20. BREAKING THE CYCLE: PROGRAMS FOR ABORIGINAL YOUTH

Recommendation 236: That in the process of negotiating with Aboriginal communities and organisations in the devising of Aboriginal youth programs governments should recognise that local community based and devised strategies have the greatest prospect of success and this recognition should be reflected in funding.

This Report has found a significant number of programs aimed at developing the welfare of young Indigenous people which have been developed by or in consultation with the local Indigenous communities. An exhaustive list is beyond the scope of this Chapter, which seeks to provide an indication of the type of work that Indigenous community organisations are doing for their young people at a local level.

For example,

  • the Gugan Gulwan Youth Indigenous Corporation in ACT seeks to provide a safe and supportive environment for Indigenous young people, and to foster their education and cultural awareness.

  • In WA, the Yiriman Project arose out of the concern of Elders for their young people, and operates as an important intergenerational, "on-Country" cultural program in the Kimberley.
  • In western NSW, the Tirkandi Inaburra Cultural and Development Centre provides on-site schooling for young Indigenous men, with the aim of empowering them to "develop and draw on their own resilience in order to take responsibility for their own lives, develop strategies to deal with their problems and minimise the risk of becoming involved in the criminal justice system".16
  • In the Northern Territory, the Yuendumu Community has run a number of programs designed to rehabilitate and educate young Indigenous people through the Warlpiri Youth Development Aboriginal Corporation for twenty years.

However, government support of these local programs is piecemeal and inconsistent, and while there is evidence of some funding to community based strategies,17 it is not clear whether it is provided in preference to non-community based strategies. Some exceptions should be noted: in Tasmania, various State departments worked in consultation with Indigenous Elders to develop the Meenah Mienne Arts Mentoring Program, whose mission was to provide a mentoring service which is a "safe, welcoming, supportive and creative place for Indigenous young people at risk", and the above-mentioned Justice Reinvestment for Aboriginal Young People Campaign has received significant support from the NSW Government.

There is also substantial evidence of attempts by State Government departments and agencies to incorporate consultation with Indigenous people in the services that they offer. For instance in Queensland, the State Government's Youth at Risk Initiative has made funding contingent upon consultation with the local community, and its program guidelines state that services for young Indigenous people "should ideally be delivered by an appropriate service or individual who is from the young person's community or language group".18

18 For other examples of government initiatives where the involvement of the local Aboriginal community is at least referred to, see Tasmania's Aboriginal Education Framework (2012-2015); the ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Justice Agreement (although this has been criticised for inadequate resourcing);

19 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, National Report, 1991, Chapter 30.1.35.