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JOBS AUSTRALIA FOUNDATION: SUPPORTINGDISADVANTAGED COMMUNITIES FOR A FAIRER ANDMORE EQUITABLE AUSTRALIA

‘TOGETHER - TO LEARN, TO CHALLENGE, TO LEAD’AFTER A TESTING BUT INSPIRATIONAL HIKE ON THE NORTHERN TERRITORY’S LARAPINTA TRAIL, THE YOUNG INDIGENOUS LEADERS ON THE 2013/2014 IYLP HAVE GROWN IN STRENGTH AND CONFIDENCE, AND ARE ALREADY PREPARING FOR THEIR NEXT LIFE-CHANGING CHALLENGE.

Early this year, Royston Prasad marked a big red cross on his calendar next to a Monday in May. ‘That was D-day,’ he says: time to start preparing himself for the physical demands of walking the Larapinta Trail. As one of seven mentors selected for the 2013/2014 Indigenous Youth Leadership Program (IYLP), Royston was determined to set a strong example. Over the next three months, the 35-year-old Takalak man from Noraville in New South Wales walked in his lunch breaks, joined a gym and cut out sugar entirely. By the time he joined his IYLP colleagues in Alice Springs in August, he had shed 15 kilograms.

Now working with its second intake of young Indigenous leaders from around Australia, IYLP is perhaps best known for the Kokoda Trek, the centrepiece of the inaugural 2010/2011 program.

But there’s much more to the program than Kokoda, as participants discovered when they began their IYLP journey at Anglesea, Victoria in January this year. An innovative and intensive two-year leadership training program, which aims to develop the confidence, self-belief and leadership capacities of its participants.

After thorough evaluation of the inaugural program, it was decided participants needed a more rigorous grounding in the theory of leadership and community development. ‘We’re definitely asking more of people this time,’ said Jodie Belyea, Manager of the Jobs Australia Foundation and the IYLP. Run in conjunction with Kangan Institute’s Indigenous Education Centre, the program now leads to a Certificate IV in Community Development.

Another core tenet of the program is that young community leaders need to know who they are. That’s why the IYLP group found itself in Alice Springs in August: the Larapinta Trail walk was a chance for the participants to immerse themselves in culture and reflect on their own Indigenous identities. For many, Alice Springs was itself a revelation. Dylan Damon, a 20-year-old man from Whyalla in South Australia, had never been to the Alice before. ‘It surprised me a lot,’ he says. ‘Just how open the culture is, people talk about it, and in the town it’s kinda the main thing. Where I live it’s an off-cut, people don’t take it that strong — in Alice Springs it’s more of an honour to be involved in it.’

2013-14 INDIGENOUS YOUTH LEADERSHIP PROGRAMSeptember 2013

Ngurra-Kurlu Ceremony

‘This eye-opening experience is especially powerful for young people who have grown up in urban environments’, Jodie says. ‘Giving those young leaders a chance to experience how different the way of life and lore is in remote Indigenous communities is key.’ For Jacqueline Gibbs, a 22-year-old Gamilaroi woman from Bathurst, NSW, ‘it was just amazing how the traditional people sit around in the community, there on the grass…It’s totally different ways to what we’re like in Bathurst. Alice is one of the most spiritual places in the whole of Australia very different. I loved every minute I was there.’

After some workshops devoted to problem-solving, communication and practising leadership skills, the 18 young leaders, with their 7 mentors and the IYLP ‘leadership delivery team’, participated in a cleansing smoking ceremony before going out on country. Then the walk began.

Some found the conditions pretty tough. ‘Having the endurance to continue is the main challenge,’ says Royston, whose preparation had paid off. ‘As I kept reminding my mentees, true leadership is discovered at your weakest moment.’ Coming from a cool climate in Bathurst, Jacqueline struggled with the heat. Even though Larapinta provided a goal that helped her overcome a lifelong aversion to gyms, and she’d arrived fitter than she’d ever been, she suffered nose bleeds and sometimes felt shaky. ‘I was so happy when Royston offered to take my bag one day I could have cried,’ she says. ‘He’s an awesome mentor in so many ways.’

Dylan’s challenge was his horror of snakes. ‘I was scared of snakes the whole trek. I was really sketchy! Sort of ridiculous… Turned out we didn’t see any snakes at all – just a legless lizard.’ But finding ways to support one another through different aspects of the challenge provided unforgettable lessons. ‘There were situations where you had to have a little think about how you could help people out, especially when it’s so hot and people have a short fuse. As a group we did that pretty well I think.’

Dylan revelled in the heat and the glorious open country of the West MacDonnell Ranges, and like many others, relished the opportunity to learn more about the relationship between the ancestors and the natural world. ‘There were two ladies who came and sung to us in their language,’ Jacqueline remembers. ‘That was captivating, really moving. The stories they were singing were really relevant to being young leaders and changing the way. For me, you couldn’t get anything better than sitting out under the wide open stars with these two ladies singing their songs that meant everything to them.’ It was a profound experience for someone who, until recently, had felt a painful ambivalence about her Indigenous heritage. ‘But those ladies, and people in Alice too – they’re so connected with their community and the land. I was just in awe.’

