Marra Yattakunar Pathway

The Financial Assistance Scheme (FAS) has a dedicated pathway that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander victims of violent crime can choose to use, known as the Marra Yattakunar Pathway.

The Marra Yattakunar Pathway has specialist workers in the Marra Yattakunar Team you can ask to speak with about your application.

Marra Yattakunar Team

As an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander, you may wish to call the Marra Yattakunar Team. The Marra Yattakunar Team is a team within the FAS dedicated to working with Aboriginal victims of crime.

Our Marra Yattakunar Team are trained on best practices for working alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. They can also help you access other support services that you may be more comfortable with, including Aboriginal-centric services.

The Marra Yattakunar Team can talk to you about the process and help you make an application. They can also help you make a cultural support plan to ensure your recovery needs are understood and considered in the process and outcome.

Contact the Marra Yattakunar Team

Cultural safety

The scheme aims to promote cultural safety for all Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people, which includes acknowledging:

• Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as descendants of Australia's first people
• that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been disproportionately affected by the criminal justice system in a way that has contributed to criminalisation, disconnection, intergenerational trauma and entrenched social disadvantage, and
• that victims of violent acts who are of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander descent have cultural rights and familial and Aboriginal community connections relevant to financial assistance provided by the FAS.

See our commitment statement:

Safe and accessible service

The FAS aims to provide a safe and accessible service for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

This is done in a wide range of ways such as:

• working together with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with the option to engage with the Marra Yattakunar Team to assist throughout the application process, and develop a cultural support plan
• building and maintaining a culturally competent and diverse workforce
• providing ongoing cultural safety training for staff and supporting a workforce culture of learning and growth.

Cultural support plans

Cultural support plans can provide the FAS with information about a person’s cultural connection and guide how the FAS engages with Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people when they apply to the FAS.

Cultural support plans can also provide information to support a victim’s application, such as how assistance for specific activities can nurture connections with culture, family and community and support recovery.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people applying to the FAS can provide an existing cultural support plan if they have one, or use one of the templates provided by the FAS below.

Further assistance

You may also choose to get assistance from an Aboriginal legal service provider (including Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service or Djirra) to assist you to apply to the FAS.

You can contact the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service on 1800 064 865, or Djirra support and legal services on 1800 105 303.

You can also contact the Victims Legal Service Helpline and be provided with a referral on 1800 531 566 from 9am-5pm, Monday to Friday.

You may also wish to contact the Victims of Crime Helpline, which provides information, support and referrals to assist people to manage the effects of crime.