Ingenuity for young people

Alice Springs, Northern Territory: Wanta Aboriginal Corporation works in 9 remote Northern Territory communities to ‘engage, empower and develop young people to fulfill their fullest potential’. It’s grown into a thriving network of programs and activities for young people, to support them to excel at school and to be healthy, personally, socially and culturally.

At first, the corporation operated only in Yuendumu, providing upper primary and secondary students with sport, recreation and cultural activities to increase their school attendance and improve their educational outcomes. Ten years later Wanta operates in 9 remote communities across the NT:

• Yuendumu
• Papunya
• Ntaria
• Arlparra
• Wugularr
• Ngukurr
• Gunbalanya
• Kalkaringi
• Lajamanu

The programs are diverse, and vary from community to community. In 3 communities the corporation runs a service under the Remote School Attendance Strategy, to provide transport for young people from home to school—as well as a healthy breakfast. Other activities include sports, driver education, social enterprises such as a community op shop, and trips on Country.

In addition to programs for personal and cultural health and growth, Wanta runs a mobile cinema. The truck travels back and forth between the dirt roads of the central desert and the tropical humid landscapes up north to provide a mobile outdoor cinema in remote communities. In 2020–21 it drove 42,000km to provide 19 movie nights. At each location, a feature film is preceded by short messages about physical and mental health messages—informing viewers of the effects of drinking alcohol, and the services and supports offered by Lifeline. Local young people are the target audience but they also provide essential catering—popcorn!—through their social enterprises.

Further neutralising the tyranny of distance, Wanta has a subsidiary business, Xtra Mile Transport. Initially set up to transport community members from Yuendumu to town with funding from another Aboriginal corporation—Granites Mine Affected Area Aboriginal Corporation—now, Xtra Mile is accredited to provide commercial passenger services for the general public, so it’s starting to generate its own revenue for Wanta.

Wanta employs around 50 people, two-thirds of whom are local Aboriginal people.

Its newest program is ‘Big sister’, in Gunbalanya. Every Monday and Wednesday morning before school, senior girls head to the childhood and family centre to spend time playing with the younger kids and helping at the centre. For the seniors, it’s good work experience—the chance to explore a career path, build skills and ask questions—and for the youngsters, it’s a lot of attention from their big sisters and help with whatever they’re up to. The program proved so popular, they had to create a roster to ensure that everyone gets a go.

One of the founding members of Wanta, Trish Lechleitner, is now chair of the board. (That's her on the left, in the image above.) She says:

We’re very proud of the work we’re doing here in Yuendumu and in all the other communities. We’re preparing these young people for the future, not only by giving them the professional and life skills they need, and not only by keeping their culture strong. We’re also developing businesses, creating local jobs for our young people.

CEO Demian Coates affirms the corporation is on track to realise the directors’ vision:

Wanta leverages the ingenuity of Aboriginal people in remote communities, and now that we’ve gotten good at offering programs that work for young people, our next priority is to increase our data collection capabilities, so we have strong evidence that our approach is working.

Of course, it’s important to have robust evaluations to prove the success of a program. But Wanta’s online presence already shows that there are a lot of very engaged young people getting good value out of this busy corporation. To see for yourself, check its YouTube channel or its vibrant Instagram or Facebook account.