Strong Aboriginal families and communities means strong Aboriginal children
The Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA) is a state-wide Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation (ACCO) servicing children, young people, families, and community members. The largest of its kind in Australia.
We have protected and promoted the rights of Aboriginal children and families for over 40 years.
Our CEO

I am proud of our staff, they hear the worst stories, but bring about amazing results...we've got young people who are now in university, we used to see our kids going into juvenile justice, chroming, suicide, but now those numbers are so small.
Adjunct Professor Muriel Bamblett Hon DLitt SW AO
Muriel Bamblett is a Yorta Yorta and Dja Dja Wurrung woman who has been our CEO since 1999. Muriel is also Chairperson of SNAICC, the peak body representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child and family services nationally.
Muriel is currently active in over 30 advisory groups concerning the Aboriginal community, including the Aboriginal Treaty Working Group; Aboriginal Family Violence Steering Committee; Victorian Children's Council; Aboriginal Justice Forum; and the Aboriginal Community Elders Service, to name just a few. Muriel was heavily involved in the Northern Territory Child Protection Inquiry from 2009-11.
Under Muriel’s leadership, VACCA has grown exponentially, 51% of all staff are Aboriginal and VACCA is the leading organisation of its type in Australia.
"I am proud of our staff, they hear the worst stories, but bring about amazing results…we’ve got young people who are now in university, we used to see our kids going into juvenile justice, chroming, suicide, but now those numbers are so small."
A spirited and intellectual force for change, Muriel is driven by the desire to give children in out-of-home care ‘a connection to culture - they have their Aboriginality, they have a genealogy, and they feel a connection to land.
Muriel has been the recipient of a number of awards, including the Order of Australia; Centenary of Federation Medal; Robin Clark Memorial Award for Inspirational Leadership in the Field of Child and Family Welfare; Women’s Electoral Lobby Inaugural Vida Goldstein Award; and Victorian Honour Roll of Women. In 2009, she was made an Adjunct Professor in the School of Social Work and Social Policy La Trobe University. In 2017 Muriel was awarded an honorary degree of Doctor of Letters in Social Work by the University of Sydney in recognition of her outstanding contribution to Aboriginal child and family welfare.
VACCA History
VACCA emerged from a long and determined Aboriginal Civil Rights movement in Victoria.
The premise of the organisation was and still is that Aboriginal people have the right to the care and custody of their own kids, raised in Community and Culture.
As VACCA’s founder Auntie Mollie Dyer said in 1977:
Because of the chain of historical events which has led to the fragmentation of our Aboriginal families of today, it is up to each and every one of us to do all we can together to ensure that this situation is halted and reversed...

Discover our History
Discover our Board of Directors
There are seven Aboriginal community elected Directors who form the Board and at VACCA the role of the Board is one of governance. The Board works with the CEO to oversee the longer term strategic goals (as set out in our strategic plan), set aims and objectives and establish policies.