On the Tiwi Islands, 80km north of Darwin in the Northern Territory, you’ll find a business called Tiwi Enterprises. It strives for the economic betterment of Tiwi people and their community.
The organisation’s vision is “self-reliance through skills development and productivity”. And it is doing a great job, employing 26 Tiwi people, who make up 75% of the company’s workforce.
Since 2007, this 100% Tiwi owned organisation has grown to include 11 business units, and other Mantiyupwi-owned rental properties and assets:
One of Tiwi Enterprises’ contracts is with the Office of Township Leasing for the management of grass height and rubbish removal for the 114 tenants living in the area. In December last year, Tiwi Enterprises received a $10,000 Strengthening Rural Communities (SRC) grant, funded by the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation, to purchase additional equipment for its gardening services. Thanks to the SRC funding, it was able to afford a heavy-duty ride on mower to add to its fleet.
The new mower helped Tiwi Enterprises win another contract to mow all Community Yards on Bathurst Island, which is 321 lots. Many of these yards were overgrown, representing a fire risk, and home to a number of snakes. But thanks to the work of the Tiwi team over an eight-week period, the whole community is enjoying improved safety.
The new contract also meant that nine new employees were hired, four of them women. There will be opportunities for any of these employees to become Leading Hands and Supervisors and to learn new skills including maintenance of machinery, supervising and administration work.
Cover photo: Starting the day on Tiwi Enterprises' new ride on mower. All photos courtesy of Tiwi Enterprises.
Originally written and published by FRRR on 12 September 2022.
The TFFF thanks Tiwi Enterprises for providing permission to reproduce this story.
Tiwi Enterprises is supported through the Connectedness stream in partnership with FRRR.
Cape York Employment, one of these entities, works throughout Cape York to create pathways to meaningful, real employment. Cape York Employment is working with job seekers and school leavers to identify job opportunities, provide access to training, improve job-readiness and break down any barriers in their path to employment.
The School to Jobs (S2J) initiative is one of many led by Cape York Employment and aims to address the major barriers for youth transitioning from education to employment. It provides a foundation of support for students, helping change their view of themselves and how to affect personal change through active participation in the job market. S2J ensures students maintain their cultural identity and connection to family and promotes an aspirational culture that motivates and encourages students to take control of their future and become the drivers of change in their local communities.
Jordan Hobson Harding, a recent graduate of Cape York Girl Academy, another entity in the Cape York Partnership, is one such student. Jordan, a young woman from Lockhart River, left school in 2021 and found herself drawn into a lifestyle of drugs and alcohol in the Lockhart River Community. Jordan’s family members supported her to make the decision to apply to attend the Academy at Wangetti Beach, just north of Cairns, where she successfully graduated in 2022.
After graduating, Jordan was supported by Cape York Employment to develop a resume, video application and the confidence to apply to Rio Tinto as an Apprentice Diesel Fitter. With the support of Cape York Partnership and her community, Jordan was accepted and made the difficult decision to move to Weipa as a first-year apprentice.
“It’s 12 hours of me sweating in a shed, but it’s an experience,” Jordan says.
Jordan shared her inspiring journey to overcoming personal challenges at the 2023 International Women’s Day Luncheon, hosted by Cape York Partnership Group CEO Fiona Jose. She was joined on stage by Cape York Institute CEO, Kirsty Davis and Chair of the Puuya Foundation, Dorothy Hobson, who both expressed their admiration for Jordan's achievements.
I was given a second chance at Girl Academy. Leaving home was hard. There were a couple of times last year when I went through depression and wanted to go home. But I went to school and ended up graduating.
– Jordan Hobson Harding
Jordan was also announced as one of the 2023 winners of Heywire, an annual storytelling competition run by ABC, showcasing the stories of young Australians from remote locations. Jordan’s story, titled ‘I hate what’s happening in my community, so I’m changing it’, describes the challenges faced by young Indigenous Australians in remote communities and her desire to contribute positively to her community.
Jordan is now considered a mentor to other youth in her community; an example of the success to be realised by accepting support, making difficult decisions and committing to education and employment. In the closing words of her Heywire story, she encourages her peers to follow in her footsteps and focus on their future, because in her words, “We need you.”
Listen to Jordan reading her Heywire submission or read the transcript here.
Cover photo: Jordan Hobson Harding on site in Weipa. All photos courtesy of Cape York Partnership.
Cape York Employment is an initiative of Cape York Partnership, supported through the Resilience stream.
