A Warm Portrait with Cake and Flowers.png

Meet Shelley – A Cycle Breaker, Trainer and Assessor & Founder of Koort Connection

Culture. Connection. Lived Experience. Change.

Culturally grounded consultancy Facilitation

Mentoring

Lived-experience leadership creating stronger practice and better systems for Aboriginal children, young people and families.

I’m Shelley Farmer, a proud Noongar and Wongi woman, mother, lived experience leader, cultural consultant and founder of Koort Connection.

My journey began in circumstances that could have easily determined the direction of my life. I grew up experiencing poverty, out-of-home care, family violence, homelessness and systems that too often saw the challenges around me before they saw the potential within me.

For many years, decisions were made about me, for me and around me.

Today, I sit at many of those same tables — not as a young person being spoken about, but as a woman helping influence the systems, services and decisions that impact our children, young people and families.

I often describe myself as someone who walks in two worlds. I bring together culture, lived experience and professional knowledge to create spaces where people feel seen, heard and understood. I believe lived experience is more than a story we tell — it is knowledge, expertise and a powerful driver for change.

Koort Connection grew from that belief.

Koort means heart.

At the heart of this work is connection — connection to culture, identity, community and self.

Through culturally grounded mentoring, cultural consultancy, facilitation, training and lived experience leadership, Koort Connection creates opportunities for young people, practitioners and organisations to learn, connect and grow.

For our young Aboriginal girls and women especially, I want them to know something I needed to understand when I was younger:

You are more than what has happened to you.
You come from strength.
You belong.
And your story is still being written.

Koort Connection isn't about fixing people.

It's about walking alongside them.

Because when people feel connected, culturally safe and genuinely heard, something powerful becomes possible.

Connection creates belonging.
Belonging creates strength.
And strength creates change.

Cultural Practice, Lived Experience & Systems Change

Koort Connection brings together culture, lived experience and professional practice to strengthen the way organisations, practitioners and systems work alongside Aboriginal children, young people, families and communities.

Our work is grounded in real-world experience and specialises in areas where cultural safety, trauma-informed practice and lived experience intersect.

Our areas of practice include:

Cultural Safety & Cultural Supervision
Supporting practitioners and organisations to strengthen cultural confidence, reflect on practice and create environments where Aboriginal children and young people feel culturally safe, understood and connected.

Lived Experience Leadership & Co-Design
Helping organisations move beyond consultation and tokenism by embedding lived experience meaningfully into program design, service delivery, workforce development and decision-making.

Out-of-Home Care & Leaving Care Practice
Drawing on both lived and professional experience to strengthen practice with children and young people in care, care leavers and young people transitioning into adulthood.

Workforce Training & Facilitation
Interactive, culturally grounded training designed to challenge thinking, build practitioner confidence and translate cultural safety and trauma-informed principles into everyday practice.

Aboriginal Youth Mentoring & Identity
Relational mentoring that strengthens identity, belonging, self-worth, cultural connection and the voices of Aboriginal girls and young people.

Young Parents & Intergenerational Change
Supporting better practice and service responses for young parents, particularly those with experiences of care, trauma and complex service systems.

At Koort Connection, we don't deliver one-size-fits-all training.

We work alongside organisations and communities to understand what is happening beneath the surface and create practical, culturally responsive approaches that lead to meaningful change.

Culture informs the work.
Lived experience strengthens it.
Connection is at the heart of it.

Empowering Voices

Culturally Grounded Workshops for Aboriginal Girls & Young Women

Empowering Voices creates culturally safe, relational spaces where Aboriginal girls and young women can explore identity, culture, belonging, relationships and the strength of their own voice.

Rather than telling young women who they should become, Koort Connection walks alongside them to recognise the strengths, knowledge and potential they already carry.

