A fledgling corporation working to strengthen families living on Ngunnawal country has found its feet in an event celebrating National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day.
Ngunnawal country, Canberra: Yerrabi Yurwang Child & Family Aboriginal Corporation was established in 2019 with objectives to improve health and wellbeing among Aboriginal children and families living on Ngunnawal country. In 2020 it won a local government grant under the ACT’s ‘new and emerging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations program’ (NEO).
Cameron Moore, secretariat for the corporation (left) along with 6 of the corporation’s 8 directors: Aunty Agnes Shea OAM (seated); Lee-Anne Daley; Patrick Chapman; Elaine Lomas (seated); Selina Walker (chair of the board); and Shona Chapman.
With that money, the corporation is working to harness, consolidate and extend community knowledge and networks. It:
- conducted a series of yarnups to harness existing community capacity
- is seeking out governance training for board members
- is starting a women's gathering group
On Saturday 7 August 2021 Yerrabi Yurwang held a gala public barbecue at the appropriately-named Yerrabi Pond, in Canberra’s north, to bring the community together for National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day, an annual celebration of the strengths and culture of children.
Families enjoying the event at Yerrabi Pond
After a smoking ceremony, amid the sausage sizzle, boomerang-painting and Wiradjuri storytelling the corporation also gathered more intel and inspiration from community via large butcher’s paper hung around the barbecue shelter.
Several members of the ACT legislative assembly attended, including ministers Rachel Stephen-Smith, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs; and Shane Rattenbury, Greens spokesperson for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs.
Lynnice Church, newly-elected chair of the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body, with Rachel Stephen-Smith, Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs in the ACT Government.
Gathering community intelligence
Also present were representatives from local government services, as well as several other Aboriginal organisations, including the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body (Lynnice Church), National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women’s Alliance (Karen Parter), and Yurbay (Adam Shipp).
The event was a clear demonstration of Yerrabi Yurwang’s values, such as culture, pride, resilience, listening and respect, as well as its strategic priority of ‘walking together’—working in partnership with Aboriginal organisations, governments, research institutes, universities and others.
Currently, Yerrabi Yurwang runs out of a small space in Margaret Hendry School’s community hub in the far north Canberra suburb of Taylor. But it looks set to grow, as it realises its vision to develop a broad suite of services for community. Chair of the board, Selina Walker, explains the vision for the corporation:
We’ll be running parenting programs, elders' gatherings, play groups, language groups, men's and women's groups so the focus is not just the kids but the parents and carers as well. The idea is to provide holistic services that respond to community needs.
It’s great to see another Aboriginal corporation flourishing in the Canberra region, strengthening Ngunnawal community and country.