Who I Am, and Why That Matters

Abstract

Where we find and form identity and belonging, meaning and purpose, is often entangled in the dynamics that play out between people and place, and for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, the legacy and ongoing experience of invasion and colonisation. Place-based understandings of identity and its importance in shaping young people’s experience of what is possible and probable in their futures might be critical to framing cross-cultural work with young people impacted by violence and trauma. This paper draws on practitioner reflections of work with young Aboriginal women both on, and off Country, highlighting common and distinct themes related to identity formation and migration in navigating new futures. These include connection to Country and spiritual connection, family and kinship relationships, Women’s Business and felt cultural safety. The findings illustrate a meaningful parallel instructive to practice; for both young women and practitioners, access to cultural knowledge and connection is strengthened by endorsement and in turn strengthens understanding and experienced safety. This work emphasises the importance of creating culturally connected opportunities, sensitive to dynamics of place, to support positive identity expression and wellbeing.

1. Introduction

Positionality statement: The authors simultaneously hold numerous identities: grandmother, mother, sister, daughter, social worker, caseworker, counsellor, manager, CEO, chairperson, volunteer, and artist. This paper is a collaboration of Aboriginal and ally authors. Readers will note our writing style intentionally embraces a conversational and reflective voice. We choose this approach to honour the trauma informed and culturally responsive aims of our work, recognising that knowledge sharing, like healing, happens best through genuine connection and shared understanding. For this article, we respectfully use the term Aboriginal, as is commonly used in our geographic location. We also use the terms Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, Indigenous and First Nations in accordance with original sources. We pay our respects to the traditional owners of lands on which we work, Awabakal, Bundjalung and Yaegl Country.

Belonging and identity for many Aboriginal peoples intersect with connection to and with culture, community and Country. The significance of space and place cannot be understated as Aboriginal ontologies situate relationship and connection to Country as cornerstone to wellbeing, cultural endurance and identity (Martin & Mirraboopa, 2003). Country is beyond a location, it intersects culture, spiritual connection, rights, responsibilities and relationships that frame how many Aboriginal people navigate and relate to their worlds (Shay et al., 2023). Being on Country implies residency within a tract of landscape involving cultural origins and responsibilities, whereas being off Country references residency external to this homeland (Kitson et al., 2018).

Demographic changes see approximately 80% of Aboriginal people now residing off Country in urban locations (Australian Bureau of Statistics, 2018). These demographic shifts have also produced diverse opportunities and experiences of cultural access, for all Aboriginal people. Positioning in relation to culture and Country therefore is a pivotal factor in the evolution and formation of cultural identity. These complex intersecting factors, while existing within the context of the enduring impacts of colonisation, such as intergenerational trauma, can provide a foundation of self-knowledge and wellbeing which may assist young Aboriginal people to perceive and understand their cultural identities. We know for some young Aboriginal women, experiences relating to trauma can result in increased exposure to, and use of violence (Blakemore et al., 2023), with violence and trauma intwined with embodied identity formation (Rak et al., 2025).

The historical legacy of ongoing structural and systemic disadvantage and dispossession has produced a difficult space for many young Aboriginal people to form cultural identity. This is particularly evident when considering the inequitable access to cultural practice and knowledge many people living off Country face. The challenge becomes even more complex when we consider the specific experiences of young Aboriginal women, who must navigate additional layers of gendered cultural knowledge and practices.

Young Aboriginal women’s identity formation occurs within a distinctly gendered cultural framework that requires particular attention and understanding. While all Aboriginal people face challenges in cultural identity formation, young Aboriginal women encounter unique experiences that are shaped by their specific cultural responsibilities and connections as women within Aboriginal communities. The gendered nature of Aboriginal cultural knowledge systems means that young women’s pathways to cultural identity are fundamentally different from those of their male counterparts, requiring access to women-specific cultural practices, knowledge, and relationships often passed down through female intergenerational lines and encompassing spiritual, ceremonial, and cultural guidance (Dudgeon & Bray, 2019). For young Aboriginal women, regardless of whether they reside on or off Country, these intersecting factors are essential for identity formation, as they must navigate the complex terrain of both general Aboriginal cultural identity and the specific responsibilities and knowledge that come with being Aboriginal women.

Adolescence is a precarious period for many young people, where identity formation coincides with rapid developmental changes (Branje et al., 2021). For many young Aboriginal women, they must navigate this period while building an understanding of their inherited cultural obligations and connections, with a sense of balancing multiple obligations in different worlds (Dudgeon et al., 2017). How young Aboriginal women make sense of themselves and their positions within their kinship systems, may be deeply shaped by connection, or lack thereof, to Country, cultural knowledge systems and profound female relations with those who hold, maintain and disseminate Women’s Business (Murrup-Stewart et al., 2021).

The legacy of colonisation and assimilation practices and policies, such as the forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres strait Islander children from their families and communities, and displacement and prohibition of language and cultural practices have directly disrupted the traditional process and flow of cultural knowledge transfer and Women’s Business (Tiwari et al., 2024). These negative dynamics and disruption have produced generational holes in cultural knowledge production and transmission that continue to impact how young Aboriginal women can access opportunities for cultural identity formation. For many young women, this means simultaneously traversing historical, generational and current experiences of trauma with an urge to build cultural knowledge.

