Working Towards Safe and Sacred Care - A toolkit to support culturally responsive, trauma-aware, healing-informed continuity of care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families in the perinatal period - V.2

Sep 20, 2026

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Working towards safe and sacred care is a culturally responsive, trauma-aware, healing-informed toolkit designed to support continuity of care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families during the perinatal period. The work includes guidance for embedding cultural responsiveness, strengthening trauma-aware practices, and supporting continuity of care/r within perinatal services, alongside governance, community control, and co-design considerations. The document also provides a self-assessment tool and practice points to help services translate principles into actionable improvement.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages81

Reading Time3 h 24 min

AccessFree to download

Contents

Acknowledgement of Country

Acknowledgements

Overview of the toolkit

How to use this toolkit

Part 1: Setting the scene

1.1 Background

1.2 Self-assessment tool

1.3 Governance, community control and co-design

Please do not remove this page WORKING TOWARDS SAFE AND SACRED CARE: A toolkit to support culturally responsive, trauma-aware Henry, Storm; Cullen, Sophie; Donnelly, Jillian; [et.al](et.al). [https://researchportal.murdoch.edu.au/esploro/outputs/report/WORKING-TOWARDS-SAFE-AND-SACRED-CARE/991005897862207891/fi](https://researchportal.murdoch.edu.au/esploro/outputs/report/WORKING-TOWARDS-SAFE-AND-SACRED-CARE/991005897862207891/fi)lesAndLinks?index=0 Henry, S., Cullen, S., Donnelly, J., Sundbery, J., Ratajczak, T., McLachlan, H., Forster, D., Vasquez, M. P., Reynolds, K., Reppington, P., McCalman, R., Walker, S., Milton, S., McEvoy, E., Jones, K., Gallagher, C., Marriott, R., Bundle, G., & Chamberlain, C. (2026) . WORKING TOWARDS SAFE AND SACRED CARE: A toolkit to support culturally responsive, trauma-aware. The University of Melbourne. [https://doi.org/10.26188/32786586](https://doi.org/10.26188/32786586) Published Version: [https://doi.org/10.26188/32786586](https://doi.org/10.26188/32786586) [CC BY-NC-ND V4.0](CC BY-NC-ND V4.0) Research:Open © University of Melbourne, 2025 Downloaded On 2026/09/20 23:31:23 +0800 Working towards safe and sacred care | WORKING TOWARDS SAFE AND SACRED CARE: A toolkit to support culturally responsive, trauma-aware, healing-informed continuity of care/r for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families in the perinatal period © University of Melbourne, 2025. With the exception of any images, photographs or branding this work, Replanting the Birthing Trees Continuity of Care Toolkit, is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives 4.0 licence. The terms and conditions of this licence, including disclaimer of warranties and limitation of liability are available at Creative Commons Attribution, Non-Commercial, No Derivatives 4.0 International Public License [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. You)[. You](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/. You) are free to re-use the work under that licence, on the condition that you credit the University of Melbourne and the Replanting the Birthing Trees project team (and/or other entities, as required) as the author. Inquiries regarding this toolkit can be directed to: Replanting the Birthing Trees [cacham@unimelb.edu.au](cacham@unimelb.edu.au) Replanting the Birthing Trees (cover artwork) Valerie Ah Chee, 2022 This artwork represents the strength and resilience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in respect to our birthing and parenting over the generations. The tree is strong and healthy and has strong roots that are embedded deeply in country, culture and family. The trunk is strong, sturdy and enduring and a family is represented here: pregnant mother, father and child supported by the roots and each person an integral part of community. In the top left corner, we start with communities, represented by circles that make up the foliage of the tree. This foliage starts out grey and muted with pops of colour representing our traditional knowledge, birth rites and practices emerging from trauma and hardship, knowledge that has always been there, but has been lying dormant until the time was right to emerge. As this foliage moves across to the right, it blooms with strength, health and colour and are connected to form a beautiful and vibrant canopy, supported by the sturdy trunk and ancient roots. This foliage drops seeds so that other trees, the saplings seen here, can grow and stand strong. The grey circles on the black background represent the birthing places all over this land, connecting us again to country. In the earth, the circles represent the continuing birthing women, from generation to generation, unbroken with the smaller circles above and below representing our knowledge and strength as energy, passed on from our grandmothers and is never ending. At the bottom of the picture are our anc

FAQs

What is the toolkit’s purpose in perinatal care?

The toolkit supports continuity of care for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families during the perinatal period with culturally responsive, trauma-aware, and healing-informed practices.

What does the self-assessment tool help services evaluate?

It helps services reflect on what cultural responsiveness looks like, what trauma-aware, healing-informed care looks like, and what continuity of care/r looks like for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families in their service.

How does the toolkit address governance and community involvement?

It includes content on governance, community control, and co-design, alongside practice points to guide implementation.

Sep 20, 2026

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