Western Alliance: Aboriginal Ability Links NSW employing local staff

The Western Alliance: Aboriginal Ability Links NSW employs local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as ‘linkers’. This makes it possible for the alliance to speak ‘from’ as well as ‘to’ the surrounding community. Western Alliance describes linkers as the locally based first point of contact for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples with disabilities.¹ Australian Indigenous Governance Institute and Reconciliation Australia, Strong Governance Supporting Success: Stories and Analysis from the 2016 Indigenous Governance Awards, (Canberra: Australian Indigenous Governance Institute, 2018, Prepared by A. Wighton), 23.

“Linkers work with people with disability, their families and carers to help them plan for their future, build on their strengths and skills, and develop networks in their own communities … Linkers also work with local communities to help them become more welcoming and inclusive of people with disability … Linkers are Aboriginal and that in itself is powerful. They understand how to go into other people’s communities in a respectful way; to find the right channels, speak to Elders and build rapport.”