Women’s Business is especially crucial for situating the formation of cultural identity for many Aboriginal young women. Women’s Business holds and transmits specific cultural responsibilities, practices, knowledge and opportunities down female intergenerational lines (Moreton-Robinson, 2000). Such gendered cultural practices may provide guidance and direction for how young Aboriginal women make sense of their worlds, their responsibilities, and position in relation to kinship circles. Access to this knowledge may be influenced by context, place, time, familial and community histories- all which produce various pathways to knowledge and identity production in young Aboriginal women (Fredericks, 2004).

Women’s Business and the transmission of cultural knowledge is difficult without the presence of cultural safety. Cultural safety is bigger than attempts to ensure sensitivity and challenging systemic discrimination and power imbalance (Tremblay et al., 2023). Culturally secure environments produce settings where young Aboriginal women may authentically express and explore their cultural identity with less risk of harm and judgement (Fredericks, 2004). It is crucial for practitioners working alongside these women (regardless of whether the practitioner is Aboriginal or not), to recognise the important role cultural safety plays in identity formation.

Strong cultural identity may act as a protective factor for young Aboriginal people, may reduce risk taking, increase well mental health, pro-social connections, and educational engagement and attainment (Dockery, 2020). Specifically for young Aboriginal women, a positive and engaged cultural identity may provide inoculation against forms of discrimination such as sexism and racism- while it may not stop these types of discrimination from occurring, a strong cultural identity can assist young Aboriginal women in their responses. Thus, the practitioner’s role recognising and supporting a growth in solid cultural identity formation is critical for work alongside young Aboriginal women, especially those who have experienced and use violence, and have experiences of trauma.

For the many young Aboriginal women who experience violence, cultural connection and identity can produce the foundation for healing. Experiences of violence for Aboriginal children and women must be contextualised and understood through the enduring impacts of colonisation and subsequent systemic and structural violence (Atkinson, 2002). Cultural knowledge transference and practices provide spaces for the relational healing of relational trauma, however access to such opportunities differ based on space and place as well as community and family connections. For young Aboriginal women living off Country, whose cultural identity may be fractured, support is required to build and connect to culture in culturally responsive and trauma informed ways.

Our paper seeks to examine and understand young Aboriginal women’s experiences of cultural identity formation and maintenance by analysing cross-cultural practitioner reflections produced as part of the Name.Narrate.Navigate (NNN) program for youth violence. NNN was developed by community, for community, using collaborative participatory action research and works with young people who use and experience violence as well as the service system who support them (Blakemore et al., 2023). This paper draws on reflections of practitioners who facilitated the NNN program through on Country cultural camps situated on Awabakal, Bundjalung, and Yaegl Countries.

Through an exploration of Women’s Business, kinship, connection to Country and cultural safety, our work seeks to understand the complex intersection of access, place and space in the cultural identity formation for young Aboriginal women. This work holds important implications for cross-cultural practice, and highlights how contextually adapted and gender responsive ways of working can show reverence to established cultural connections as well as aspirations for new connections. By ensuring Aboriginal ways of knowing, being, and doing are at the centre of our approaches, as practitioners we can contribute to environments that are culturally responsive, which in turn may assist young Aboriginal women in their cultural expression and identity formation as they progress throughout life. Our work posits that identity formation for Aboriginal young women may be shaped through the quality of access to interdependent cultural systems, with culturally safe practices serving as a conduit to broader cultural ways of knowing, thus being, and aiding in the development of identity.

Literature Review

Any discussion of contemporary Aboriginal identity, kinship and cultural connection in Australia must be situated within the context of invasion and the colonial settler experience. This has shaped Australia and the successive legislation and policies that have been enacted to ‘manage’ and control every aspect of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples’ lives (Gilbert, 2019). For the purposes of this paper, as discussed in the introduction, we explore the impact of these policies and practices on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander formations of identity, imposed colonial notions of this, and the survival, strength and reclamation of what identity means to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people today.

It is acknowledged that the scholarship of identities is complex, encompassing the theoretical lens of the researcher, and that many such episiotomies come from Western standpoints (Shay et al., 2023). The authors acknowledge Indigenous identity is made of many things today, “pride, kinship knowledge, language revival, history, music, art, connection to Country, caring for Country, and the cultural responsibilities of educating our people and, for some, the wider population too” (Andrews & Markham, 2022).

We also posit that any ‘definition’ of Indigeneity should come from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples themselves. However, this Western defining of Indigeneity has been and continues to be one of the tools of colonisation, informing successive policies aimed the eradication, control and management of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, with often devastating and lasting impacts (McCorquodale, 1997; Paradies, 2016; Walke et al., 2024). Thus, its interrogation is fundamental to an historical context and can inform understanding and respect for contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander formations of identity.

The reality of invasion, genocide and the ongoing impacts of colonialism as experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, while not the preferred narrative of white Australia, is irrefutable (Bradfield, 2024; Sherwood, 2013; Tatz, 2011). Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have survived, despite the genocidal practices of massacres, introduced diseases, forced removal from their lands, the prohibition of spiritual and cultural practices and the forced removal of children from their families and communities, known as The Stolen Generations (Brennan, 2024; Menzies, 2019; Paradies, 2016).

