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Coming home to culture.
We walk alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people in out-of-home care, from childhood into adulthood, grounded in identity, connection, and opportunity.
On Country, with Elders and cultural mentors, young people find where they come from and where they're going.
A system that has repeated for generations.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are about 6% of children in Australia.
They are more than 4 in 10 of the children in out-of-home care.
The system began removing Aboriginal children generations ago, and it keeps repeating.
A young person cut off from culture, kin and Country is more likely to see the next generation in care.
A cycle is the result of a system, and systems can be changed.
Dreaming Futures exists to change it, starting with the young people inside it.
Sources: Productivity Commission, Closing the Gap data, drawing on the AIHW Child Protection National Minimum Data Set (2023), for the population and out-of-home care shares. AIHW, Child Protection Australia 2023-24, for the rate comparison.
Programs on Country, built on culture.
A connected set of experiences for young people aged 5 to 25, led by Elders and cultural mentors.
Our first program runs in 2027, once our board is fully established.
Journeys on Country
Canoeing, hiking, base camps and walks. Time on Country with cultural mentors and Elders, run as brave spaces.
Cross-cultural and overseas experiences
Journeys beyond home Country that widen a young person's world and strengthen who they are.
Life skills and leadership
Financial literacy, decision-making and readiness for work, building on the strengths young people already bring.
Pathways to work
Matching young people with employers who are ready to welcome them and back them for the long term.
The right cultural support
At every stage we bring in the right cultural people and services to teach, guide and walk alongside.
One pathway that grows with the young person, from first time on Country to leading the next group.
Experience first. Culture at the centre.
We connect young people to culture by getting them out on Country.
We add cultural experiences and life skills along the way.
Experience
Learning happens on Country, with Elders and cultural mentors beside every young person.
Culture
Connection to culture, kin and Country is the foundation for everything that follows.
Pathway
From age 5 to 25, young people grow through the programs, and then come back to lead and shape them.
Partnership
Employers and companies work with us to open doors into real work.
Walk alongside. Not in front, not behind.
Leaders who stand with us.
We are bringing allies in: people who hold management and executive roles and want to use that influence well.
Allies back the programs, open doors to work and share what they know.
Employers and companies can partner with us to match young people with work.
Registered, and building toward 2027.
Here is exactly where the charity is, and what comes next.
A registered charity since 2021
ACNC-registered, Public Benevolent Institution, DGR endorsed.
A founder's record
Founder Shawn Andrews has partnered with 50 schools and 20,000 students through Indigicate.
That record is his, and the charity builds from it.
Building now In progress
Raising funds, establishing the board, and standing up the cultural advisory group.
First program, 2027
Our first program runs in 2027, once the board is fully established.
Your support builds the foundations the first program will stand on.
Help build itThe raise: $150,000
We are looking to raise $150,000 to fund our first staff and first programs in 2027. Gifts of any size count towards it.
Dreaming Futures Limited, ABN 22 649 246 935. Gifts are processed securely by Stripe, and a receipt is emailed to you.
Governed independently.
Dreaming Futures is governed independently, with its own obligations as a registered charity.
Our board is being established ahead of our first program in 2027.