The Rio Tinto Aboriginal Fund supports initiatives that build capacity in Aboriginal youth and promote leadership. The Fund also supports role models, particularly in sport, where they provide inspiration and present messages about healthy lifestyle and personal development to other Aboriginal youth.

 

 

 

NATIONAL INDIGENOUS YOUTH ENGAGEMENT STRATEGY
(2006 to 2007)

The Rio Tinto Aboriginal Fund provided funding support to Reconciliation Australia to develop and implement a series of workshops to engage Indigenous young people and promote national discussions that will assist them in identifying, tackling and advocating for issues that are important to them. The project will also provide Indigenous youth perspectives on a range of local and national issues, and for Reconciliation Australia to include a youth focus in a range of national events in 2007, such as the National Leaders Forum and 1967 referendum commemorative event. Other supporters of this initiative include Oxfam, Telstra Foundation, and the Foundation for Young Australians.

 

MANAGEMENT PROGRAMME FOR NATIVE TITLE REPRESENTATIVE BODY CEOs
(2006 to 2007)

 

The Rio Tinto Aboriginal Fund is supporting a partnership between the Australian Graduate School of Management and the Aurora Project to establish a programme in management training for CEOs of Native Title Representative Bodies across Australia. The Aurora Project is the collective name for a number of programmes that work with Australia's Indigenous communities and organisations to facilitate prosperity through capacity building. The CEO management training programme incorporates business management training specifically tailored to management in an Indigenous context. The programme covers a variety of areas: financial management; human resource management; community relations; stakeholder management; and corporate governance. It is envisaged that a successful pilot programme will evolve into a broader programme which offers business management training for all Indigenous managers and leaders working in both the public and private sectors.

 

 

 

 

BALUNU YOUTH CULTURAL HEALING PROGRAMMES
(2006 to 2007)

The Rio Tinto Aboriginal Fund has provided seed funding for Balunu Aboriginal Development Corporation to establish its cultural healing programmes, based in Darwin. Balunu's purpose and vision is to assist disadvantaged Indigenous youth to overcome their suffering, equip them with the tools to deal with their pain and guide them to move forward in life with self pride, self identity and self confidence - above all to break negative dysfunctional cycles and create positive cycles for the generations to come. The cultural healing programmes comprise a series of camps and workshops which offer connection to culture, positive role models, relationship building, opportunities to develop life skills, goal setting and respect. Mentors provide ongoing follow up support.

 

SYDNEY LEADERSHIP PROGRAMME
(2003 to 2008)

 

The Benevolent Society established the Sydney Leadership programme to develop a network of leaders with the leadership capacity, understanding, skills and networks to take positive steps towards securing the future wellbeing of society. The Sydney Leadership Program deeply engages participants to the pressing social problems facing communities and the nation and provides clear guidance on how they can help tackle these complex issues. In 2007 and 2008 the Rio Tinto Aboriginal Fund is supporting two Indigenous participants in this programme per year. Since 2003 the Fund has supported Indigenous people to participant in leadership programmes run by the Benevolent Society.

 

 

INDIGENOUS YOUTH PROGRAMMES - CIRCUS AND DRAMA
(2006 to 2007)

 

In 2006 the Rio Tinto Aboriginal Fund along with Cirque Du Soleil, and community based organisations, supported the National Institute of Circus Arts (NICA) to run the 2nd National Indigenous Youth Circus Sustainability Training Project in Alice Springs. The project brought together 18 promising young people from Indigenous social circuses across Australia. The training allowed participants to advance their skills and develop skill sharing techniques. The project also involved participants conducting outreach workshops for Indigenous children in local communities around Alice Spring. In 2007 further support was given, along with support from Cirque Du Soleil and Oxfam, to help the participants establish an Indigenous lead national youth circus network and skills training project. The network was named I C AN. As one young woman said, "It just means I CAN do anything, we CAN do anything!"

 

 

In 2007, the Rio Tinto Aboriginal Fund also provided support for NICA and the National Institute of Dramatic Art (NIDA) to run a circus and drama skills programme in the Pilbara region of Western Australia. NICA and NIDA separately spent three weeks with the Indigenous students at Roebourne School. The programme reached 300 Indigenous students and helped build skills, self-esteem and confidence in communicating.

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LLOYD MCDERMOTT DEVELOPMENT TEAM
(1998 to 2003)

The Rio Tinto Aboriginal Fund provided sponsorship for the Lloyd McDermott Rugby Development Team (LMRDT) Sports Tournament held in Sydney in 1998 and Bathurst, NSW in 1999. The tournaments involved over 460 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander boys and girls aged between 14 and 18 participating in the sports of rugby and netball. Following this engagement, the Fund introduced leadership development programmes, based on the Kormilda College experience, to groups of young Aboriginal people convened by LMRDT.

 

KICKSTART - GARNDUWA YOUTH PROGRAMMES
(2002 to 2003)

The Rio Tinto Aboriginal Fund supported the Kimberly based Indigenous organisation, Garnduwa, to run sports and youth activities for communities in the region. The programme targets health and lifestyle awareness, recognising the key role sport can play in personal development, life skills and inspiration for young Indigenous people. The programme emerged from Kickstart – a programme that is run by the AFL and was supported by the Fund from 1997 to 2001. Kickstart uses football as a vehicle to promote positive and healthy lifestyle options for Aboriginal youth. The Fund has supported the Kickstart programme in Garnduwa for three years from 2002.

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ACTIVE WOMEN'S PROGRAMME
(1999 to 2003)

Following a series of workshops in 1998, Garnduwa developed the Active Women's programme for 15 to 18 year old women. The programme is centred on an annual three day camp involving about 60 participants. The camp incorporates sport and recreation activities, health workshops, team-building activities, lifestyle skills lectures, leadership development, role model programmes, and music and play performances. Participants are drawn from communities throughout the Kimberley region and over 200 young women have attended the programme since 1999. Argyle Diamond Mines has also supported this programme with financial and in-kind assistance. In 2004 Argyle Diamond Mines took on full support of the programme.

 

KICKSTART INDIGENOUS FOOTBALL PROGRAMME
(1997 to 2000)

This joint venture between the Rio Tinto Aboriginal Fund and the Australian Football League (AFL) helped develop football infrastructure and young footballers across northern and central Australia. The programme currently runs in the Kimberley region of WA and targets health and lifestyle awareness, recognising the key role sport can play in personal development, life skills and inspiration for young Indigenous people. The AFL has obtained funds from elsewhere to maintain and grow the Kickstart programme in other parts of Australia.