9.6 Case Studies

Self-determination and community control

The Murdi Paaki Regional Assembly (MPRA) is comprised of the Chairs or representatives of 16 Aboriginal Community Working Parties (CWP’s) across the Murdi Paaki Region of NSW.

MPRA see self-determination as the key success to their governance model. Their model demonstrates true community control as the Aboriginal people of the region determine the composition of their local CWP, they choose the methods to bring that model together and they choose who represents them on the Regional Assembly. People volunteer their time and those who participate are genuinely interested in making a change for their communities. The model is evolutionary; it’s not competitive leadership but a traditional style of leadership where leadership roles are earned through respect, integrity and transparency.

Governance Structure

The Murdi Paaki Regional Assembly (MPRA) is comprised of the Chairs or representatives of 16 Aboriginal Community Working Parties (CWP’s) across the Murdi Paaki Region of NSW.

The Murdi Paaki Regional Assembly has 100% Aboriginal membership. The Chairs or the representatives of the 16 Aboriginal Community Working Parties are Aboriginal people of the region, as is the independent Chair. The Assembly is governed by a “Charter of Governance” which, in the absence of legislative arrangements or incorporation law, provides the regulation, the goals and objectives, the functions and principles which the Assembly operates to.

The Chairs of the CWPs who comprise the Assembly are elected by their communities. CWPs have a structure that is representative of their community and derive their membership from Aboriginal community members and Aboriginal organisations from within that community. At the local level CWPs engage with both the State and Federal Governments, Local Government and service providers to Aboriginal people.

Partnership and inclusiveness

Bendigo Indigenous Homework Centre (BIHC) was set up in 2008 as a joint initiative by the Bendigo Local Indigenous Network, the Goldfield Local Learning and Employment network and the Department of Education Childhood Development.

BIHC was set up in an effort to increase the number of Koorie students completing grade 11 and 12 in Bendigo. As there is only one government Senior Secondary College in the Bendigo region, it made sense for the Homework centre to be set up on the senior secondary college campus. In order to do this, BIHC had to work closely with other partners such as the college and the Department of Education and Early Childhood Development (DEECD) to ensure that this could happen. The homework centre has since become place of pride at Bendigo Senior Secondary College, an outcome which was able to be achieved through successful stakeholder engagement and partnership development.

BIHC acknowledges that not all valuable partnerships are underpinned by financial benefits. BIHC takes pride in nurturing its ties with the local Aboriginal community and has opened its doors to host a number of cultural collaborations, exchanges and programs over the last four years.

“The best part of our governance model is the incredible Indigenous network that supports the Homework Centre students in so many ways. For example a member of the Bendigo Learning Indigenous Network who works with North Central Catchment management suggested to the Local Aboriginal Education Consultative Group that some of our year 11 and 12 boys may like to be involved in making a film “Our People/Our River.  We also used our networks to help two of our senior College girls improve their fitness in order to increase their chances of gaining entry into the police force. In order to achieve this outcome we formed a partnership with Mallee Women’s Health Service, we now continue to run a nutrition and wellbeing program for all of our senior girls.”