I strive to be anti-oppressive in my work with people, which means continuing to learn how to provide more safety in therapy for people with marginalised identities and experiences, including neurodivergent people (whether diagnosed or self-realised), queer, intersex, trans, non-binary, fat, people in nontraditional relationship structures like non-monogamy, polyamory, and relationship anarchy, and people racialized by white supremacy or impacted by colonisation, both here and overseas. On this continent, this especially includes an anti-colonial and anti-racist approach to working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Anti-Racism in Colonial Australia
If you want to take some immediate action, you could try searching the internet to find Aboriginal owned and run organisations to donate to. I believe we should not add to the burden that Aboriginal people experience by expecting more emotional labour through asking them to tell us what we can do. Instead, we can educate ourselves by reading and listening, and taking actions in line with our values to truly begin to reduce racism in ourselves and our society.
- The excellent documentary Incarceration Nation recommends a list of Aboriginal-run organisations to donate to.
- Pay the Rent. A huge amount of non-Indigenous Australian wealth continues to be built on property ownership. This property is on stolen land. All non-Indigenous people benefit from being able to live here. One small action could be to ‘pay the rent’ directly to causes deemed worthwhile by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
- The Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service
- Djirra
- Black Rainbow