Marumali Program®
Healing Through Community, Culture and Connection
The Marumali Program® delivers culturally grounded programs that support healing, understanding, connection and personal growth for First Nations peoples, communities, families and organisations across Australia.
What is Culturally Grounded Trauma Healing?
The Marumali Program® is a culturally grounded healing approach developed from the lived experience, ancestral and cultural knowledge and healing journey of Aunty Lorraine Peeters a a Gamilraay Wayilwun, Stolen Generations Survivor, Elder and creator of the program.
At its heart is the understanding that healing is holistic. It brings together mind, body and spirit, with culture, identity and reconnection to family, community and Country at the centre.
The Marumali Journey of Healing Model provides a structured pathway through seven stages of healing. Each stage identifies the key issues to be explored, the types of support that may be needed, potential harms and risks, including the risk of misdiagnosis and indicators of readiness to move forward. This provides a framework for understanding where a person is on their healing journey and how they can get support safely and appropriately.
“It gives people direction in life; to reclaim their connections to everything the past generation had lost. Often the spiritual and cultural aspects of the program are what’s missing from people’s lives.”
– Aunty Lorraine Peeters
Culturally Grounded and Trauma Informed Healing
The Marumali Program® brings together Aunty Lorraine’s ancestral and cultural knowledge and lived experience with contemporary understandings of trauma. It recognises that the impacts of colonisation and forced removal are not experienced only by individuals, but can affect families, communities and systems across generations.
As a trauma-informed healing approach, the program focuses on three key principles:
Realise
Realise the prevalence and widespread impact of trauma.
Recognise
Recognise how trauma affects individuals, families, communities and systems.
Respond
Respond in culturally safe, trauma-informed ways that avoid re-traumatising Stolen Generations Survivors, their families and communities, and support healing and reconnection.
Since 2000
Since 2000, the Marumali Program® has supported healing through more than 400 workshops across Australia, reaching nearly 5,000 participants.
The program was first delivered the day after the 2000 Bridge Walk in Sydney and has continued to evolve in response to the needs of Stolen Generations Survivors, their families, communities and those who support them.
Over more than two decades, the Marumali Program® approach has expanded to support a range of groups and settings, including Survivors, families, communities, service providers and people in justice settings.
Evaluation of the program has highlighted its capacity to:
Builds understanding of colonisation, intergenerational trauma, and grief.
Strengthens individual, family, and community capacity.
Encourages proactive rather than reactive approaches to healing.
Addresses the specific needs of local communities.
Participants consistently describe the program as making a meaningful difference in their lives. By increasing understanding of the impacts of forced removal an creating pathways towards reconnection, the Marumali Program® supports healing, strengthening and long-term wellbeing.
Begin the Journey
Whether you are looking to support your community, strengthen your workforce or develop more culturally safe approaches within your organisation, the Marumali Program® offers a pathway grounded in culture, lived experience, resilience and reconnection.