Bereavement is hard enough for anyone, but when it is an issue for a child or adolescent, it becomes even more important for the correct support and help. When that child is Indigenous, there can be extra complexities that need to be taken into account.
This section of the hub gives some useful information and background about child and adolescent loss and grief from an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander perspective.
Experiences of loss
Loss occurs when there is a severing, interruption or change in a relationship. This relationship can involve a human being, a place, an ideal, belief, value, expectation, belonging or object. It can even include a loss of function, such as sudden blindness, loss of limbs etc.
Broadly, a loss is what happens (the event, or perceived event), grief is the emotional response, and bereavement is the process after the loss, (hopefully including, or leading to, healing).
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians experiences of loss are multifaceted and complex. These experiences stem from the ‘normal’ losses that people experience (the death of a friend, family member or loved one, the loss of a friend, or a relationship, the loss of a job and so on) and the other losses that are specific to Indigenous Australians.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians have a backlog of unresolved grief experiences, loss from past trauma and grief experiences and current…
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians have historical and cultural ways of dealing with loss. These differences should be considered, however being culturally sensitive should be balanced. There are individual and cultural differences.
On this page
Access pdf documents
Where possible resources are specific to Australian Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, adolescents and their families. Some resources are not age specific but relate to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Please let us know if there are other resources you find useful.
Brochure providing information especially useful for parents and carers. Information is presented according to different age groups.
Kids grieve too(pdf 361kb) Parenting SA, South Australia
Fact sheet providing information that is most useful for parents and carers to assist children experiencing grief and loss.
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