The visit included several site visits to learning and family centres in Mount Isa with sector colleagues Matthew Cox and Jill Simes from The Bryan Foundation, and Jacinta Perry from Thriving Queensland Kids Partnership. Jacinta and Katie also attended the Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association Queensland State Conference in Julia Creek, an organisation Ningana Trust has supported since 2011.
Due to their geographical isolation, students in rural and remote areas often face limited access to education, technological barriers, and social and cultural considerations unique to rural life that can affect their learning opportunities. The Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association (ICPA) is a voluntary, not-for-profit organisation that advocates for and supports the educational needs of students living in rural and remote areas, ensuring that they have equitable access to quality education.
The group began their tour in Mount Isa at the Centre for Learning and Wellbeing, known as the CLAW, where they were welcomed by representatives from the Department of Education (DoE) and local school principals. When visiting primary schools and early years places, conversations opened up around the challenges faced by children, families, and educational facilities in the area, along with information about the innovative Project 1000 and the strong partnerships that exist in Mount Isa’s early years workforce.
At Ngukuthati Family Centre, the group learnt about the significant impact of foetal alcohol syndrome, the defective playground, the value of the men’s shed, and the lack of public transport available. In Mount Isa, early learning centres are visited by LEADSmart to educate children on how to avoid lead poisoning when playing outside. In such a remote environment filled with unique challenges, the information, resources, advocacy, and support provided by ICPA Queensland are invaluable.
The ICPA Queensland State Conference is designed to provide an opportunity for government representatives, authorising stakeholders, boarding school staff and other key organisations to hear issues from those experiencing them directly. The 2023 Conference, which is in its 52nd year, had more than 100 delegates in attendance, including parents. Attendees are not only able to bring the issues they face in outback Queensland to the attention of policymakers, but also have the opportunity to foster a network of support that extends well beyond the conference.
After years advocating for an increase to the Living Away From Home Allowance Scheme (LAFHAS), success was achieved in 2023. LAFHAS is an initiative designed to support students who do not have reasonable, daily access to a school and therefore attend boarding school.
At the State Conference, the DoE’s Director General, Michael De’Ath announced that the Queensland Government would increase the LAFHAS by $4,000 in 2024 - the full amount requested by ICPA Qld. This major announcement was met with a standing ovation from delegates. Ningana Trust is pleased to support this important outcome, which will benefit 1,400 families in isolated areas of Queensland.
The Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association is supported by Ningana Trust.
As a part of its Futureproof investment stream, the TFFF has worked in collaboration with the University of Queensland Business School (UQBS) to create the TFFF Executive Leadership Program. The program was designed to assist in strengthening impact and growth for organisations supported by TFFF, empowering leaders for long term, sustainable impact. Through this program, TFFF aims to foster collaborative networks, cultivate leadership excellence, and encourage sustainable business practices that have a lasting impact on communities.
The program was facilitated by a team of leading UQ Business School academics in the fields of leadership, social impact, organisational culture, stakeholder management, and innovation. It was co-designed by a working group involving leaders of organisations currently supported by the TFFF.
The inaugural cohort consisted of 12 leaders from organisations across Queensland and the Northern Territory, working in the arts, education, community services, and health sectors. Participants were provided with tools to develop leadership and organisational sustainability under the pillars of people and process: resilience, capacity building, collaboration and networking, along with sustainable business models, governance, and innovation.
Following an online pre-program session, TFFF Trustees, Advisors and staff hosted the inaugural cohort of the TFFF Executive Leadership Program for a welcome event on the evening of the 12th of May. Attendees then embarked on two days of in-person collaborative learning and professional development at the University of Queensland, and later completed a post-program check in.
Participants in the program have shared early reflections and insights following their experience:
"I would highly recommend this program continue and I look forward to connecting with the group members on an ongoing basis."
"I really appreciated engaging with the UQ faculty on Friday evening and during the breaks on Saturday. All UQ staff were passionate, knowledgeable and energized about the course."
"The other highlight was being able to share the time with so many people outside of [my] sector, all of whom are doing really important work. It was a real gift of exchange."
"Deep gratitude to the Foundation for being so generous and invested in the organisations you support."
All photos by Thomas Oliver for Atmosphere Photography.
The TFFF Executive Leadership Program is funded through the Futureproof stream.