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children have been stolen from their families and communities since the very first days of the European occupation of Australia, with numbers increasing during the 1950’s and 1960s as part of policies of assimilation (Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 1997). Tiwari et al. (2024), remind us of the far reaching and harmful consequences the removal from family, community and culture, confinement in missions and denial of Aboriginality has had on Survivors of The Stolen Generations and their descendants. Marked by trauma, social discord, ill health, crime and addiction, which can manifest re-traumatisation. Survivors’ traumas can be passed on to their descendants, so that an estimated 40,000 Aboriginal people of all ages may be affected by epigenetic and developmental trauma (McCallum, 2022). Increased understandings of the impacts of intergenerational trauma have provided new frameworks for considering the disadvantage and social challenges some colonised Indigenous communities face. This includes historical displacement and genocide, enduring ongoing racism, intensive government intervention, and disconnection from culture through attempts at forced assimilation (Menzies, 2019).

Smallwood (2023), (citing Carlson, 2016 and Menzies, 2019), emphasise how Country is foundational to Aboriginal peoples’ identities, and how removal from lands has led to extensive experiences of disconnection from their identities and ways of being. Gilbert (2019), further challenges us to see, from the contemporary testimonies of Stolen children, the reality of painful outcomes of processes that managed every aspect of their lives; unnamed and unloved, controlled. Their bodies often abused, their identities sometimes irrevocably damaged as “their Aboriginal genetic heritage and their own concepts of their own bodies forever shifted” (p. 232).

The gendered focus of legislation is noted by (Gilbert, 2019; citing Goodall, 1990), proposing that for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander females it was about controlling sexuality and reducing the birth rate, and for males controlling their physical threat. Powerful Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander testimony evidences the trauma and abuse experienced by many Stolen children. Aboriginal women were deprived of their rights across all aspects of their lives, forced into domestic service and institutions where they were vulnerable to sexual and physical abuse (Butler & Bond, 2021; Gilbert, 2019; Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 1997).

In considering the colonial construct of female Aboriginal identity, it is important to understand that pre-invasion Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, men and children all had specific and important roles. Aboriginal women were valued and respected, with their own ceremonies, songs, dances, law and sacred sites through which connections, associations and affiliations to Country, people and culture were strengthened (Fredericks, 2004). Post-invasion, while we know many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women continue to hold important and leadership roles within community and beyond (Huggins, 2004; Moreton-Robinson, 2000), the impact of the colonial settler narrative is evident in the reduction of the identity of Aboriginal women and girls. As identified by Gilbert (2019) previously, Moreton-Robinson (2000) discusses how colonisation has constructed Indigenous women’s identity through sexualized and dehumanising frameworks, the impact which continues today.

Historical polices and ideologies inform contemporary experiences, and as a result Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and girls continue to experience intersecting oppressions. This higher visibility includes over policing, which in turn results in over-incarceration (Sullivan et al., 2019). Informed by connections between historical policies of control and contemporary experiences, currently the fastest growing prison population are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, who are being imprisoned at 21.1 times the rate of non-Indigenous women and are over five times more likely to be receive harsher sentences (Australian Human Rights Commission, 2024).

In considering protective factors for Aboriginal girls which may work towards ameliorating the ongoing pattern of over policing and over incarceration, the legacy of this colonial imposed negative identity, it is evident positive cultural identification is paramount. Strong cultural identity operates as a protective mechanism through multiple pathways: it provides young Aboriginal women with alternative frameworks for understanding their experiences, reducing reliance on external validation systems that may criminalise their responses to trauma and discrimination. For young Aboriginal women living in metropolitan areas away from traditional cultural lands, cultural identity solidification becomes particularly crucial as it preserves wellbeing and connection even when physical proximity to Country is limited.

Macedo et al. (2019), identify positive attitudes to ethnic-racial identity (ERI) as a key factor in Aboriginal children’s development, with children as young as five-years possessing a sense of their own ethnic racial identity. This has shown during childhood to be associated with higher self-esteem, better adaptive behaviour and fewer externalising and internalising problems, as well as exerting a protective role against racisms effects on children and young people’s self-esteem (Macedo et al., 2019). These protective effects translate directly to reduced justice system involvement: young Aboriginal women with strong cultural identity are more likely to access culturally appropriate support services, engage in pro-social cultural activities, and develop resilience strategies that prevent the escalation of conflicts into criminalised behaviours.

Paradies (2006), proposed the need to decouple Indigeneity ‘from disadvantage and marginality, from cultural and physical alterity and from callow moral dichotomies… to recognise that Indigenous people do not require particular phenotypical traits, certain forms of cultural alterity, specific ethico-moral beliefs/actions or a certain level of social disadvantage in order to be Indigenous’ (p. 363). Shay et al. (2023) in their comprehensive research involving 110 Aboriginal young people “Strive with pride”: the voices of Indigenous young people on identity, wellbeing, and schooling in Australia’, across five urban, regional, and remote schools and communities in the States of Queensland and Western Australia, reported positive findings opposing the usual deficit lens Aboriginal young people are often presented both politically and in the media.

