Sarah Decrea

Sarah Decrea is a proud Torres Strait Islander woman living and working on Kaurna country. Growing up strong in culture, has
allowed Sarah to see the benefits of connecting back to culture in order to heal families from the adverse effects of colonisation and racism.
As Practice Leader of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Family Services for Relationships Australia SA (RASA), she provides cultural information and guidance to the mainstream, culturally diverse and Aboriginal staff. As a mentor and co-worker, Sarah’s current focus is the RASA early intervention service – working with Aboriginal families with infants aged under two years, who are involved with the child protection system. With the changes in SA laws on child protection, Sarah is influencing the way statutory services and community based, mainstream services work together to reduce the number of Aboriginal infants and children entering out-of home care. Sarah has designed and developed a professional training program called ‘Working Better with Nunga Kids’ that is delivered to community service organisations across the state, for which she won the NAPCAN State Award. Sarah’s heartfelt and powerful presentations at national and international conferences inspire pride in her culture and describe how Aboriginal ‘old ways’ parenting can be reclaimed, for the benefit of Australia.