How common goals united Girringun

Girringun Aboriginal Corporation was awarded Highly Commended Category A in the 2014 Indigenous Governance Awards. In this video, CEO Phil Rist outlines how Girringun’s leadership fostered a common goal to bring 9 tribal groups together. By working together as ‘one voice’, and building relationships with surrounding stakeholders, Girringun established a form of contemporary sovereignty.

“We represent 9 tribal groups, over a pretty huge area in North Queensland. We’re not a land council or an Indigenous legal service, or a health service, we’re just a bunch of Traditional Owners that have managed to really come together as one community, one organisation and formed this very strong, effective, powerful Indigenous NGO at the grass-roots level … And not much happens in our area without us knowing about it because we have built this relationship with all those different partners, government and others, and they as well act as if sovereignty exists within our area.”
– Phil Rist, CEO