What we’re all about.
ID. Know Yourself (IDKY) is an Aboriginal-led, grassroots organisation that supports Aboriginal children living in out-of-home care and within the child protection system and advocates for social change to break the cycle and create better outcomes for our young people.
We are based on the lands of the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, supporting young people in the Greater Sydney region. IDKY supports children impacted by cultural dispossession, systematic disadvantage and complex trauma. We do this by providing a group program and mentoring service centred around love, hope and belonging.
We also meet the individual needs of our young people through advocacy work with families, schools, carers and potential employers that aims to provide them with the tools to make empowered choices and fill the gaps left by a failing system.
Our Vision
There are currently 22,297 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out-of-home care. Our vision is to be able to support all of these children, nationwide
We want these young people to feel empowered, have safe and stable housing, be culturally strong, be able to live independently and have a clear path to education and employment.
Why We Exist
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are 10 times more likely to enter the OOHC system than non-Indigenous children. You can read more of the most recent statistics here.
There is a critical need for Aboriginal-led support programs focused on culture. Individual, historical and intergenerational trauma have high-impact and long-term effects on Aboriginal children in OOHC.
How it started.
(Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this image and story contains a person or persons that is deceased). IDKY began with Isaiah Dawe, a Butchulla and Garawa saltwater man who spent his childhood in 17 different foster homes.
During this period of his life, Isaiah was stripped of his culture and identity and suffered malnutrition and various forms of emotional and physical abuse. While experiencing the failures of the child protection system Isaiah came into contact with Ngunnawal Elder, Eric Bell, and an Italian family who provided him with a dose of love, encouragement, and belonging that gave him the strength to get in contact with his Butchulla family (Isaiah with Aunties and Nan pictured on right) and begin a process of healing.
After reconnecting to his culture and family, Isaiah returned to Redfern empowered to change the outcomes for the thousands of First Nations children living in out-of-home care and within the child protection system, and ID. Know Yourself was born.
“Most young Indigenous people in care don’t have a choice. They are stripped of their community, culture, identity, and belonging. Statistics show they will not finish high school, become homeless, and end up in the criminal justice system. But at ID. Know Yourself, we give them choice. Choice that enables them to become whoever they want to be, to show them that it doesn’t matter where you come from in life, it’s where you are going that truly matters.” - Isaiah
Follow our journey.