Strength-based understandings of cultural identity are reinforced by how young Aboriginal people themselves articulate identity formation. Indigenous young people in this study defined identity as “how you see yourself,” “understanding where you come from,” “being different,” and “representing who you are.” They expressed the importance of knowing where you are from, whose Country you are on, the importance of culture and cultural expression in maintaining strong identities, how physicality impacts identity expression, along with role models in identity formation and development (Shay et al., 2023, p. 337).

Similarly, research by Murrup-Stewart et al. (2021), “Connection to Culture Is Like a Massive Lifeline” where young urban Aboriginal people based in Naarm identify culture as particularly important regarding recovery from colonisation in emotional and social wellbeing. Positive identity formations with connection to culture was described as a fluid and dynamic experience, grounded in relationality and transformable through practical strategies and engagement.

These perspectives collectively emphasise shared cultural values around connection, relationality, and the transformative power of cultural engagement, moving beyond deficit-focused approaches that pathologise disconnection. This foundation of shared cultural understanding directly informs our examination of young Aboriginal women’s specific experiences within the broader framework of cultural identity formation.

The authors recognise the existing evidence that discusses the importance of cultural connection in Aboriginal identity formation, and our work with Aboriginal young women highlights the need for greater understanding on the influence of place- based differences. Here we discuss how location, living on Country versus off Country can impact access to cultural practices and knowledge which in turn impacts on identity formation. This study seeks to further understand these differences by examining cross cultural practices and practitioner observation and reflections of young Aboriginal women’s lived experiences across rural and metropolitan contexts.

2. Materials and Methods

This paper asserts that cultural identity formation for young Aboriginal women is fundamentally shaped by the quality of access to interdependent cultural systems, with culturally safe practices serving as essential conduits to broader cultural ways of knowing and being. It examines cross-cultural practitioner reflections from the Name.Narrate.Navigate (NNN) program facilitated with Aboriginal young women in cultural camps held in both rural and metropolitan settings, to explore how place-based cultural interventions can transform both individual identity development and systemic practice approaches.

This work seeks to advance understanding beyond current violence prevention frameworks by positioning cultural identity as both protective factor and healing mechanism. The NNN program recognises that young people’s experiences of violence, both using and having violence used against them can contribute to identity formation and migration.

This research contributes fresh insights into how practitioners can create conditions for authentic cultural identity formation, particularly for young Aboriginal women whose access to Women’s Business and cultural knowledge has been disrupted. Our work aims to analyse how practitioners understand “who we are, and why that matters” as discussed via the words of participating young Aboriginal women, moving from descriptive cultural acknowledgment to active cultural facilitation that centres Aboriginal ways of knowing, being, and doing.

2.1. Context

Concepts of identity, who we are, why that matters, and relatedly, how our identities can shift, change and grow—are core to the ethos underpinning the Name.Narrate.Navigate (NNN) program. Our research relationship with NNN was cultivated through the authors’ direct involvement as program practitioners, with one Aboriginal and one non-Aboriginal author co-facilitating the cultural camps examined in this study. This insider positioning provided unique access to observe the intersection of violence prevention work and cultural identity formation processes that would be difficult to capture through external research approaches.

NNN’s context was uniquely suitable for examining cultural access and Women’s Business because violence prevention work inherently requires understanding the protective factors that strengthen young people’s resilience and identity formation. NNN has been developed with, and for, the community as a trauma informed, culturally responsive program for young people impacted by violence, and the workers who support them. The program’s focus on violence prevention directly relates to cultural identity formation because for many young Aboriginal women, experiences of violence stem from disconnection from cultural knowledge systems and protective relationships that would traditionally provide guidance and support. When young women lack access to Women’s Business and cultural knowledge, they may be more vulnerable to harmful relationships and situations, making cultural connection both a prevention strategy and a healing mechanism.

Established in 2018, with appropriate ethics approval, Aboriginal Elders, community members, frontline practitioners, key stakeholder organisations, and young people impacted by violence have formed a stakeholder consortium instructive to the development and continuous improvement of the program through continuing cycles of community based participatory (action) research. NNN has evolved to include a preventive intervention for young people aged 10–18 years and a corresponding program of professional education, training, mentoring and support for practitioners.

2.2. Theoretical Framework

NNN holds consistent aims and objectives for young people and practitioners involved in the program; these include strengthening knowledge and building skills, that result in changed behaviour that enhance capacity to cope, connect, navigate change and challenge with confidence. Core to achieving these objectives is self-awareness, self-regulation and (healthy and productive) connections with others. NNN’s theoretical approach directly aligns with examining on/off Country dynamics and Women’s Business because it recognises that healing and identity formation happen through relational contexts and cultural connection. The program’s emphasis on strengthening connections creates natural opportunities to observe how access to cultural knowledge systems, particularly Women’s Business, influences young Aboriginal women’s capacity to navigate contemporary challenges while maintaining cultural identity.

