Vanessa Turnbull-Roberts knows all too well that a broken system can break you. At just 10 years old, the Bundjalung Widubul-Wiabul woman was forcibly removed from her
family, caught in a system that continues to inflict harm on First Nations people, particularly children.
After enduring eight years in various out-of-home care placements, Turnbull-Roberts bravely fled the system, returning to her kin and country and embarking on a deeply
personal journey of healing.
“My role as a survivor – now that I’m free – is to also free young people,” she asserts. Having completed a Bachelor of Law and Social Work at the University of NSW, she was appointed earlier
this year as the ACT’s inaugural commissioner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children and Young People.
As both a survivor of the out-of home care system and a practising lawyer, Turnbull-Roberts draws on her personal and professional experiences to highlight the profound injustices
faced by Black children and families in Australia.
She calls for systemic reform that moves away from punishment and toward cultural connection, community, and empowerment – themes she explores in her impactful book, Long Yarn Short: We Are Still Here, published in October.
Speaking to marie claire about what she would say to that scared, vulnerable 10-year-old girl, Turnbull-Roberts shares, “In a time where things are out of your control and you are scared,
when you are placed in situations that you did not choose and things aren’t OK, the advice I would give is that you are actually going to be OK.
“And in a place and a world where you only see harm and violence and red and blue lights, there is a time when you will grow up and meet some really great people, and you are going to connect with some really beautiful people who hold you and love you. And you are going to get to come home and be in a position where, when you are free, your whole heart and whole work will free other people.”
marie claire’s 2024 Women of the Year Awards are presented by Swarovski and supported by Volvo, Max Mara, Revlon, Dr Lewinns and G.H. Mumm.
