Berry Street Web Docs Annual Report 2012 | Page 26

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Leadership and
Advocacy

Berry Street contributes to a fairer and more
inclusive community.
As part of their normal role, all Berry Street staff are
expected to contribute to local, regional and Statewide
forums. All senior staff play multiple leadership roles in
sector reform and policy and program development.
The focus of our 2011/12 Advocacy Agenda was the
development of a response to the Protecting Victoria’s
Vulnerable Children Inquiry – ‘Home for Hope’.
Julian Pocock (our Director Public Policy and Practice
Development) used the voices of clients, carers and staff
to advocate for change. The Inquiry Panel visited with us
several times and in their final report to the Government,
our submission was quoted more than any other.

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The Government’s response – ‘Directions Paper, May 2012
– Victoria’s Vulnerable Children – Our Shared Responsibility’
– was released in May 2012 with the Budget. In a time of
austerity, the budget allocation was welcomed and we
are pleased to see adoption of our recommendation (in
partnership with the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency,
Centre for Excellence in Child and Family Welfare, Domestic
Violence Victoria and Community Child Care Victoria) for
a Vulnerable Children and Families Strategy. However,
there is so much more that needs to be done, especially in
chronically under-resourced out of home care.

Other highlights included:
»» In partnership with the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care
Agency, hosting a master class on policy and advocacy
presented by Dr Cindy Blackstock from the First
Nations Child and Family Caring Society of Canada
»» Again in partnership with the Victorian Aboriginal Child
Care Agency, initiating a sector forum on the rights and
needs of Aboriginal children and families
»» Working with the Victorian Children’s Court and peaks

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about reforms to the adversarial nature of proceedings
in the Children’s Court
Continuing to strengthen our partnerships with our
Indigenous colleagues, using our internal ‘Walking
Together’ group to maintain our focus on the needs
of Aboriginal children and families and 139 staff
completing our compulsory one day Aboriginal Cultural
Knowledge and Understanding training
Continuing to attract funding to provide training and
professional development activities for our colleagues:
Anita Pell (our Statewide Senior Manager, Home Based
Care) developed and delivered nine x three day
training on Quality of Care; Take Two continued its input
to the Graduate Certificate in Child and Family Practice
and Graduate Diploma of Child and Family Services
Leadership for Team Leaders in the Department of
Human Services and community service organisations;
learning labs for Child Protection Practitioners; and
in partnership with Westcare, we delivered 21 ‘With
Care’ training sessions for residential care staff on
understanding the impact of trauma. There was also
continued demand for training based on resources
we developed, including Yarning Up on Trauma for
Indigenous organisations; Calmer Classrooms for
teachers; and training for learning mentors appointed
by the Department of Education and Early Childhood
Development
Attending the first Global Summit on Childhood in
Washington DC and becoming an Ambassador for
Childhood
Joining with the Centre for Community Child Health,
Parenting Resource Centre, Goodstart and UNICEF in
an exciting project with the USA Frameworks Institute
to maximize the impact of communication about the
importance of investing in early childhood.

B E R R Y S T R E E T A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 2 / / Leadership and Advocacy

In a time of austerity,
the budget allocation
was welcome and we are
pleased to see adoption
of our recommendation...
for a Vulnerable
Children and Families
Strategy.