Workshops can explore:

Culture, Identity & Belonging — strengthening connection to identity, culture, family and community
Finding Your Voice — building confidence to express needs, opinions and aspirations
Boundaries & Self-Worth — understanding personal boundaries, consent and the power of saying “no”
Healthy Relationships — recognising what safety, respect and reciprocity can look and feel like
Understanding Strong Emotions — exploring what can sit underneath anger and developing practical regulation strategies
Wellbeing & Self-Care — identifying individual tools, people and practices that support wellbeing
Strengths, Leadership & Future — recognising personal strengths, aspirations and opportunities to create change

Flexible by Design

Empowering Voices can be delivered as a standalone workshop, targeted workshop series or longer-term group experience, depending on the needs of the young women, community and organisation.

Sessions incorporate yarning, storytelling, creative and hands-on activities, cultural connection and reflection. Content can be adapted to suit different ages, experiences and settings.

Young people are never required to disclose trauma or personal experiences to participate.

At the heart of Empowering Voices is a simple belief:

Our young women don't need us to tell them who to become. Sometimes they need culturally safe spaces that remind them of who they already are.

Girls in Care – Stepping Into Your Power

Culturally Grounded Workshops for Aboriginal Girls & Young Women with a Care Experience

Stepping Into Your Power is a culturally grounded, lived-experience-led workshop series created specifically for Aboriginal girls and young women who are living in, transitioning from, or have experienced out-of-home care.

Developed by Shelley Farmer, a Noongar and Wongi woman who spent approximately 15 years in care herself, these workshops create something Shelley knows she needed when she was younger — a space where young women don't have to explain what being in care feels like before they can feel understood.

The workshops move away from asking “What happened to you?” and instead create opportunities to explore:

Identity Beyond Care
Understanding that being in care is something you may have experienced, but it does not define who you are.

Culture, Family & Belonging
Exploring cultural identity, family connections, Country, community and the importance of knowing where you come from.

Knowing Your Voice & Rights
Building confidence to speak up, ask questions, understand decisions being made and have a voice in the things that affect your life.

Relationships, Trust & Boundaries
Exploring what safety, trust, respect and healthy boundaries can look and feel like.

Understanding Survival Responses
Making sense of strong emotions and behaviours without shame, while building practical strategies for regulation, communication and self-awareness.

Building Your Circle
Identifying the safe people, cultural connections, community and professional supports that can remain alongside you.

Life Beyond Care
Exploring strengths, hopes, independence, adulthood and what young women want their future to look like — on their terms.

Lived Experience Without Forced Disclosure

Young women are never required to share their trauma or personal histories to participate.

Sessions use storytelling, yarning, visual and hands-on activities, reflection and cultural connection, making the workshops accessible to young women with different learning and literacy needs.

Delivery is flexible and can include a standalone workshop, targeted series or longer-term mentoring/group experience, depending on the needs of the young women and organisation.

This isn't about “fixing” young women in care.

It is about creating a space where they can understand their experiences without being defined by them, strengthen their connection to culture and identity, recognise the power of their own voice and begin imagining life beyond the system.

You are more than a case file.
You are more than what has happened to you.
Your voice matters.
Your future belongs to you.

About Koort Connection

Connection is at the heart of everything we do.

Koort Connection was created from lived experience, culture and a belief that the people most impacted by systems should have a meaningful voice in changing them.

Founded by Shelley Farmer, a proud Noongar and Wongi woman with lived experience of out-of-home care and youth justice, Koort Connection brings together cultural knowledge, lived experience and professional practice to create meaningful change for Aboriginal children, young people, families and the systems that walk alongside them.

Our work spans cultural safety, lived experience leadership, co-design, workforce development, facilitation, mentoring and out-of-home care and leaving-care practice.

Whether we are sitting in a yarning circle with young women, alongside practitioners reflecting on their practice, facilitating a room of sector leaders, or contributing to systems change, our approach remains the same:

We listen deeply.
We create space for truth.
We strengthen connection.
And we make sure lived experience doesn't just have a seat at the table — it has influence.