yarning Circle

Added: 2026-05-30

[00:00:03]We're here in beautiful Broom across the three days to celebrate the work that our staff do on the ground as elder care support workers.

[00:00:15]Welcome everyone. It's wonderful to see you all here in Rubibi this year for the WA Elder Care Support State Yarning Circle.

[00:00:24]>> Caring for elders is a big responsibility.

[00:00:27]We have a responsibility.

[00:00:30]>> It's actually a safe place. Like I feel really connected with everyone in there cuz they're all connectors as well. So they have that same passion, that same drive that, you know, we supporting our elders walking alongside them. So we we exactly know the struggles, you know, the good stories, the bad stories around it. Being able to talk to someone, being able to talk to a mate. That's why they call it yarning because yarning and talking is good for your leang as they say up here. You're able to get things out. You're able to take things in and swap ideas. I think it's a good workshop.

[00:01:06]>> As elder care support staff, some of the topics we may discuss could be confronting or may bring up complex emotions based off our own life experiences. You may want to just take a moment outside, listen to the birds, connect with nature if that helps keep you grounded.

[00:01:23]>> Ceremony is still important up this way.

[00:01:26]Still a big part of people's lives, but sometimes they can't get to it. So why not encourage that? It's all about their mental health as well. And people don't think a lot about the mental health side.

[00:01:37]>> In these three short years, we have seen the significant impact our workforce has had across our communities. The level of support that our elder care support workers are providing to the wider community, helping people through a really complex system is absolutely nothing to be underestimated. I've seen firsthand how one conversation can change someone's life. It makes a big impact cuz they actually they're struggling at home. You know, they're vulnerable clients. So we coming in and doing that welfare check and just feeling like they're not left alone has made a big difference for them. And then you know linking them with the services so they have a support worker to take them shopping. Yeah. Makes our day good knowing that they're getting the support they deserve.

[00:02:21]>> The most rewarding part about it is getting a client from a bad place into a good place and seeing them eating well and being managing their health problems and that type of thing. Yeah. As elder care connectors, we focus on building respectful and trusting relationships and supporting elders to remain safe within their homes and community. So these elders were telling people that the most important things for their care, connection to their culture, connection to their country, not being asked to leave, being able to uphold their kinship and responsibilities.

[00:02:59]When everything is in place, we support our clients to connect with service providers that feel right for them.

[00:03:05]>> It must reflect culture, family, community, connection to country and choice. It's very important to keep the elders in their home to be close to their family because family to Aboriginal people is everything and especially the elders because they're, you know, the matriarchs of our family.

[00:03:24]They would like to be around the kids and the grandkids and keeping them close with their family and in home.

[00:03:28]>> Cuz as Aboriginal people, we don't live in isolation. We live in communities whether we're in our own house or whether we're out in, you know, bigger towns or communities or whatever. Our families are huge and everything that affects one person of our family affects every single one of us. So, it's so important that we do work together. It's about trust, taking the time to yarn, and making sure people feel comfortable and heard.

[00:03:54]>> A lot of our elders that we work with, they just like to listen. They want us to sit and listen. So, we, you know, to be heard and and have a voice again because they feel like their voices kind of shut down and and they don't trust the system, you know, so us coming in and, you know, sort of reinforcing that that there is help out there for them to get that support. So here it's around making sure that the older person has started thinking about their goals, their needs, their wants, their preferences. I know when I had these conversations with my dad, the language that I use around goals and preferences, he just was like, "I have no idea what you're talking about, Rebecca." For him, it was simplifying it to he actually wanted to be able to go get his mail in his mailbox himself. So he wanted to be able to walk up a really steep hill. He wanted to be able to go to my son's cricket match.

[00:04:47]>> This is what happens. We open the doors.

[00:04:50]We confide in one another. You bring your wisdom, your knowledge, your experience, your lived experience, and you share it. The sharing is called Jang Batan. So this morning, I'm going to share some moments of jungan in my welcome to country. That's all I was supposed to be doing, welcome to country. But I love talking about our elders. Thank you elders. They given me the opportunity to speak. It is their knowledge and their wisdom and their giving and their forgiveness that gave me the opportunity to speak.

[00:05:24]They paved the path for us. I'm, you know, feeling very much in awe of what has come out of the last couple of days when we're talking about what we bring with us and what our elders are bringing to the table and the discussions and the listening and these very purposeful yarning circles that we have where we come together.

[00:05:45]>> Most interesting thing I found about the yarning circle was the model of the Brahms project and also the stolen generation how they incorporated it. I'm a director with the First Nations body over there in Calguli. That's exactly the type of issues that we're looking to implement in around our area and with the stolen generation. Well, there is no representation out there whatsoever. And I think that something like that with people from that area with Aboriginal people who who know what they're talking about, they're from there and they'll be able to talk to the people in that area.

[00:06:19]You know, >> it's all about getting people back on country to keep connected to land and culture.

[00:06:35]Even though we live in metro, we we're in Perth, we also have the same problems that communities and regional services have, you know, accessing services, finding the help that our clients need.

[00:06:48]So we focus a lot um on building an Aboriginal community controlled health workforce. We really face some incredible challenges not just in the Kimbley right across Western Australia.

[00:07:00]We cover 1 million square kilometers. If a person is not found eligible for the NDIS, the NDIA and the remote community connectors can provide information and help connect them to other mainstream supports and services. I'm helping our elders out there cuz I mean they looked after us. Now it's kind of like us looking after them. Every day you are out there providing friendly smiles, empathy, advocacy and support to those who need it most. And for that I want to thank you on behalf of the older people and the families you support, the organizations you work for who see the work you do and understand just how valuable this program truly is.