First Nations children are currently being taken from their families – at a rate 20 times greater than non - Indigenous children. Many are placed in out-of-home care (oohc), with non-Indigenous families or within institutions that do not foster engagement with education, counselling or community. There is an apparent link between out-of-home care, juvenile justice and adult incarceration. Therefore, it is clear that early intervention is pivotal, but this seldom occurs. When it does, it is almost always culturally unsafe and only utilises western concepts of counselling and therapeutic care. This approach does not centre the child's needs or acknowledge the importance of Indigenous cultural healing practices and the benefits of collective recovery.

Indigenous children and young people in so-called Australia continue to experience the entrenched and lasting implications of colonisation, cultural dispossession and systematic oppression. This is most evident through the ever-growing rates of Indigenous children and youth involved with the justice systems and child protection services. These young ones become lost and wholly disconnected from kin, culture and community; this perpetuates transgenerational trauma through purposeful exposure to culturally unsafe practices within harmful institutions. Such institutions offer no reprieve nor therapeutic methodology for keeping these children culturally safe, connected and able to become autonomous willing participants in their healing journey.

By removing some of the profoundly clinical aspects of therapeutic care when working with Indigenous children the child protection system has directly and indirectly impacted, Indigenous practitioners can create a therapeutic environment that centres autonomy through cultural connection. This process begins an intersection of trauma and resilience. Children can share their stories and truths without fear of judgment whilst learning about the healing of such stories through connecting to country and culture, replacing the pain of trauma with acceptance and strength through storytelling.