Waltja Tjutangku Palyapayi Aboriginal Corporation (Waltja) is an Aboriginal-controlled, community-based organisation founded in 1997. Waltja works with Aboriginal families in remote Central Australia. Waltja Tjutangku Palyapayi is Luritja language, meaning “doing good work with families”. The name encapsulates the Waltja story. While Waltja members speak many languages, they chose to name the organisation in Luritja. Luritja is recognised as a common language between many local languages in the central desert.
 
Waltja supports self-determination for Aboriginal people living in remote communities in Central Australia. They aim to empower communities in response to the dispossession of traditional lands and social and economic marginalisation.
 
Waltja’s service area covers more than one quarter of the Northern Territory, over twenty remote communities and outstations, and nine language groups. Waltja only works in communities where they are invited. The main languages spoken by Waltja members are Pintupi-Luritja, Warlpiri, Western Arrarnta, Eastern Arrernte, Katjetye, Anmatjere, Alyawarre, Yankuntjatjara and Pitjantjatjara.

Waltja is dedicated to supporting children, parents, youth, families, and Elders through a range of projects and funding initiatives. Their programs are designed to improve community relations as well as help preserve cultural heritage and language. Waltja also supports the development and operation of community services governed by local Aboriginal people, which provide employment and professional development opportunities for locals.
 
Current community-based services offered or supported by Waltja include:

• child and youth programs
• aged care
• disability services
• financial literacy training
• cultural maintenance
• support for art centres.

From the start, Waltja has focused on being strong in culture and compliant in Kardiya (white fellah) systems of governance. Their governance works well two-ways. Waltja’s governance journey began in 1997 when they became an incorporated association under the Aboriginal Councils and Associations Act (now the CATSI Act). Only women in remote communities were able to stand for election, ensuring that women had a voice in governance and could develop their leadership skills. This commitment to empowering women and fostering leadership remains a fundamental aspect of Waltja’s mission today. In 2006, Waltja became an Aboriginal corporation registered under the CATSI Act.
 

One of the biggest challenges for Waltja has been surviving and thriving as an independent organisation. They ensure their independence by successfully securing competitive tenders, generating their own income through fundraising, and securing grants which fit with Waltja’s priorities and goals.
 
In 2013, Waltja’s executive team managed an organisational restructuring. They needed to ensure Waltja had an employment structure that was sustainable – funded through program areas and through Waltja’s own investment funds – and that all staff and trainees would be available to travel out bush and spend time in communities with directors. This was considered very important in ensuring that all staff:

• maintained their own community connections
• understood the lives and experiences of people living in remote communities.

 
Now, Waltja supports other organisations across the central desert region. They have assisted in the evolution of several services from ideas to established organisations. Waltja also offer auspicing services, as well as training, governance and management support. One organisation Waltja supported was Western Desert Dialysis (WDD), now the Purple House. Waltja auspiced Purple House for several years and also assisted with lobbying and advocacy. Through this work, Waltja helps make communities in the Central Desert region strong.

Waltja’s directors are Indigenous women from remote communities across Central Australia. Directors (a maximum of twelve senior women) are elected by members at Waltja’s Annual General Meeting. To be eligible for election, the women must be permanent residents of their community. Once elected, Waltja’s directors vote on five officer bearer positions: chairperson, public officer and three executive directors. Together with the CEO, they make up Waltja’s executive team. Directors and executive directors hold office for one year and are able to run for re-election every year.
 
The Waltja board represents each of Waltja’s target communities. Directors are chosen based on their length of membership with Waltja, their community service, leadership, and advocacy skills. Each director has a proxy who often takes an active role in the community and during meetings as necessary. This means that if a director is unable to attend a board meeting, their community’s voice can still be heard. It also means that directors feel supported by the proxy when they need to talk about or make decisions that impact their own community.
 
Waltja’s system of inviting a second woman, the proxy, to attend meetings along with each director also encourages community development. It allows more experienced women the opportunity to mentor younger or less confident women and facilitates succession planning. Both Waltja’s directors and proxy directors are volunteers.
 
Through the board of directors, Waltja provides Aboriginal women leaders an opportunity to discuss issues, concerns, and needs across different language groups. This space allows them to celebrate their culture, build and maintain trusted relationships across the region, and engage with stakeholders and service providers. These interactions help build genuine intercultural understanding and ensure their voices are heard.

At Waltja, at least one director meeting each year involves helping directors identify their training needs. In these meetings, directors also record any training or professional development they have been involved in. Waltja’s CEO and project workers then seek further relevant training programs or workshops.
 
Most of Waltja’s professional development for directors is designed to increase:

• their knowledge of Waltja’s program areas
• their competence and confidence as community leaders and organisational leaders.

 
Past professional development Waltja has provided for directors includes:

• governance training
• financial governance (with Waltja’s independent auditor and external book-keeper)
• Diploma of Community Services Coordination
• Advanced Diploma in Community Sector Management
• planning for community services
• mediation training
• money management.

 
Professional development for individual directors also includes the creation and maintenance of their personal and professional profile.
 
Waltja also supports directors to participate in professional networks and advisory bodies. The corporation supports directors to attend conferences and workshops in Alice Springs, Darwin and interstate, usually accompanied by a staff member.
 
Importantly, Waltja supports young women from remote communities to accompany directors to directors’ meetings. This allows younger women to learn more about the governance of Waltja, the ‘Waltja Way’ of working, and the planning, developing, implementing and reviewing of programs and services.³Australian Indigenous Governance Institute and Reconciliation Australia, Voices of Our Success: Sharing the Stories and Analysis from the 2014 Indigenous Governance Awards (Sydney, 2016), 60.

Waltja has an innovative governance approach – what they call the ‘Waltja Way’. This means Waltja incorporates local Aboriginal ways of doing business into the organisation’s values, processes and structure. The Waltja Way was created to help new directors, members and staff understand how Waltja works. The Waltja Way also helps explain to partner organisations, government departments and politicians how Waltja operates and why these local ways of working are important.⁴Waltja Tjutangku Palyapayi , “Updating The Waltja Way,” May 2024.

“Waltja learns what is happening in the community from the Directors. Directors talk to Exec. Exec talks with workers. Waltja workers are invited by the Directors to come to the community. They stay; they meet the Directors and their families. They make friends. They become family. They listen to all people in the community with the Directors, young and old, men and women. We work together Anangu/Yapa (Aboriginal) with Kardiya (non-Aboriginal), workers with Directors, Waltja with community. It gives Waltja a better understanding of community and what people need, and gives us a strong voice with communities and with government. We make family from far and near. That’s why we called the organisation Waltja – family.”
– Irene Nangala, a Waltja director

The organisation is actively engaged at the community level, offering practical support to families on community concerns such as mental health, suicide prevention, petrol sniffing prevention, and parenting. There is a strong feedback loop between Waltja’s directors, members, community and staff. Directors talk to community and share feedback with Waltja’s executive team. Waltja’s staff are invited to engage with community and meet directors and families. By hearing from families directly, Waltja has a better understanding of what the needs of their communities and members are.
 
Waltja’s governance is customised to suit community, and means giving directors a hands-on role in identifying community needs and making decisions around program delivery. With the guidance of directors, Waltja has delivered tailored programs across central Australian communities, including services like Reconnect Youth, the Family Mental Health Support (FMHSS) program, Children and Family Intensive Support (CaFIS) program, and their Art, Language & Culture programs.

Waltja is innovative in their generation of income and raises their funds through competitive tenders, grants, partnerships, and their own fundraising. Waltja directors are careful in their investments, and plan for the long-term sustainability of the organisation. Thanks to Waltja’s careful financial management, the organisation has acquired assets such as the lands that serves as their ‘home’ in Alice Springs, their Kungka Kutjarra property on the town’s outskirts, and investment savings. These savings are managed by the directors, who can allocate them to targeted areas as needed. Savings can also be used to supplement their emergency relief service, which Waltja provides to families in need on behalf of the government.
 
Waltja also have an art-based social enterprise, Tjutangku Tjukurrpa which means “Everyone’s Dreaming Stories”. Individuals from remote Central Australian communities create artworks, including carvings, bead jewellery, and paintings. They earn a standard payment for their works, and this amount is set by the Waltja directors. Through the creation of artworks, participants in the social enterprise are “strong in their own identity” and have ownership of the stories they tell.⁵Waltja Tjutangku Palyapayi Aboriginal Corporation, “Gallery Shop: Tjutangku Tjukurrpa,” accessed 2024, [link]As well as keeping culture strong, the social enterprise helps support Waltja’s work. Currently, Tjutangku Tjukurrpa is supporting two Indigenous trainees, and a local Arrernte man serves as team leader.

Waltja is committed to ensuring community is kept informed about what the organisation is doing. Because Waltja represents many people from different language groups across vast areas, they use a combination of ways to ensure their message gets out. Some of the ideas Waltja have found work well include:
 
Visiting commnity

Board members, staff and management get out and about in their communities and proactively seek community feedback. This is then used to improve Waltja’s service delivery.
 
Waltja also have community contact people, who disseminate information by word of mouth among their family and peers. These people also hold informal consultation with their communities and convey feedback to Waltja.
 
Electronic communication
Waltja send faxes containing important information to remote community members and service workers. This ensures members and service workers who may not have guaranteed access to the internet remain informed.
 
Waltja’s Family News publication is also published three or four times a year and is widely distributed to communities across the Central Australia region.
 
Website

Waltja maintains an easy to use and informative website which can be accessed by community and stakeholders at any time.
 
Board reports

Waltja ensure managers provide reports and updates at board meetings.
 
Verbal communication

Waltja staff make sure that community members feel welcome and comfortable visiting the office or ringing up to ask questions or seek information.

Because Waltja has a long history, there have been times they have needed to adapt their governance to ensure they remain effective for community. During COVID, Waltja remained in operation and worked hard to keep Central Desert families safe and healthy. A key priority was ensuring relevant information continued to be shared in different languages. Directors in communities reached out to Waltja staff and kept them updated on what help was needed during the pandemic. Waltja then collaborated with other organisations in the region to help families stay strong, the Waltja Way.
 
Another example of Waltja adapting their governance to meet community needs was in 2019, when Waltja decided to register as a NDIS provider after consultation with directors and communities. Being an NDIS provider ensures Waltja can provide Disability and Aged Care services to clients across remote Central Australian communities.

Waltja holds regular board meetings throughout the year. All policy and strategic planning decisions are made at board meetings.
 
Meeting protocol
At the start of each meeting, an executive member explains why a matter is important and needs to be talked about. Waltja’s manager or staff may also give some background information. Often, visitors will present information for the directors to discuss. Correspondence is tabled at every meeting.
 
Decision making at meetings
The board makes decisions by listening and talking together. Directors may sometimes break into language groups for discussion and then report back to the whole group.
 
Waltja aims for consensus decisions but may use voting if a consensus is not reached. Unresolved issues are generally carried forward to the next meeting, where additional information is provided.
 
Waltja’s directors declare any conflict of interest and stand down from decision-making when a conflict of interest might arise.
 
Speaking in language
Talking in meetings is usually in several languages: English, Warlpiri, Luritja, Western Arrernte, Eastern Arrernte, Pintupi, Kaytetye Anmatyerre, Alyawarre and Pitjantjatjara. All of Waltja’s directors are multilingual in the region’s Aboriginal languages and speak and understand English.

“All Directors are encouraged by the Chairperson to have input and decisions are made by consensus. The Board of Directors has their own code of conduct, as drawn up by the Directors, regarding meeting protocols and these are adhered to. Directors are treated with respect at all times.”– Waltja Tjutangku Palyapayi Aboriginal Corporation⁷Australian Indigenous Governance Institute and Reconciliation Australia, Voices of Our Success: Sharing the Stories and Analysis from the 2014 Indigenous Governance Awards (Sydney, 2016), 60.

