This chapter explores what it means to work collaboratively in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social work, and to situate collaboration as key to the development and articulation of social work practice with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The aim is to develop the capacity for workers in social work and the human services from different cultural backgrounds and service contexts to establish purposeful and respectful working relationships with each other and with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, leaders and Elders, communities and services in order to achieve common goals. One of the assumptions underpinning this chapter is that the values, skills, knowledge and protocols that inform collaborative work, relationship building and the development of partnerships are all essential for culturally respectful and effective social work. Fundamentally, this means acknowledging the colonial practices that have shaped and continue to influence the Australian social work profession. The second assumption is that non-Indigenous social workers do have an important role to play in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander social work, but in order to do this effectively there is a need to work in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Having the capacity to work together reflects the social justice and human rights foundations of our profession. The power of collaboration can lead to significant change and capacity building for all workers, communities and services. These skills and values are transferable to all practice contexts and groups.

"Bioprospecting has gained much recent popular attention, particularly spurred by the apocryphal image of adventurous ethnobotanists penetrating at considerable peril the darkest recesses of the jungle at the behest of rich pharmaceutical firms". (Cox, 2008, p. 270) As Cox (2008) describes above, the discipline of bioprospecting often evokes images of brilliant but erratic ethnopharmacologists, as portrayed, for example, by Harrison Ford (Indiana Jones) and Sean Connery (Medicine Man); battling through thick jungles or mountainous terrain in search of an infallible panacea, used for millennia by indigenous people. However, by contrast with the Amazonian rainforest or the Himalayas, the Australian landmass is predominantly arid with deserts and temperate grasslands predominating. Such arid flat landscapes are where most of the recorded ethnopharmacologically significant Australian plants are found. Selective pressures in this geographically isolated arid land have nonetheless produced a higher proportion of total endemic flora, by comparison with the tropical or wet temperate islands of Oceania or indeed the rest of the world. Evolutionary biologists suggest that during prehistoric cycles of aridity, Australia's rich assortment of high secondary metabolite yielding flora emerged. This flora includes commercially important essential oil yielding species, such as 'Eucalyptus', 'Melaleuca' and 'Leptospermum' spp. Specific evolutionary advantages conferred on plants by characteristic secondary metabolites remain contentious. However, their contribution to the 'materia medica' of prehistoric Aboriginal people is beyond doubt.

The grief following a suicide death has long been considered different to other forms of bereavement. One key feature of this difference is stigma which, in many societies and cultures, can leave the suicide bereaved isolated and disconnected from their community. Previous research examining the experiences of the suicide bereaved report feelings of being silenced-left both without a voice to articulate grief and without an audience to hear their stories. Facebook has occupied a somewhat dichotomous role within suicide research. Initially such social media was viewed with uncertainty, particularly as it remains difficult to ensure the safety of vulnerable people who disclose suicidal feelings in such open fora. This may be exacerbated by the fact that a person's number of Facebook 'friends' may advertise popularity but may not be indicative of their true connectedness to individuals or a community. However, the positive role Facebook can play in giving the suicide bereaved a voice in their grief-allowing them to tell their story-has been little examined. In remote communities, where access to traditional modes of help seeking can be limited by distance and lack of services, Facebook can be used positively to not only remain connected to others but also access information on services which can provide professional counselling and support. A case study in a remote Australian Aboriginal community demonstrates the ways in which Facebook has provided an accessible and valuable tool for an individual recently bereaved by suicide. By analysing the trajectory of the language used over time, and the way the story of grief was told, it can be seen that the use of Facebook facilitated healing and (re)connection to the community. This discourse opens up new ideas to the ways in which Facebook and other social media may be employed to better assist those experiencing grief, identify vulnerabilities and ensure greater connection to services at appropriate times for those who require them.

In this chapter we argue that top-down and templated systems of child protection can fail many Aboriginal children and families by not responding to the particular and situational circumstances involved. The homogenising of the category 'Aboriginal' and constructing Aboriginal as 'problematic', presumes that families who are Aboriginal are in some way deficient, consequently ensuring that the experience of trauma for Aboriginal people is not something that happened in the past. For those coming to the attention of child protection authorities, trauma remains a continuing thread across many family systems such that it is hard to distinguish cause from effect. While systems concerned with protecting children are necessary, we argue that the ways those ends are pursued can visit further trauma on Aboriginal families and their children.