Page164 - Week 01 - Thursday, 3 December 2020
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Corporation has been successful in the 2020-21 new and emerging organisations grant round, for a total of $25,000, as announced today. Yerrabi Yurwang, meaning “walking strong” in Ngunnawal language, is a recently formed Aboriginal-led not-for-profit organisation that seeks to improve outcomes for Aboriginal children and families in Canberra’s north-west.
Yerrabi Yurwang will provide holistic services, activities and supports that are managed by the Aboriginal community, primarily aimed at children and families. Yerrabi Yurwang will also collaborate with relevant organisations so that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people can be referred to other community-controlled health, early intervention, legal and employment services while supporting access to community and culture.
The ACT is home to a number of strong Aboriginal community-controlled organisations, and it is great to see that people will be referred to other community-controlled organisations, where possible, for the support or help that they need. I want to congratulate the directors and founders on all the work they have done to get to this point, and on receiving this grant. I look forward to working with the organisation and watching it grow.
MS ORR: Minister, what else is the ACT government doing to support self-determination in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community?
MS STEPHEN-SMITH: I thank Ms Orr for her supplementary question. The ACT government recognises the strengths of Canberra’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community, and we are proud of our commitment to establish a $20 million healing and reconciliation fund. The fund will deliver on the priorities identified in the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander agreement, the national agreement on closing the gap, and other issues identified by the community as they arise.
We have clearly heard that the community’s priorities include establishing a Ngunnawal language centre and continuing to support opportunities to rediscover and share Ngunnawal language and culture; working with Ngunnawal traditional owners to progress and support a treaty process in the ACT; supporting the development of sustainable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations in areas such as child and family services that I have just talked about, as well as justice, housing and disability; and returning Boomanulla Oval and Yarramundi Cultural Centre to community control.
The healing and reconciliation fund represents a significant commitment to First Nations leadership and self-determination, and I look forward to delivering this. In line with our commitment to self-determination, we will work with the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elected Body, the United Ngunnawal Elders Council and Aboriginal community-controlled organisations to discuss how the fund can best be designed to meet the needs of the community. We understand that healing from the devastating cultural trauma of European invasion and 200 years of racist policies and practices is complex and takes time. By encouraging more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Canberrans to step into leadership roles, to control and
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