Welfare, Social Work and an Indigenous Community: Mission to Town

This book explores the development and engagement of welfare and social work with an Indigenous community in north west Victoria Australia, from the late 1960's onwards. Drawing on the narrative and lived experience of one Indigenous community and placed within the historical context of legislation, policy, and practice, it explores the complexities of how welfare and social work's development has been shaped by the assimilationist policies of the time and how this has continued to inform social work practice. Placing this story within the context of broader Australian government policies enables parallels and learnings to be drawn for social work practice beyond this time and place.

Most importantly this book privileges the often unacknowledged lived experiences of strength, resilience, survival, and advancement of the Aboriginal community, despite successive government policies of displacement, oppression, and social control.