What makes ARDS different?

Rather than being a sector-specific organisation, we are specialists in responding to a breadth of community questions and concerns.

• We are not a health service, although we have work extensively in the area of health literacy.

• We are not a legal service, although we have been helping Aboriginal people to gain a deeper understanding of the Australian legal system for many years.

• We are not an educational institution but we have delivered many hours of community based education across a wide range of topics.

Our work is based on the belief that to work effectively with any group of people, you must first understand their language and their culture.

The core values which inform all our work are:

• empowerment for Indigenous people

• the right of Indigenous people to equal participation in Australian life

• respect and genuine partnerships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples