CENTRAL COAST

 

OVERVIEW

The Central Coast region of New South Wales is the home of the Darkinjung people and a region rich in cultural heritage with over 7,000 registered Aboriginal sites of cultural significance.

Jawun began sending secondees to the Central Coast in March 2012.

The Central Coast region is bounded by the Hawkesbury River (Dyarubbin) in the south, the Watagan Mountains in the west and the southern end of Lake Macquarie (Lake Awaba) in the north and is aligned to the boundaries of the Darkinjung Local Aboriginal Land Council. The region is a network of towns that have been linked in recent years by expanding suburban development.

The Central Coast is home to a diverse and fast growing Aboriginal community of over 17,000 people. Aboriginal people on the Central Coast continue to face a number of significant challenges including employment, education and health. However, the community have embraced community-wide collaboration, underpinned by strong leadership, strong governance structures and a developing economic base. Amidst a changing landscape driven by regional population growth and expanding urban development, the Aboriginal community on the Central Coast have come together to drive changes and deliver services under a collaborative regional governance structure.

WORKING WITH THE COMMUNITY

FIELD TEAM

  • Regional Director, Central Coast

    Liz comes to Jawun with 20 years’ experience as a communications and engagement professional across the corporate and government sectors, most recently with Aboriginal Affairs NSW. A proud Jawun alumnus, Liz was lucky enough to do a secondment with Barang Regional Alliance in 2022 and feels honoured to partner again with Barang in her role as Regional Director. Liz is deeply committed to and passionate about the Darkinjung Community and is inspired by the exceptional change makers she gets to work alongside every day.

    To contact Liz, please email lulhmann@jawun.org.a

  • General Manager, Regional Investment

    Danielle (Dani) comes to Jawun with over twenty years’ experience living and working with Aboriginal communities around Australia. Dani grew up on Wonnarua and Worimi country in regional NSW and spent much of her adult life living remotely across northern Australia.

    Dani is an experienced project manager and facilitator primarily working in the NGO sector supporting Aboriginal empowerment initiatives. Dani has a particular skillset in collaborative leadership and collective impact, bringing people together to address complex problems.

    From her early years starting out as a community development practitioner Dani has had a diverse and interesting career centred around creating conditions for positive change. Most recently Dani has worked with Empowered Communities facilitating ground up priority setting and providing policy and planning advice.

    Now living back in her home town of Newcastle with her soccer-star son, Dani first joined Jawun in 2021 as Regional Director, Central Coast region. Dani is honoured to support the Goulburn Murray, West Kimberley, Central Coast and North East Arnhem regions as Jawun General Manager.

    To contact Dani, please email dtucker@jawun.org.au

CASE STUDIES

Case studies show how Jawun secondees have achieved real results. If you are interested to learn more about Jawun's work in this region, click on the case studies below.

NAISDA

SUPPORTING CULTURAL GROUNDED TRAINING FOR INDIGENOUS ARTISTS

SUPPORTING THE GLEN DRUG AND ALCOHOL REHABILITIATION CENTRE

ELEANOR DUNCAN ABORIGINAL HEALTH CENTRE

PEER TO PEER KNOWLEDGE TRANSFER AT DARKINJUNG

DARKINJUNG LOCAL ABORIGINAL LAND COUNCIL