We have certainly hit the ground running for 2017. Our participation in sponsoring and participating in several major 2017 Australia Day events has been widely acclaimed as spectacular and innovative. We continue to work closely with our excellent corporate partners and the broader community in our continued efforts to showcase Aboriginal Australia in the most positive ways.
We also expect 2017 to be a very challenging year, not only for our service but also for many service providers working within the child protection space. These challenges largely relate to the pending changes to reshape the Foster Care system in NSW by NSW Family and Community Services (FACs).
Historically, changes made to the system have always been to be to the detriment of the non-government sector and more so when it comes to the Aboriginal children’s services, so it is no surprise that we are all quite concerned and anxious to see what these new changes will mean for providers and the sector now and in the future.
However, one thing is certain and that is that should any new system change fail to deliver the desired outcomes, there is no doubt that the NSW foster care system will be in more turmoil than ever before and sadly this may prove to be unrepairable.
This year will be a landmark time for our service with the organisation changing from KARI Aboriginal Resources Inc. to KARI Ltd. At the same time we will see the establishment of the much awaited KARI Foundation. The KARI Foundation has been established so that we can work exclusively in the area of Aboriginal community development. We are so proud of the fact that so many of our corporate partners have given a strong commitment to assist us in doing this important work.
Paul Ralph
CEO KARI