Royston grew up in Normanton, on the Gulf of Carpentaria, and he sees sharing his experiences of growing up in pretty strong culture as a key

Leadership Delivery Team - Julie, Aileen, Jodie, Duane & Lisa Daily debrief out on country

Support IYLP participants to learn to lead on the Kokoda Track in 2014 by making a donation to a team or individual undertaking the program. Visit our website or Facebook page to make a donation

/IndigenousYouthLeadershipProgramwww.jafoundation.com

part of his role. He wants to help young leaders understand the richness of their inheritance, and the responsibilities that come with living – and leading – ‘in two worlds’. For him, some of the most powerful learning was done around the campfire. ‘When you have had a long day and your guard is dropped and you’re relaxed, people find they can really talk. We had some great discussions about what it takes to step up and take responsibility for your power, influence change and then direct change.’

These informal yarns are hugely valuable, Jodie says. ‘It’s wonderful to see these young leaders leading debates about how to progress as a group, being really proactive and thoughtful about how to get the most out of the experience.’ ‘What works really well is being immersed in culture, but also in the leadership space: it’s the

theory, and then the opportunity to practise your own leadership style. We saw so many different examples of leadership across the week, what works and what doesn’t. This gave the young people a reference point in terms of: “well, how do I want to lead?”’

Sometimes the small things resonate loudest. Jacqueline remembers being struck by something another young woman said during such a discussion. ‘She just said: “It’s okay to step back and let other people lead. To be a leader you have to be a follower as well.” It really hit me… It was really touching for me. Because that’s like me! I used to be very reserved and now I feel like I can speak up.’

On the last day the young leaders assumed command, and, in small unescorted groups, led the expedition back to base. By then, Jacqueline says, people were drawing on the strength of powerful bonds formed on country. ‘Getting to know each other on a personal level, and their stories and why they want to be here,’ she says. ‘It touches on your own experience and makes you realise how much we have in common…. I felt like everyone had my back when I struggled mentally at times on the trek.’

For now, the young mother wants to continue working on her fitness and is already reading up on Kokoda to prepare herself mentally, and physically. Dylan has signed up at a gym. ‘We’re just going to have to step up with our fitness,’ he says. But he’s not daunted by what lies ahead. ‘The assignments can be head-flooding,’ he adds — ‘sometimes it goes over my head. But I know I can ask for help.’

INDIGENOUS YOUTH LEADERSHIP PROGRAM 2013 - 2014

Simpsons Gap, Larapinta Trail, NT

www.jafoundation.com.aufoundation@ja.com.au

Jobs Australia Foundation Partners and Sponsors

It’s time to RECOGNISEHistory in the making is happening. In the next two years, a movement of Australians is working to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in our Constitution, and to remove clauses that still allow race discrimination. This includes Section 25, which still says the States can ban an entire race of people from voting.

To help us on this quest, Recognise has launched the Journey to Recognition, an epic relay across Australia to raise community support as we head towards the day of referendum. Recognition campaigners have already walked more than 700kms, cycled over 1200kms, driven over 2700kms, paddled 7kms, stopped in 50 communities and involved more than 3000 Australians along the way.

We’re taking this movement beyond the Parliament and into the hands of the people. With the help of organisations like the Jobs Australia Foundation, we can all play a part in bringing about this big moment in history. Recognise will be working with the Indigenous Youth Leadership Program to train its young leaders and mentors on constitutional recognition.

Be part of this growing movement by signing up www.recognise.org.au. Or join our youth-led campaign at RecogniseThis, at www.recognisethis.org.au and stay tuned for the full launch in late Spring.

We must fix the silence in our Constitution about the long and impressive first chapter of Australia’s story!

There’s still plenty to do before Kokoda. In September IYLP launches a Kokoda Trek fundraising campaign in which each of the young leaders and mentors is expected to raise $4,000 each towards the cost of the trek. This is now core IYLP syllabus: taking responsibility for what they want to achieve by raising the money to do it is a crucial learning experience for future community leaders. Then, in October, the group heads to the National Centre for Indigenous Excellence in Redfern for Block 3, where new and different challenges await.

Jodie Belyea returned home weary like everyone else and inspired and energised by the success of the nine days away. ‘The group was amazing, nothing was too hard or too much. They were respectful, mature and ready to take on responsibility. And in fact, the staff from Jungala Enterprises who ran the five days out on country told me that watching our group had inspired them, and given them hope for the future of this country.’

Stay tuned for more updates on the group as the program progresses. Please contact Jodie Belyea or Lisa Urosevic on 03 9349 3699 for more information.

KEY DATESThere are six residential blocks of training delivered during the two year program, - a total of 37 days of training in the course room.

Year

1: 2

013 January

Training 5 days Anglesea VIC

August Cultural Walk 7 daysLarapinta Trail NT

OctoberTraining 5 days Redfern NSW

Year

2: 2

014 February

Training 5 days Anglesea VIC

June Kokoda Trek 10 daysPapua New Guinea

October Training 5 days Melbourne VIC

/IndigenousYouthLeadershipProgram

Dylan taking the lead during an evening debrief