Stories and Words, Advocacy and Social Justice: Finding Voice for Aboriginal Women in Australia

Abstract. A framework of self-determination means not speaking on behalf of people – even as an advocate – but to create the environment and conditions for those who have been silenced to speak for themselves. This article reflects on the role of storytelling for justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families. I closely consider three stories of child removal, as told by their impacted families, and in their localised context. This article counterposes the stories that are told about them through care and protection law and related policy, and draws out the long precedent of these stories. Through the stories of impacted families, told in their own voices, it becomes clearer that the removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families is a key pillar of a concerted and complex colonial project. This has implications for how people working in law come to see the power of storytelling within and outside legal institutions, and how they can do those stories justice by making space for them to be heard on their own terms.