Ann Hawke

Founder of Kinship Connections in 2012, Ann is a descendant of the Yawuru people from Broome on her grandfather’s side (Hawke family) and Gooniyandi people from the East Kimberly on her grandmother’s side (Cox family). Ann is the third generation in her family to have been affected by government removal policies.

Immediately before starting Kinship Connections, Ann worked in the Department for Child Protection for six years as a Senior Field Officer within Fostering Services. She worked first as a trainer on best practice fostering but soon moved into recruitment and assessment of potential foster parents.

Ann’s knowledge and expertise continue to be sought by the Department of Child Protection and other agencies on a regular basis. She sat on the Foster Carer’s Centralised Panel for eight years and is a key resource on Aboriginal and fostering issues across the Non-Government sector in WA. Her detailed knowledge of kinship relationships across the Aboriginal community is frequently called on and she takes a growing number of after-hours calls on this issue.

Anns is a strong advocate for Aboriginal children in care and currently sits on the Foster Care Association WA’s board.  Ann currently sits on a number of RAP planning Committees (The Reconciliation Action Plan) within the Non-government sector.

Ann has been an active foster carer for the past 35 years and has fostered in excess of 100 children over this time.  Ann is now currently caring for her five grandsons full time through the Department.  Ann is a strong advocate for parents and families who are involved with the Department of Child Protection.