NNN is informed in theory and method by learnings from Dialectical Behaviour Therapy (Linehan, 2015), experiential learning (Kolb, 2015), universal design learning (Rose & Meyer, 2006) and Photovoice (Fitzgibbon & Stengel, 2018; Fitzgibbon & Healy, 2019; Wang, 1999). Aligned with these approaches the program involves hands-on, tactile and visual learning, delivered in ways that preface story as a means for giving visibility and validation to the experiences of young people, and as triggers for conversations, both guided and organic that stimulate learning, growth and change. These methods support NNN aims of being trauma informed and culturally responsive. They support a person-centred, strengths-based and relational way of working (Levine & Kline, 2006; Scott et al., 2021), that respects and foregrounds Aboriginal knowledges and ways of doing for all young people, not just those of Aboriginal heritage, acknowledging that while we as practitioners may know some things (Bessarab & Ng’andu, 2010), we are there to learn from young people. These approaches and their theoretical underpinnings also inform the programs’ research methodology, combining conventional thematic analysis with Aboriginal yarning processes, creating space for knowledge exchange across cultural boundaries. While our research uses cross-cultural methods, our focus is analysing how place-based access may contribute to Aboriginal identity formation. The methodology employed seeks to contribute to rather than compete with our central focus.

2.3. Cultural Camps

Practitioner reflections and learnings presented in this paper are drawn from NNN cultural camps conducted on Awabakal, Yaegl, and Bundjalung Country. Three camps were delivered, both on Country and off Country, in rural and metropolitan settings. The camp format was specifically designed to create conditions where we could observe the relationship between cultural access, place-based connection, and identity formation processes. By delivering camps both on Country (where young women had direct access to cultural sites and Women’s Business) and off Country in metropolitan settings (where cultural connection required different approaches), we were able to examine how proximity to cultural lands influences young Aboriginal women’s identity development and their capacity to navigate violence and trauma.

The aim of the camps was to provide an immersive context for the delivery of the NNN program, combining cultural activities led by Aboriginal Elders and recognised and respected community members with activities from the NNN group program for young people co-delivered by a non-Aboriginal practitioner. The setting of cultural camps was deliberately chosen to support a holistic approach to recognising that change, growth and healing happen in relational contexts where young people are connected to culture, community and Country. The camp format aimed to create opportunities for young women to increase their knowledge about their culture, build relationships and learn within environments, and through traditional practices while addressing contemporary challenges facing young people impacted by violence.

2.4. Participants

A total of 45 young women aged 10–18 years and 15 adults holding respected roles in their communities participated. Young women were referred to the program through their engagement with existing community support services, their connection to respected community members and through word of mouth or peer to peer referral. Participation in the program was entirely voluntary, with active informed, written consent sought for program participation and research involvement. All young women participating in the cultural camps identified as Aboriginal, with many known or reporting experiencing direct or indirect impacts of violence. Adult participants included Aboriginal Elders, cultural knowledge holders, community members, and practitioners who supported the delivery of cultural activities and the NNN program.

2.5. Data Collection and Analysis

Data presented in this paper was collected through practitioner reflections on the delivery of the NNN cultural camps. Practitioner reflections were documented using structured reflection templates developed in collaboration with the NNN stakeholder consortium. These templates captured insights about the program delivery, participant engagement, emerging themes and observed changes or challenges experienced in the program. Reflections were completed by practitioners after each group session and at the conclusion of each cultural camp, creating a comprehensive record of individual and collective observations and experiences.

Analysing this data involved integrating Indigenous and Western methodology, specifically combining social and topic yarning (Bessarab & Ng’andu, 2010) with thematic analysis (Braun & Clarke, 2006; Guest et al., 2011). Social yarning takes the format of informal and unstructured conversations to build trust and connection, building to topic yarning which then takes on the form of unstructured or semi-structured conversation with a purpose; that being to gather stories in relation to the topic, in an authentic and interactive manner.

The analytical process began with social yarning circles led by the second author, where initial reflections and understandings were shared and unpacked, creating space for multiple perspectives, while ensuring cultural protocols were respected. Information from these yarns was documented by the first author, in note form with validation sought from the second author after the yarn for detail, meaning and accuracy. Following these yarning sessions, notes taken and data from the practitioner reflection forms were collectively subjected to a structured thematic analysis by the research team (authors one, three and four), using a constant comparative method of inductive analysis (Olson et al., 2016). All practitioner reflection forms along with reflections documented from social yarns were reviewed independently by the authors with core themes identified using open coding, often highlighting direct quotes or specific terminology used. The authors met to compare and discuss prominent findings and apparent synergies and contrasts in theme and content across reflections and yarning notes (axial coding). The first two authors then met to amalgamate their observations and understanding with these findings, with the second providing oversight to ensure cultural understanding. A final set of themes and interpretations were refined and validated through further final yarning sessions led by the second author with the NNN cultural reference group and recognised and respected members from the community.

2.6. Ethical Considerations

The research reported herein was undertaken with ethics approval obtained from the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS, E0107-14012019) and the University of Newcastle Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC, H-2022-0287). Ethical considerations for the work undertaken extended beyond formal approvals to embrace principles of responsibility, reciprocity, respect, and cultural responsivity, recognising research with Aboriginal communities has historically been extractive and harmful, and seeking to enact decolonising methodologies (Smith, 2013) that prioritize community benefit and self-determination.

