The Malmsbury Language Program that was run by the Victorian Aboriginal Language Corporation for Languages (VACL) was a very worthwhile program for our youth who had come into contact with the Justice system.
The boys came from both Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background.
The program gave them a connection to their language and culture through the two Elders who ran the program each week, Aunty Zeta Thomson and Aunty Fay Stewart-Muir. They travelled up each week so that the boys had that continuous connection to Elders.
The language program taught them language of the traditional owners of the land on which Malmsbury Justice Centre is situated on and also language from where they were from as well.
Included in the language program was a yarning circle that would happen each week as new boys joined in the program, to welcome them and also to introduce ourselves and find out where they came from.
The boys looked forward to our arrival each week and were enthusiastic about learning language which was very encouraging.
This was a very successful program but unfortunately funding cuts saw the demise of this worthwhile program.