Christine Thomas

CEO, Cygnet Centre for Peacebuilding & Transformation Ltd

Christine is an experienced social worker, restorative practitioner, public speaker, educator, and leader who has worked with vulnerable and marginalised communities for over 25 years. 

As a proud Wakka Wakka woman Christine is dedicated to working in and across all levels of community and government in the pursuit of social justice and the building of strong inclusive and empowered communities. 

 Christine is currently co-chair of the Sunshine Coast First Nations Network (SC1NG), a position elected by the community. As an Aboriginal First Nations woman Christine is committed to healing in community and has worked on local, national and international levels in the areas of anti racism, cross cultural practice, trauma informed practice, restorative justice, restorative practice, human rights and peace initiatives. Christine holds extensive program development experience and an outstanding record of building networks and partnerships to foster innovation and increase impact on the community. 

 For 28 years Christine has been a dedicated social change agent, working with a broad range of stakeholders to implement restorative, trauma informed and culturally sensitive practices in different settings, including cross agency projects to achieve this aim. 

 Why did you become a patron for this campaign? 

As a proud Aboriginal Woman, I have experienced and witnessed my fair share of racism. Despite our communities becoming more aware of racism – it still exists and is incredibly destructive to the wellbeing and sustainability of our people and our communities. 

I became a patron of this campaign as I strongly believe we need to hold racism in our awareness, in our conversations and be actively working towards addressing anything that creates separation and division in our community. Until we can talk openly and safely about the truth of racism and its existence in our communities, we will be unable to act in ways that address racism at its roots. 

We as a country need to accept and understand that racism has been at the foundation of Australian society since the time of colonisation. This foundation is not historical as the process of colonisation and the beliefs that underpin it are enshrined in all areas of society and continue to impact on the way in which power is handled in this country. 

Each one of us is responsible for reflecting on how these beliefs and processes play out in our lives – we must commit to a process of unlearning and learning; we must commit to action – calling it out – addressing the policies and processes that maintain the systems of oppression and we must seek every opportunity to create meaningful change wherever we can in our sphere of influence. This requires each one of us to be courageous.