2.7. Limitations

While the methods enacted allowed for a rich exploration of practitioner reflections on the NNN cultural camps, limitations of the research should be acknowledged. While a focus on practitioner reflections provides valuable insights for cross-cultural practice, it may not fully capture young women’s experiences of the program. Future research could strengthen this by incorporating, comparing and contrasting data collected directly from young women with that of practitioners. Consideration should also be given to potential bias that might arise from the composition of the sample and the positionality of the researchers and practitioners.

Third, the context-specific nature of cultural camps in regional and rural NSW means that findings may not be directly transferable to other settings or populations. It should also be noted, that for the metro based young Aboriginal women, who presented with a more fractured family, kinship and therefore cultural identity, other factors should be considered. These young women were overwhelmingly engaged with the program via justice or other services, not as with the rural cohort, via respected Elders and community. Therefore, the lack of protective factors of culture and connection is already evident in the experiences of these young women. What is clear however, is these young women were proud of their Aboriginality and showed desire for greater connection.

The principles and processes identified may have broader relevance for culturally responsive practice. While we have sought to address positionality through collaborative processes, it is important to recognise that all research is shaped by the standpoints of those conducting it. Despite these limitations, the integration of thematic analysis with Aboriginal social yarning does highlight potential implications for both practice and research methodologies that bridge cultural knowledge systems. To address these limitations and further build on evidence in this important area, it would be beneficial to replicate our work in different geographical areas, continue to prioritise the perspectives of young Aboriginal women and conduct longitudinal studies to understand how identity development can change over time.

3. Results and Discussion

After a thematic analysis was undertaken four interconnected themes emerged:

• Identity through connection to Country, Aboriginal Lore, and spiritual connection
• Identity through family and kinship relationships
• Identity through Women’s Business
• Cultural safety and implications for cross-cultural practice on identity

We consider the four themes as interconnected as opposed to discrete elements of identity formation. Access to spiritual connection, knowledge, and Country provides a foundational context in which familial relationships may flourish and Women’s Business may be shared as Shay et al. (2023) identify. Where there is cultural safety, young women are better able to engage with the other three themes authentically, the inverse is also true- an absence of cultural safety can disrupt access and opportunity across all the themes. Recognising the four themes as interdependent highlights that identity formation for young Aboriginal formation may be highly relational. Beyond individual connection, the role of relationality reflects the quality of the relationships that exist in and between culture, family, and practice.

3.1. Identity Through Connection to Country, Aboriginal Lore and Spiritual Connection

Connection to Country, Aboriginal Lore and spiritual connection may contribute to cultural identity formation for many young Aboriginal women as discussed by Shay et al. (2023) and Martin and Mirraboopa (2003). Contributions include forming strong foundations for understanding community, and the self, which may help in situating young women in the relation to their Country (Shay et al., 2023). In our work with the young women across both sites, we noticed a vast difference in the access and therefore the opportunity the young women had to engage in this critically important information.

These examples illustrate the interconnected nature of our foundational analytical themes: access to Country, Women’s Business, and cultural knowledge transmission function as mutually reinforcing elements rather than discrete categories. The rural young women meeting on Country had access to, and therefore a knowledge of sacred sites and Women’s Business and actively participated in this cultural knowledge. Gathering on Country for program delivery, the young women were aware of where women’s and men’s sacred places were and shared this information with the non-Aboriginal out of town practitioner. They ensured no one entered the men’s spaces “(to the non-Aboriginal practitioner) No wait! We can’t go in there that bit starts into the men’s space, come back this way and we’ll cut back through, we can swim down here” (young woman, aged 13). The young women were aware of their cultural and personal responsibilities for specific parts of Country, knowledge which was reinforced through stories told to them by their female Elders and Aunties. At one of the on- Country camps, an Aunty asked the young women if they knew about the significance of space the camp was taking place. The girls replied that they did and proceeded to share stories of their knowledge (stories that will not be repeated here for cultural reasons), and how they came about their knowledge (notably these stories were passed down to them by other female relatives). These stories provided guidance to the young women about how to behave on Country, what was, and was not acceptable. One example shared by a young woman was a story about not being outside in a particular area after sundown, and the consequences of whistling after dark for fear of what spirits may be attracted.

The rural young women were openly proud of their Aboriginal heritage, which was reflected in their words “we’re all mob- and mob looks out for mob” (young woman, aged 16) and their desire to learn alongside their Elders. In a cultural painting activity, the girls painted their totems and asked an Elder artist in residence for tips and feedback on how to evolve their paintings. The young women used Bundjalung and Yaegl language conversationally with each other and their kin, again sharing this information with the non-Aboriginal practitioner with the aim of inclusivity “here let me teach you a few words so you know what we’re talking about” (young woman, aged 16).

