Spotlight on, June 2014
Holding the recently completed WNAC possum skin cloak. Left to right: Lea-Anne Ball, CEO at Mindaribba Local Aboriginal Land Council; Laurie Perry, CEO at WNAC; Duncan Gay, State Minister for Roads and Freight; Tracey Skene, WNAC director; Georgina Berry, WNAC member and Sharon Edgar Jones, WNAC director. Photo: WNAC
West Kimberley, Western Australia: There is a feeling of quiet celebration among the Nyikina and Mangala people. The Aboriginal Lands Trust has returned about 73 hectares of historically important land to the Bidan community.
‘We are halfway between Derby and Broome, not far from the Mardoowarra (Fitzroy River),’ said traditional owner Terry Marshall. It’s always been our land so we are very happy and relieved to have it formally given back to us.’
Kinchela Boys Home Aboriginal Corporation (ICN 4223)
Coota Girls Aboriginal Corporation (ICN 7993)
The forcible removal of Aboriginal children from their families is one of the bleakest and saddest parts of our recent history, and it has had profound consequences through the generations.
Photo: A recent family night at DRC during a visit from music legend Archie Roach
Gundjeihmi Aboriginal Corporation (ICN 2458)
Jabiru, Northern Territory: Mirarr are the traditional owners of the land north east of Kakadu National Park and western Arnhem Land. The area takes in the Ranger uranium mine, Jabiluka mineral lease and the mining town of Jabiru. It also includes the wetlands of the Jabiluka billabong country and the sandstone escarpment of Mount Brockman with its ancient rock paintings.
Djilpin Arts Aboriginal Corporation (ICN 4355)
Wugularr, Northern Territory: Congratulations to Djilpin Arts Aboriginal Corporation, winners in the prestigious 2013 National Architecture Awards announced at the end of last year. The corporation took out the inaugural ‘Nicholas Murcutt Award for Small Project Architecture’ for the Djakanimba Pavilions.
‘It’s a great honour and we’re delighted,’ said Djilpin Arts’ artistic director, Tom E Lewis.
Mulungu Aboriginal Corporation Medical Centre (ICN 1881)
North Queensland: Mulungu Aboriginal Corporation Medical Centre is an Aboriginal community-controlled health organisation working to improve the lives of Indigenous people in and around Mareeba.
The centre was established in 1991 and incorporated under the CATSI Act in 1993.
Tharawal Aboriginal Corporation (ICN 207)
Campbelltown, New South Wales: Tharawal Aboriginal Corporation (TAC) has been around for a long time. It incorporated in 1983 under the former Aboriginal Councils and Associations Act 1975 before transitioning to the CATSI Act in 2007. Over this time it has expanded into a thriving multifunctional community-controlled organisation, very much at the heart of the outer Sydney suburb of Airds.
Gudjuda Reference Group Aboriginal Corporation (ICN 3475)
North Queensland: The Gudjuda Reference Group Aboriginal Corporation represents the Bindal, Juru and Ngaro traditional owner groups. Their country, spanning north Queensland from the Whitsunday Islands up to Townsville, is a biodiversity treasure trove. It also takes in one of the largest and richest river catchments in Australia—the Burdekin River.
Umoona Tjutagku Health Service Aboriginal Corporation (ICN 7460)
Coober Pedy, South Australia: While it may have begun as a relatively small community health unit Umoona Tjutagku Health Service Aboriginal Corporation (UTHSAC) is today a large, growing concern looking after the social and medical needs of local Aboriginal people.
Aminjarrinja Enterprises Aboriginal Corporation (ICN 4688)
Groote Eylandt, Northern Territory: Aminjarrinja Enterprises Aboriginal Corporation—otherwise known as AEAC—couldn’t believe its luck when Tasmanian Seafoods, a large commercial company, expressed interest in a business partnership. ‘A thriving commercial fishing industry is exactly what we need up here,’ says AEAC director Donald Mamarika. ‘It was very exciting to be approached by Tasmanian Seafoods and we have totally embraced being in business together.’