Together with Desert Knowledge Cooperative Research Centre (DKCRC), Waltja developed a set of protocols outlining rules for researchers – called the Community Guide for Aboriginal Knowledge and Intellectual Property Protocols. These protocols provide guidance on how local Aboriginal people and researchers can work best together and in a way that respects Aboriginal culture and knowledge. The community guide and protocols are still in use today.
 

In 2011, Waltja and DKCRC were recognised for excellence in innovation in the development of these protocols. Read the full community guide.

Many of Waltja’s long-term staff members worked and studied their way up from Indigenous traineeships into leadership positions.
 
Waltja has consistently committed funds and in-kind support for staff professional development since incorporation. All new staff undertake a 3-month probation with induction, training and supervision by a senior worker. This includes:

• self-appraisal
• supervisor appraisal
• probation review meeting between the CEO, supervisor and staff member.

 
The CEO and Executive Directors also conduct yearly performance appraisals with all staff. In these, staff identify training needs and future aspirations.⁸Australian Indigenous Governance Institute and Reconciliation Australia, Voices of Our Success: Sharing the Stories and Analysis from the 2014 Indigenous Governance Awards (Sydney, 2016), 60. These processes make sure Waltja staff are performing at the best level possible, while also identifying any potential areas of improvement or growth in staff performance. This means that the local communities are getting the maximum benefit from staff members and the organisation as a whole.

Waltja has clearly documented processes for dealing with complaints, grievances and appeals.¹⁰Australian Indigenous Governance Institute and Reconciliation Australia, Voices of Our Success: Sharing the Stories and Analysis from the 2014 Indigenous Governance Awards (Sydney, 2016), 89.
 
Making a complaint
Clients may send a written statement of their grievance to the organisation or the CEO. The grievance or appeal may also be made in person or by phone. The client may also give another person permission to help them make the complaint. For example, by interpreting or helping them to speak up strong. Staff must support a client with their complaint by then recording it in writing – even when the complaint is against staff.
 
Recording the complaint
A relevant senior Waltja worker will follow up the grievance at the earliest opportunity and record all action taken on a grievance/appeal form. This needs to be done whether or not the grievance has already been resolved to the client’s satisfaction.
 
The CEO may also require the staff members concerned to complete a grievance/appeal staff report.
 
Dealing with the complaint
If clients or community representatives have a grievance about any aspect of Waltja’s training or client services, they are encouraged to discuss the grievance with the responsible staff member.
 
This staff member will attempt to resolve the grievance through discussion and mediation with the people involved, or through making changes to their own practice. They must let the complainant know what steps are being taken to address the complaint. If the client prefers not to deal directly with the relevant staff member, they are encouraged to go to the CEO.
 
Unresolved complaints
If a grievance remains unresolved, the CEO will refer the grievance to Waltja’s executive. The executive will consider the grievance and provide an opportunity for the person to present their case. The decision of the executive will be final. Waltja will then give written advice to the client about the decision.
 
Lodging appeals
Clients may wish to lodge an appeal against a Waltja decision which affects them. When an appeal is lodged, the CEO identifies an independent panel of 2 people. These individuals have the cultural and language skills needed for liaison with the client who lodged the appeal.
 
The client must be given the opportunity to formally present their case. The panel will advise Waltja and the client of the outcome of the appeal (via a grievance/appeal panel report). Waltja then follows up with written advice to the client about the panel decision.

• Waltja Tjutangku Palyapayi , “Updating The Waltja Way,” May 2024.
• Australian Indigenous Governance Institute and Reconciliation Australia, Voices of Our Success: Sharing the Stories and Analysis from the 2014 Indigenous Governance Awards, Sydney, 2016.
• Waltja Tjutangku Palyapayi Aboriginal Corporation, ‘Constitution’, accessed October 2024
• Waltja Tjutangku Palyapayi Aboriginal Corporation, Consolidated Rulebook, December 2009, [link]