For the young Aboriginal women residing in the metro site, their access to cultural opportunities like those of their rural counterparts were, overall, much more limited, often due to fractured family relationships. This is not to say they were not equally proud of their Aboriginal heritage, but they frequently discussed that they wished they knew more about their Aboriginality “I want to know more about myself and my Aboriginal culture” (Young woman, aged 16). When presented with opportunities to learn more about Aboriginal culture, the young metro gathering off Country women readily engaged, building quick rapport with the Aboriginal practitioner within the NNN group setting. This rapport turned into opportunities to ask questions and build connection. In practice we saw this in action during the use of a powerful conversational tool used by an Elder who took the young women through a drawn journey of the kinship model. The visual kinship model showed the young women the cultural roles inherent in many Aboriginal communities, including the role of adolescent. The young women learnt their potential roles in relation to the roles of others and the possible implications of kinship breakdown. We do not suggest that people living off Country do not have strong connection to culture, however this was reality for the young women living off Country who were involved in the program and research. This essential relationship to Country enables the cultural context required for enduring family connections to occur, necessary for the sharing of Women’s Business.

3.2. Identity Through Family and Kinship Relationships

For young Aboriginal women, family and kinship relationships may provide critical pathways for cultural knowledge transferral and gendered cultural practices. Women’s Business usually only gets transferred where there are established relationships. Family and kinship relationships may offer emotional support, guidance through life and a lens through which to understand place within Country and community. These relationships may act as protective factors, providing cultural anchoring during crucial periods of identity formation. (Macedo et al., 2019; Murrup-Stewart et al., 2021).

The young rural women had a strong knowledge of their family origin and kinship system. Four generations of Aboriginal women were present at each on Country camp, often an older female could simultaneously be a great grandmother, grandmother, Aunty (paternal or maternal), sister, or cousin to the other people at the camp. The presence of the older women offered support to the young women, “I love that my Nan is here, she helps me feel safe” (young woman, aged 14). The young women gave support to each when needed or referred the support on when they couldn’t, as exampled through the conversation between two cousins, one who was struggling with settling in at night “go talk to Aunty, she’ll sort you out and tell you some stories” (young woman, aged 17).

Many discussions led by the young metro women focused on family fracture, particularly within female relationships, which we know has been the experience of many Aboriginal families and communities as a direct result of policies of assimilation (Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission, 1997). Often the stories about relationship breakdown were related to older generations but had a direct impact on the young women’s lives, as put by one young woman, aged 15 “I know my Mum is Aboriginal but we don’t have anything to do with her side of the family because of a heap of shit that went down, so I don’t know any stories and stuff like that”. Another young woman said of her previous cultural connection “when Pop died, everything fell apart and died with him, I miss my girl cousins we used to hang out when I went to the mish (mission where family lived)” (young woman, aged 15).

For the young women with fractured kinship, we noted that kinship models were frequently replicated with people placed into roles of influence who encouraged behaviours and activities which were not protective to the young women. Often this took the form of peers, including older peers, engaging the young women in criminal activity. Young women who replicated their kinship models with other young people who were also involved with crime and the criminal justice system noted that these relationships, while also fraught with issues, also fulfilled a need and a sense of belonging.

Family relationships, mostly for these young women female family relationships, acted as the foundational mechanism via which Women’s Business such as stories, beliefs, practices and knowledge were shared with the young women.

3.3. Identity Through Women’s Business

Women’s Business is the sacred practices, responsibilities, and information known to and held by females, passed down to females. Aboriginal social structures are fundamentally informed by Men’s and Women’s Business. In a contemporary context, Women’s Business plays a role of ongoing importance for identity, cultural continuity and wellbeing with practices being adapted to a modern setting. Women’s business honours the role of cultural authority and knowledge in Aboriginal communities. (Fredericks, 2004; Huggins, 2004; Moreton-Robinson, 2000).

For the young rural women who we worked with, embedded cultural protocols meant that Women’s Business was expected to stay with women. This meant that all discussions about development, relationships and trauma would be had between females only. If in need, it was expected that the young women would reach out to a female Aunty or endorsed female, “when I’m worried or scared I go to my older cousin, she helps me feel better” (girl, aged 11). The older participants discussed their role as older adolescents, “there’s things we only go to Aunty about, and the jarjums (kids) come to us about somethings too now” (young woman, aged 17).

The young metro-based women also undoubtably had important female relationships. These relationships however had different foundations and associations outside of the traditional concepts of Women’s Business, which could be viewed as another example of the differing levels of access the young women had. Most of the notable female relationships referenced were peer to peer as opposed to broader familial relationships. While this age and developmentally appropriate, the young women expressed a desire for other female connection, support, and knowledge. In a contemporary context Women’s Business includes life skills such as self-care and child rearing skills. An intact kinship model may provide opportunities for these skills to be passed on from older women to younger women, an opportunity not experienced for one program participant whose child was no longer in her care, sharing: “I see my daughter for an hour a week, I want to have more time than that... my Mum and I don’t talk so she is no help, no one is helping me, I don’t know how to be a Mum” (young woman, aged 15). Without access to critical, specific life-skills and familial support, this young woman was struggling to see a pathway different to the one she was on.

Our work with these young women indicated that for the effective transmission of cultural practices and connections to take place, culturally safe spaces which protect and honour these practices must be present.

