Community
We acknowledge the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin Nation as the traditional custodians of the country where we work and their continuing connection to land, waterways and community. We pay our respects to their elders and all First Nations people past, present and emerging.
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SISTER recognise the ongoing injustices, health and wealth disparities between indigenous and non-indigenous people. As citizens and a small business we benefit from the colonial history of Australia by operating on stolen land. Below are some initiatives we have taken to symbolically and financially give back what is owed to the ATSI community.
Donations
Each year, we donate all our profits and wages on Invasion/Survival Day (Jan 26th ‘Australia Day’) to Elizabeth Morgan House. EMH are an organisation based locally in Fitzroy who provide culturally sensitive support for ATSI women and children who experience family violence.
‘Family violence is not part of Aboriginal culture. However, the disadvantage, dispossession and attempted destruction of Aboriginal cultures since colonisation have meant that family violence has proliferated in Aboriginal communities.’ -Domestic Violence Resource Centre Victoria.
Fundraising
Elizabeth Morgan House
Apart from Invasion Day donations, we raised funds for EMH via a run of hand painted cream tote bags we made and sold from which all the profits went to EMH.
Vision Sister
In 2016 we teamed up with The Fabric Store and Vision Sisters — a partnership between World Vision Australia and the Birthing Kit Foundation Australia. We raised funds to provide over 1000 clean birthing kits and training to community health workers in Uganda.
Without these resources, women are often forced to give birth in unsanitary conditions that can lead to life-threatening infections. In Uganda, almost half of all pregnant women give birth without access to sterile equipment or a skilled health worker.
SISTER WORKS Collaboration
SISTER WORKS is a social enterprise that supports asylum seekers, refugees and migrants to start their own small businesses in Australia.
For our AW16 Collection we collaborated with Petronia who is a refugee from Burundi. Petronia wove some raffia earrings from which all the profits went back to Petronia.
Like Petronia, we met Nafiza through SISTER WORKS. Nafiza is a refugee from Afghanistan and makes beautiful embroidered garments. We collaborated on some simple star and heart designs on denim totes, all profits went to Nafiza.