NORTH EAST ARNHEM LAND

 

OVERVIEW

North East Arnhem Land is located on Yolngu country and is a region rich in culture, art and history. Located around 500 kilometres from Darwin in the Northern Territory, it is one of Australia’s most remote regions.

Jawun commenced operations in North East Arnhem Land (NEAL) in 2012.

Nhulunbuy is the main township in North East Arnhem Land and is largely sustained by the mining industry, which began operations in the 1960s despite protests from Yolngu Elders to Federal Parliament through the Bark Petitions – a major catalyst for the Land Rights movement. The mine is currently scheduled to close by 2030. The Laynhapuy homelands (traditional clan lands) extend out from Nhulunbuy into Arnhem Land and consist of around 30 remote homeland communities.

Yolngu people have always maintained a strong desire for greater control of their destiny and the capacity to shape their future. A future in which they are able to confidently walk in two worlds, the Yolngu and Balanda (non-Indigenous). Under the guidance and strong leadership of different clan leaders, Yolngu people of North East Arnhem Land have made incredible progress towards long-term sustainable business, employment, culturally appropriate services, and education opportunities. There is a shared vision for Indigenous development with a focus on sustainable, meaningful employment created for local Yolŋgu people through community-led economic enterprise.

WORKING WITH THE COMMUNITY

FIELD TEAM

  • Regional Director

    Matt is Jawun’s Regional Director in North East Arnhem Land.

    Matt is an experienced grants manager and communications specialist within the non-profit sector. Working across a diverse range of non-profit organisations, including grassroots and national, Matt specialises in communicating the key social outcomes and overall impact of nonprofits’ for a multitude of stakeholders across corporate and government sectors, and with the general public.

    Before joining Jawun, Matt has worked to revitalise Indigenous languages, support children to overcome trauma, provide assistance to children and adults living with physical and neurological disabilities and also within the aged-care sector. While away from work Matt enjoys camping and 4WD’ing, getting stuck into a good book and occasionally binge-watching a new Netflix series.

    To contact Matt please email: mkeast@jawun.org.au

  • 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.

    She is now living back in her home town of Newcastle with her seventeen-year old soccer-star son.

    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.

STRENGTHENING SMALL BUSINESS FRAMEWORKS

CBA - UNDERSTANDING INDIGENOUS PERSPECTIVES

TOWN VISION AND A COMMUNITY IN TRANSITION

DHIMURRU ABORIGINAL CORPORATION

SUPPORTING YOLNGU MANAGERS TO DRIVE CHANGE

SUPPORTING GUMATJ CORPORATION

LIRRWI YOLNGU TOURISM ABORIGINAL CORPORATION

GUMATJ CORPORATION