Malak Malak People
Nauiyu is an Aboriginal community of 444 people in the Daly River region in the Northern Territory. Their place, around 2.5 hours’ drive from Darwin, is said to be one of the best Barramundi fishing spots in the country, and locals hold a strong connection to their land and culture. Despite the idyllic description, Nauiyu experiences alcohol and other drug misuse within its small population. Yet there is strong community support for real solutions that respond to community needs, are culturally appropriate, and involve building local capacity and furthering local leadership.
Enter Red Dust. Founded by John Van Groningen, the organisation was born out of his work with youth in the Aboriginal community of Lajamanu in 1984. Today, it delivers innovative health promotion and community development programs that are co-designed through trusted relationships with remote First Nations communities. For the people of Nauiyu, a community-based diversion program celebrating cultural identity and pride would provide a means to connect and engage the vulnerable community.
Consulting the community, Red Dust’s Local Drug Action team coordinated the Red Dust Community Art Collaboration project with local organisations. Green River Aboriginal Corporation identified sites for the murals; Merrepen Arts provided the connection to local artists and culturally relevant iconography; and Ironbark provided access to volunteers and project participants. Proper Creative, based in Darwin, was commissioned to paint the murals in conjunction with local project participants.
With collaboration between local artists, community members, young people, and service providers, and a $5,000 Strengthening Rural Communities grant funded by the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation & Pinnacle Charitable Foundation, Red Dust will deliver three large murals. The project will not only create beautiful public spaces and bring the dreaming of the Nauiyu community to life, it will also support the health, wellbeing and future opportunities for local youth.
While the mural project is ongoing, you can see the impressive first piece, featuring Daly River artist Kieren Karritpul here.
Kieren Karritpul works on his mermaid dreaming mural with community members and Proper Creative artist Jordan Conrad.
Cover photo: Kieren Karritpul and Proper Creative artist Jordan Conrad in front of Kieren's mermaid dreaming mural. Photos courtesy of Red Dust.
Originally written and published by FRRR on 10 November 2022.
The TFFF thanks Red Dust Role Models Ltd for providing permission to reproduce this story.
Red Dust Role Models is supported through the Connectedness stream in partnership with FRRR.
Despite its relative proximity to metropolitan centres, Laidley’s population experiences significant socio-economic disadvantage, placing it in the lowest 5% when compared with the national average (SEIFA). Various factors influence this: high elderly and youth populations, lower than average median household income, greater number of single-occupant households, twice the average youth unemployment rate, and lack of sufficient public transport to reach employment.
Incorporated in 1988, Laidley Community Centre is a crucial pillar of this resilient community, providing support to people working through financial, housing, natural disaster or domestic crises, while also assisting residents to develop their potential to make a difference in their own lives, families, workplaces and communities. LCC works to achieve this through a varied and comprehensive service offering, including a neighbourhood centre, emergency, natural disaster and food relief, social enterprise café Community Grounds, Centrelink and tax assistance, and children’s and parents’ programs. Its impact extends far beyond the immediate township, reaching people from Plainland, Forest Hill, Grandchester and Mulgowie.
The purpose of TFFF’s visit was to see LCC’s flagship Early Connections Project (ECP) in action, and meet some of the young families involved. The Early Connections Project grew from an increasing need to better support children under five years old who are experiencing developmental or social challenges. It’s the driver for increased coordination across local programs and partners to support parents and carers to give children the best start in life, from pregnancy through to commencing school. Communal efforts like ECP enable early identification of vulnerable children — the first vital step in connecting them and their families with required supports. Early assistance is also the best strategy to enable longer term outcomes that break the cycle of disadvantage, like overall positive engagement with the education system.
Janella Cox has been LCC’s Early Childhood Worker for several years now and has delivered an extensive list of achievements together with Centre Manager Alana Wahl and volunteers. TFFF was fortunate to participate in a session of the weekly facilitated Under 5’s Playgroup, with a focus on parental engagement.
We were proud to host the Tim Fairfax Family Foundation last week as they met with us to discuss the impacts and strategies of our Early Connections Project. The TFFF has generously been funding this program for the past four years and enabling us to make an impact on the youngest members of our community and their parents. This project strives to ensure local families are connected, and able to link into any needed support at the earliest opportunity so that children have the best chance at positive outcomes once they start school (and beyond!). We are so grateful to the TFFF and wanted to take this opportunity to convey our heartfelt thanks on behalf of the community.
— Alana Wahl
Manager, LCC
Feature photo courtesy of Laidley Community Centre.
