About the Aunties
Someone consistent beside them.Qualified to be there.
A Ngawilyi Aunty is a narrative therapist who doesn't stay behind a desk — blending therapy, mentoring, movement and cultural connection in one consistent relationship. Here is who a Ngawilyi Aunty is, and the standard we are building to.
What makes a Ngawilyi Aunty
Warm enough to yarn. Skilled enough to hold the hard days.
Relational first
An Aunty is someone consistent beside a family — able to yarn, listen, and pick young people up when the day has fallen apart.
Culturally grounded
Grounded in Aboriginal ways of knowing, being and doing — and respectful of each family's own Nation and cultural authority.
Narrative therapists
Trained in narrative therapy — separating people from problems and seeing knowledge and strength before behaviour.
Life-practical
Comfortable beyond the office: walking, moving, cooking, advocating at school, writing letters, showing up.
Qualifications & safeguards
The standard every Ngawilyi Aunty will be held to.
Narrative therapy training
Formal training in narrative therapy and narrative practice, with ongoing development.
Youth & community qualifications
Qualifications in youth work, community services, social work, counselling, education or equivalent lived-and-learned expertise.
Trauma-informed practice
Training in trauma-aware, healing-centred engagement with children and families.
Cultural safety & governance
Cultural supervision and guidance through Elders and community accountability structures.
Working with Children Check
Current WWCC and relevant state-based clearances before working with young people.
National Police Check
National criminal history screening as a baseline safeguard.
First aid & mental health first aid
Current first aid and youth mental health first aid certification.
Mandatory reporting training
Trained in child-safe obligations and mandatory reporting responsibilities.
Professional & cultural supervision
Regular clinical supervision and cultural supervision — Aunties are supported too.
Two kinds of knowledge
Professional knowledge. Lived and cultural knowledge.
Qualifications matter — and so does the knowledge that comes from community, culture and lived experience. Ngawilyi Aunties bring both: the training to work safely and well, and the relational, cultural and life knowledge that no certificate can teach.
Aunties are supported by narrative supervision, cultural governance through Elders, and a model that values their wellbeing too — you can't walk beside families well if no one walks beside you.
Could you be a Ngawilyi Aunty?
Our team is being built through community consultation. If you are an Aboriginal practitioner, youth worker, narrative therapist, mentor, carer or community member with knowledge to offer — we would love to yarn with you about what's coming.
Express InterestExpressions of interest are not job offers — they are the start of a conversation about how this team should be built.
The right person beside a child can change what a hard day becomes.
Refer a young person, partner on the model, or help us shape the team.