3.4. Cultural Safety and Implications for Cross Cultural Practice on Identity

Cultural safety is a practice which extends beyond cultural awareness. It encompasses recognition of historical and generational trauma, respect for cultural protocols and use of power- sharing in practice. In the presence of cultural safety, spaces and opportunities where Aboriginal cultural identity can be affirmed rather than minimised or compromised may emerge. Working across cultural boundaries using cultural safety has significant implications for practitioners and requires cultural humility, ongoing critical reflection, and adaptations to practice honouring Aboriginal ways of knowing, doing and being. Throughout our work, cultural safety is applied contextually with a spatial and temporal lens. Working in a culturally safe way means working differently across settings and is dependent on the existing level of cultural awareness (Burns, 2024; Tremblay et al., 2023).

For the young women who have an existing cultural connection, as practitioners we needed to work to ensure we didn’t harm current connections or disrupt connections in a negative way. In the rural setting, cultural safety cannot proceed without a process of endorsement and cultural safety. In this context it meant we needed to have an awareness of family, community and the history of the area. Working through the cultural reference group and the four generations of women who attended the cultural camp, contributed to endorsing our practice. Endorsement started as a ripple and grew within community with the Koori grapevine producing community discussion. Of note, this type of conversation and subsequent trust is unlikely to progress unless led by someone seen as a recognised, endorsed person. In our case, endorsement started with a community Elder. The rural young women arrived at the programs in groups; in doing so they had the backup of the group to endorse the project for future participants. Endorsement provided a level of communication and comfort for the young women and contributed to the high numbers of self-referrals to the program “my cousin came to the last camp; he had heaps of fun and learnt lots. That’s why I wanted to come” (young woman, aged 13).

In the metro setting the number of people living off Country meant there was less coordination and communication of prior community conversation regarding the program. For the most part, these young women came to the program as individuals, with little cultural endorsement present. Thus, cultural safety needed to be applied differently. For young women without or with growing cultural connection, we needed to mitigate the risk of further isolating those already experiencing isolation from Country and culture. Practitioners did this in different ways, the Aboriginal practitioner started slowly, introducing concepts, stories, and language as the group progressed. The non-Aboriginal practitioner contributed to curating a place of safety so the young women could feel safe to express.

Both practitioners worked hard to curate a feeling of broader safety as well as cultural safety. This approach was necessary for good practice and vital before we could hope to gain the endorsement of those unknown to us. We were gentle, nurturing, open, validating, not judging the stories shared with us, thus presenting an opportunity for potential endorsement into the future. This relational way of working is discussed by Tremblay et al. (2023), as a departure of traditional practice, that privileges the autonomy and determination of Indigenous peoples. This approach appeared successful, as highlighted in feedback from participants, such as this comment from a young woman, aged 16 “it’s good coming here, I can talk, for a couple of hours I don’t have to worry about other shit out there”.

We were able to curate the beginnings of a sense of endorsement through connection. Through this process, the young women were able to ask questions and learn about what connection to Country and culture could be for them as young women. As the program progressed, we witnessed a growth in attempts for connection toward practitioners from the young women, with young women frequently arriving early for the program to speak with the Aboriginal practitioner, “Is Aunty here yet? I need to ask her some stuff.” (young woman, aged 15). As cultural connection slowly began to build within the program, we observed the young women seek out new opportunities to learn about their culture.

4. Conclusions

Our work highlights how access to cultural knowledge, relationships and practices fundamentally contributes to identity formation for young Aboriginal women who are navigating who they are, where they belong and why that matters.

Clear distinctions emerged between the experiences of the young women in rural and metro regions. Young rural women had opportunity to consolidate their cultural identity through lived connection while young metropolitan women sought and desired ways to reconstruct and reclaim their Aboriginal identity. We must note that these differences do not represent lack or deficit. Nor do they represent the experiences of all young Aboriginal women living on and off Country.

The young women from the rural site shared experiences that indicated they benefitted from strong family and kin connection, cultural knowledge, and having access and opportunity to Women’s Business and Country. This contrasts with the shared experiences of the young women residing in the metro site who had a stated desire to learn more and reconnect with their Aboriginality. All of the young women regardless of where they lived demonstrated agency in identity formation by making choices on how to express and connect with their Aboriginal within the opportunities available to them.

Our findings indicate that cultural identity formation for all the young women involved in our work was influenced by four key themes: Identity through connection to Country, Aboriginal Lore, and spiritual connection, Identity through family and kinship relationships, Identity through Women’s Business and cultural safety and implications for cross-cultural practice on identity. Access, including the lack of access, to critical cultural concepts influenced how many of the young Aboriginal women understood and expressed their identities.

For practitioners working alongside or hoping to work alongside Aboriginal young women, our findings provide insight on the importance of contextual and adaptable applications of cultural safety. Fruitful practice approaches demand an understanding of any existing cultural knowledge and connections of participants; in turn this promotes opportunities for cultural endorsement. Cultural responsive practices foster places where Aboriginal identity can be explored, expressed authentically and strengthened, building potential for cultural connection.

Co-creating culturally responsive practices relevant to time and place can result in identity- affirming spaces in which Aboriginal young women may learn and explore more about the many aspects of their Aboriginality. In this context, they may feel safer to explore authentic self-expression, and build confidence in their cultural identities irrespective of their foundational cultural experience.

Our research emphasises that fostering many pathways to Aboriginal identity formation, whether facilitating new ways or supporting existing ways, is pivotal for young Aboriginal women’s wellbeing and agency in being able to define their sense of self on their own terms.