Thank you to LCC’s Manager Alana Wahl, Chair Adrian Shepley and ECP Coordinator Janella Cox for the invitation to visit and for your warm country hospitality.
Laidley Community Centre is funded through the Resilience stream.
Eileen is the Business Development Manager forNTEX, her family-owned construction and demolition business that provides cutting-edge solutions in recycling and remanufacturing waste concrete and asphalt. She is also the co-founder of ecotourism venture Clove Tree Hill in Bali, Indonesia.
Eileen has an interest in circular economies and business sustainability initiatives and is currently completing a Graduate Certificate in Sustainable Enterprise at Charles Darwin University as a pathway to an MBA. It’s already been a busy year for Eileen: winning the NT AgriFutures Rural Women’s Award and NTEX being shortlisted in the 2023 Australian Financial Review’s Sustainability Leaders roundup.
Clive works with the remote Warlpiri community of Lajamanu in the northern Tanami Desert. As a community development program manager, he oversees the delivery of youth diversion activities which are aligned with the Closing the Gap targets in health, education, and quality of life.
In applying to the ARLP, Clive said “… as a non-Indigenous person working in the remote Indigenous sector, I believe that leadership must strike a balance between advocacy, action and knowing when to step back to ensure there is space for Indigenous leaders to lead in their own right.”
The ARLP is the flagship program of the Australian Rural Leadership Foundation (ARLF). Completed over fifteen months, it is the most in-depth, cross-sectoral, national leadership program for rural, regional and remote Australians and produces leaders who can influence and advocate in authentic and ethical ways. With over 2000 alumni, the ARLP is building a network of people who are committed to fostering thriving communities and industries, where people work with one another and the environment around them; respectfully, boldly and intuitively.
Applications for the next intake, ARLP Course 31, open on 2 June and close 16 July 2023. Head to the ARLF website to register your interest, or shoulder tap a deserving colleague or friend for consideration. An Applicant Q&A Webinar will be held on 14 June (12.00pm-1.00pm AEST), featuring ARLP alumni and hosted by Matt Linnegar, ARLF Chief Executive. Register now.
TFFF is one of 26 scholarship partners making the program possible and accessible in 2023. If your organisation is interested in supporting a future untied ARLP scholarship, please visit the ARLF website.
In 2020, the Australian Research Alliance for Children and Youth (ARACY) quickly became concerned about the immediate and enduring impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on children and young people, particularly those already experiencing disadvantage. It moved to initiate the Thriving Queensland Kids Partnership (TQKP), a cross-sectoral coalition of not-for-profit, philanthropic, tertiary and government bodies all committed to improving health, education and family services systems that shape young lives.
TQKP systems change approach is catalysing much-needed change by bringing people and knowledge together for the benefit of all children and young people across Queensland.
“TQKP is bringing together organisations and leaders to translate experience and science, and draw on local wisdom and innovation in policy, programs and practice, while supporting capacity building across our diverse Queensland communities and workforces.”
— Michael Hogan
Convenor, TQKP
One initiative of TQKP is the Thriving Country Queensland Kids Collaborative, delivered with partners James Cook University (JCU) and Central Queensland University (CQU), and initially resourced by the TFFF and JVT. The Country Qld Kids Collaborative exists to support leaders, organisations and practitioners delivering child, youth and family health, development and wellbeing services and initiatives in rural, regional and remote Queensland.
Philanthropic support from TFFF and JVT includes funding for a dedicated Country Partnerships Officer, Jacinta Perry (pictured), who is based in Cairns and working from JCU. Jacinta is a community development professional with a passion for projects centred on community engagement, strong partnerships and local capacity building. She is an advocate for community-led solutions and has previously worked to support economic participation for refugees, youth and First Nations communities.
The John Villiers Trust CEO, Lea-Anne Bradley, said the Country Partnerships Officer was an important role as it would “put boots on the ground to connect regionally based organisations and communities with all that the Thriving Queensland Kids Partnership has to offer.”
Thriving Queensland Kids Partnership is working to ensure vulnerable children and youth can access the right supports, at the right time and in the right way, to break cycles of disadvantage in Queensland communities.
Feature photo by Russell Shakespeare.
The trip started with a morning visit to the Department of Education, before heading to Bulmba-ja Arts Centre to meet JUTE Theatre Company’s Chair Gillian Townsend, Artistic Director and CEO Suellen Maunder, and the whole office staff. The TFFF has been supporting JUTE’s Dare to Dream touring program since its pilot in 2016, and it was a welcome opportunity to reflect on the growth and success of the program over the past seven years.
