Aarnja Board Communique 7 November 2019

The Aarnja Board would like to announce that as of 31st December 2019, Aarnja Ltd will cease operations as the West Kimberley Empowered Communities backbone organisation.

 West Kimberley Empowered Communities (WKEC) was established in the region in 2016. It was built on the foundation that in order for any reform to effectively meet the values and needs of Kimberley Aboriginal people it needed to be Aboriginal Led, and embedded in the underpinning values which include, Subsidiarity, Self Determination, Mutuality, and Place Based Action.

 Aarnja has fully supported WKEC over the three years of operations and the program has achieved some very exciting gains. In particular for children and youth, as is evident in the Dampier Peninsular Family Empowerment project with Save The Children, Aarnja and WKEC’s ongoing support and guidance to the Community Navigators Empowering Kimberley Families through their Aboriginal-led Woombooriny Amboon Angarriiya Partnership Initiative (WAAPI), the project has progressively worked with governments towards systemic changes and recognition for Aboriginal peoples priorities.

 In a meeting on the 1st November 2019 between the WKEC Leaders, NIAA and Empowered Communities National, it was agreed that it is now time for WKEC to grow and become its own entity.

 In order to do this, the Kimberley Land Council (KLC) will perform interim backbone operations for six months whilst a new independent backbone organisation is established. Aarnja will provide guidance and support to the KLC and West Kimberley EC Leaders in this transition.

 We offer our sincere apologies to the West Kimberley Aboriginal people and our partner organisations for any inconvenience caused during the transition to the KLC. If you have any queries during this time please do not hesitate to contact Marty Sibosado through the KLC.

 The Aarnja Board would like to thank our CEO and the West Kimberley Empowered Communities staff for their hard work to date and are pleased to note that the WKEC staff will be offered continued employment with the KLC as the new backbone agency going forward.

Donna Birch

Chairperson

7 November 2019

Applications for sponsorship are open now

Aarnja is committed to investing in our mob by enabling creativity, innovation, new ideas and opportunities. We’re pleased to announce that we are welcoming applications from Kimberley Aboriginal people interested in sponsorship and that we are able to provide up to $10,000 per request. Full details are available by clicking the links below.

Please click to access the Microsoft Word application form.

Please click to access the PDF application form.