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Yamatji On-Country

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Yamatji On-Country Call to Action and Meeting Report

The 2024 Yamatji on Country Call to Action (CTA) Statement can be found here and the accompanying Meeting Report can be found here.

The statement consolidates the Calls to Action made by First Nations community members – including young people – attending the annual Yamatji On-Country Meetings on:

  • Wednesday 4 and Thursday 5 September 2024
  • Wednesday 20 and Thursday 21 September 2023
  • Wednesday 12 and Thursday 13 October 2022

The CTA Statement seeks genuine commitment and offers an open invitation to government at every level to work with First Nations peoples and corporations from across the Yamatji region to achieve change in the priority areas identified by the community at the meetings.

The priority areas are:

  • Systemic Change (introduced in 2023)
  • Racism
  • Housing & Accommodation
  • Police & Justice
  • Education
  • Employment, Training & Economic Development
  • Health & Wellbeing

Through the CTA Statement we seek to:

  1. amplify the urgent need for real action and change across our communities;
  2. mobilise collective change for the betterment of ourselves, our families and our communities; and,
  3. strengthen collaborative partnerships with all community Stakeholders who have shared interests in and across the Midwest, Murchison and Gascoyne regions.

The CTA Statement can also be used as a resource and tool by Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs) when planning their programs, applying for funding, or advocating for change.

The contributions of the young people at the three Yamatji On-Country meetings to date are all now incorporated into the 2024 CTA Statement.

The CTA Statement has been shared with a range of people, including both State and Federal government stakeholders, ACCOs, PBCs and YMAC members throughout the Yamatji region.

The Yamatji community gathered on Southern Yamatji Country on 4 and 5 September 2024 at the Bundiyarra Aboriginal Community Aboriginal Corporation in Geraldton for the 4th Annual Yamatji on Country meeting.

On Day One, community members from across the region joined together to express their concern that action taken on addressing community issues highlighted in the 2022 and 2023 Call to Action statements was going backwards.

New and urgent actions additional to the previous year’s calls to action that also need to be addressed were identified. These actions included:

  • The critical need for increased support in the areas of mental health and suicide prevention.
  • The need to reinstate State and Federal funding for preventative programs.
  • Increasing the State Government’s Aboriginal employment targets in the health sector and other parts of government, to be proportional to percentage of the local Aboriginal population and not the lower state and national targets.
  • Increased and more culturally appropriate support for addressing family and domestic violence.
  • The growing need to urgently address housing and homelessness, which is getting worse amid the regions ongoing housing crisis.
  • The need for action and education to address ongoing racism experienced in both school and community settings. to progress their Call-to-Action developed at the 2022 and 2023 meetings.

A celebration of Culture and entertainment with artists performing from the region concluded Day One.

Day Two was attended by several government officials, including Minister for Education; Aboriginal Affairs; Citizenship and Multicultural Interests, Hon Dr Tony Buti, representing Premier Roger Cook; Greens Senator Dorinda Cox; Member for Geraldton Ms Lara Dalton MLA; and the Western Australian Commissioner for Children and Young People, Ms Jacqueline McGowan-Jones.

Learn more about the discussions and decisions made in the 2024 Yamatji on Country Report.

Thank you to the following organisations who joined us at this year’s 2024 Yamaji on Country. 

Check out the Yamatji on Country photo gallery here

A celebration of Culture and entertainment with artists performing from the region concluded Day 1 of the Yamatji On-Country event.

The much-anticipated evening program was a family-friendly, drug and alcohol-free event that brought together all First Nations people from across the region to join together in a relaxed atmosphere while enjoying music, bushtucker and a BBQ.

Amazing artists from around the region performed on the night, including:

  • Aleah Toomalatai
  • Trevor Farrell
  • Corey Dickerson
  • Craig Pickett
  • Billy Narrier
  • Latia Robertson
  • Zain Laudehr-May

Yamatji On-Country’s evening celebration is a family-friendly, drug and alcohol-free event, bringing together all First Nations people from across the region.

The annual Yamatji On-Country meetings are coordinated by Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation (YMAC) in response to a request from its Yamatji Regional Committee to create a platform for community members from across these regions to identify shared issues and placed based, Aboriginal-led solutions for presentation and discussion with government.

The 2022, 2023 and 2024 meetings have taken place on Southern Yamatji Country at Bundiyarra Aboriginal Community Aboriginal Corporation in Geraldton, attended by First Nations people from across the region.

Day 1 is for First Nations people and organisations only, for discussion and decision making. 

Day 2 involves invited parliamentary and agency guests and speakers from local, State and Federal Government, as well as other influencers and decision-makers.

The member organisations of the Midwest Aboriginal Organisations Alliance (MAOA) accepted the community’s invitation that came from the 2023 on-Country meeting to steer actions and advocate on progress to government on the Yamatji On-Country Call to Action. 

Community members identified MAOA as an existing group that – with improved government support – could become a registered corporation and take on the role of a Peak agency for the region.

Supporting future responses through MAOA draws on and strengthens ACCO membership and governance. It provides a way to work with government and hold them to account, while at the same time supporting and building local capability. It strengthens capacity to respond to local issues and also supports local First Nations peoples across a range of areas aligned with the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.

At the 2024 on-Country meeting, community heard from MAOA on what progress they had made on the CTA since the 2023 meeting, including involvement with and support to date provided by the Mid-West District Leadership Group (DLG) (coordinated by State Government Department of Communities). This has included secretariat support, and support towards strategic planning and expanded community engagement.

Current active MAOA membership includes:

YMAC is very proud of the work undertaken over the past four years to involve young people in the Yamatji On-Country program, which has evolved to become a meeting highlight and source of immense community pride.  

YMAC invited young leaders from high schools in Geraldton, Mullewa and Carnarvon to participate in Yamatji On-Country in 2022, 2023, and 2024. This has occurred through:

  • Pre-event workshops at which the young people workshopped their issues affecting young people in their community, and the solutions and change they would like to see happen.
  • Youth Presentation to community members on Day 1 based on outcomes from the workshops, followed by participation in community discussions and decision-making.
  • Youth Presentation to invited guests on Day 2, as well as nominated young people to speak on community Calls to Action alongside community members.

The young people have focussed on the following priority areas:

  • Racism
  • Youth Substance
  • *Lack of Culture (now Reconnection to Culture)
  • Online Bullying
  • Intergenerational Trauma leading to Violence
  • Home Environment

*A point of note: The young people agreed at the 2024 pre-event workshop to alter the wording for the “Lack of Culture” issue and concern as it didn’t quite reflect their thoughts and feelings. Jointly, they decided that they would like to rename it to “Reconnection to Culture” to highlight the need to reconnect to their culture and shine a more positive light on the issue.

The Calls to Action from the young people at the three Yamatji On-Country meetings to date are now incorporated into the 2024 CTA.

YMAC is also delighted to welcome both primary and secondary students to the event, through performances on each day.

For more information about the Yamatji On-Country youth program or if you would like your school to be involved in future events, please contact YMAC Project Officer, Ken Capewell at kcapewell@ymac.org.au

 

Country is our mother, the provider and keeper of cultural belongings. Country and Culture go together. You can’t have one without the other.

Yamatji Marlpa Aboriginal Corporation respectfully acknowledges the Traditional Owners and custodians throughout Western Australia, and on whose Country we work. We acknowledge and respect their deep connection to their lands and waterways.

We honour and pay respect to Elders, and to their ancestors who survived and cared for Country.

Our offices are located on Whadjuk Country, Southern Yamatji Country, Yinggarda Country, Kariyarra Country, and Yawuru Country. We recognise the continuing culture, traditions, stories and living cultures on these lands and commit to building a brighter future together.

Disclaimer: Caution: Please be advised that this website may contain images, voices and names of deceased people.

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