After lunch, we ventured up to Kuranda to Youth Link’s drop-in centre which runs the TFFF-funded ‘Youth Cre8’ program. With operations impacted by COVID earlier in the year, it was wonderful to see the centre alive with young people and activity again — after even a quick visit it was apparent that Youth Link continues to play an important role in the remote community.
In August this year, TFFF was proud to approve three-year pilot funding for Queensland’s world-renowned Circa Contemporary Circus, to launch a First Nations-led regional imprint of the company called Circa Cairns. The evening of 2 November 2022 marked the official in-person launch of Circa Cairns and the world premiere of its inaugural production From Old Things, the invention of Creative Lead Harley Mann (Wakka Wakka) and Circa Cairns ensemble artists Ally Humphris, Crystal Stacey and Margot Mansfield. TFFF was touched to be acknowledged as part of the Welcome to Country and extends our thanks the Traditional Custodians of Gimuy (Cairns) and Circa Cairns for their hospitality.
Day two began with a drive along the coastline to Wangetti Beach, where Cape York Girl Academy is located. A previous grant recipient of Ningana Trust, the Academy is Australia’s first boarding high school designed for young Indigenous mothers and their babies to live and learn together. It is an initiative of Cape York Partnership, which has 10 entities working on the ground in the Cape and Cairns to empower First Nations families and communities to break the cycle of disadvantage. Over tea and coffee served by students completing hospitality training, CEO Fiona Jose explained the Partnership’s strategy to create an ecosystem that ensures Indigenous young people have a life of opportunity to look forward to.
TFFF’s last meeting was with Deadly Inspiring Youth Doing Good, an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth-led not-for-profit with a mission to inspire, equip and empower young people to take action and change the world.
As our final instra-state visit for 2022, it was a pleasure to spend time in the tropics, reconnect with organisations that we share a rich history with, and make some new and inspiring connections.
Having postponed this visit last year due to a COVID outbreak, Tim, Gina, Lucy, Neal, and Hannah were pleased to make the trip in 2022. It’s hard to overstate the cultural and economic impact that this critical mass of activity has for Darwin and the flow on benefits back to remote and regional Indigenous communities.
The DAAF team delivered an impressive feat this year — returning to an in-person delivery of the three-day event whilst continuing to offer the online marketplace which exploded with popularity in 2020 and 2021. As a partner of DAAF for several years, it was an occasion to finally be on the ground experiencing the flurry of activity in the Convention Centre, and reconnecting with many Art Centres that TFFF has supported or is currently funding, including Milingimbi Art and Culture, Ngaruwanajirri, Bábbarra Women’s Centre and Bindi Mwerre Anthu Artists.
TFFF congratulates DAAF for curating a fantastic program while continuing to grow the Fair each year (over 70 Art Centres participated in 2022), always conscious of providing the best experience for Indigenous Art Centres and Fair attendees. The TFFF team certainly returned home with heavier suitcases and over-flowing carry-on luggage.
The opportunity to meet with Darwin Festival’s outgoing and incoming Artistic Directors was a welcome one. Felix Preval leaves after six years and hands the baton on to Kate Fell now, formerly of Brisbane Festival. It was great to celebrate Felix’s success and learn a little bit about Kate’s vision for the Festival’s future. We also attend two shows in the Festival program, Wana: Spirit a collaboration between NT Dance Company and Darwin Symphony Orchestra, and Raghav Handa’s TWO a piece of contemporary Indian Kathak, presented at Browns Mart Theatre.
Our travelling party attended a panel hosted by Agency, which gave us an insight into the key issues facing Aboriginal Art Centres in remote and regional areas. It was important to hear from community leaders and Elders about their cultural leadership practices and, in their own words, what they most want for their communities and artists.
At various stages of the weekend, we were joined by sector colleagues who were also visiting Darwin including Charlie Cush and Louise Bezzina from Brisbane Festival, Amanda Hayman and Troy Casey from Aboriginal Art Co, Fiona Menzies and Jayne Lovelock from Creative Partnerships Australia, and Erin Lew Fatt a current Australian Rural Leadership Program scholarship recipient. Each of our colleagues added interesting and valuable insight to our experience and it was a good reminder of the collegiate and informed nature of the Australian arts sector.
Thank you to both Darwin Aboriginal Art Fair and Darwin Festival for hosting the TFFF during our time in Darwin, and for making our visit both enjoyable and educational.
