About Karla Kuliny
Children • Young people • Families
Karla Kuliny (pronounced Karla Kulin) Aboriginal Corporation is an Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation (ACCO) on Whadjuk Noongar country with a clear vision and purpose to make a change in support and service delivery with First Nations children and young people, families, and communities.
In Noongar language, Karla is ‘fire’ and Kuliny is ‘coming, going, returning’, therefore Karla Kuliny means ‘return to campfire’.
Our organisation was established by our CEO Aunty Glenda Kickett, a Whadjuk and Ballardong woman from the Bibbulman Noongar Nation, and Social Worker with over thirty years of experience working in the child protection and out-of-home-care (OOHC) sectors.
Glenda had a vision to establish an organisation that is culturally strong and guided by principles of therapeutic care, to support the cultural and trauma-related needs of First Nations children and young people. This vision was driven by her experience as a child in care who left the system with a sense of disconnection from culture and family. Later in life, Glenda managed an out-of-home care organisation working with First Nations children and young people and observing challenging behaviours and understanding needs through a trauma-informed lens.
In Noongar language, Karla is ‘fire’ and Kuliny is ‘coming, going, returning’, therefore Karla Kuliny means ‘return to campfire’.
Our organisation was established by our CEO Aunty Glenda Kickett, a Whadjuk and Ballardong woman from the Bibbulman Noongar Nation, and Social Worker with over thirty years of experience working in the child protection and out-of-home-care (OOHC) sectors.
Glenda had a vision to establish an organisation that is culturally strong and guided by principles of therapeutic care, to support the cultural and trauma-related needs of First Nations children and young people. This vision was driven by her experience as a child in care who left the system with a sense of disconnection from culture and family. Later in life, Glenda managed an out-of-home care organisation working with First Nations children and young people and observing challenging behaviours and understanding needs through a trauma-informed lens.
Read more about Glenda’s professional and academic experience here.
Types of foster care
Our organisation is grounded in culturally strong, child and family focused, trauma-informed, and strengths-based approaches to support the multi-layered challenges faced by First Nations children, young people and families, specifically in the areas of child protection, out-of-home care and youth justice. We recognise Katitjin, the centrality of knowledge and culture for social, cultural and emotional wellbeing for First Nations people. We also realise the need to address systemic gaps in current responses to deficits in cultural needs and experiences of intergenerational trauma.
Karla Kuliny offers community foster care on Boorloo, Whadjuk Boodjar (land) (Perth Metropolitan region). We are a current consortium partner in the Mirrabooka Family and Domestic Violence One Stop Hub, led by the City of Stirling, to support cultural governance and supervision, guide the Aboriginal Lived Experience group and provide cultural support and advice to staff. Working with the Australian Childhood Foundation, we also delivered the co-design of youth family and domestic violence counselling services and the redesign of the Inner-City At Risk Youth Service.
Karla Kuliny offers community foster care on Boorloo, Whadjuk Boodjar (land) (Perth Metropolitan region). We are a current consortium partner in the Mirrabooka Family and Domestic Violence One Stop Hub, led by the City of Stirling, to support cultural governance and supervision, guide the Aboriginal Lived Experience group and provide cultural support and advice to staff. Working with the Australian Childhood Foundation, we also delivered the co-design of youth family and domestic violence counselling services and the redesign of the Inner-City At Risk Youth Service.