Executive Summary INDIVIDUAL AND FAMILY DEVELOPMENT • PAMA PLATFORM has 228 users signed up to the web-based application that helps users take control of their money and day-to-day life. The Platform officially launched across Aurukun, Coen, Hope Vale and Mossman Gorge in February, with presentations held overviewing its benefits. Community members were impressed with its features, including new Hope Vale user Keithean Bowen who said: “Being able to see your financial goals and [incremental] achievements makes budgeting and saving seem more manageable.” • MPOWER has helped 2,572 people to date across the Cape York Welfare Reform (CYWR) communities (Aurukun, Coen, Hope Vale and Mossman Gorge) to improve their financial skills and wellbeing. Of these, 1,667 (65%) are still current members. MPower members continue to make progress in building their financial capabilities with more than a third of members who completed a ‘You & Your Money’ questionnaire across the CYWR communities, reporting an improvement since their last assessment. In June, 100% of members surveyed advised that they were very safisfied with MPower support, including Fiona Gibson who said: “Thank you to the O-Hub staff in Hope Vale for their support with getting my debts sorted. I have worked on a budget, which provided me with an understanding of where my money was going and now I feel more confident and no longer stressed.” • HOMELANDS has 27 members—across Coen, Hope Vale and Wujal Wujal communities—who are jointly managing the ongoing costs related to, and realising their development goals for, their homes and lands. To date, families have come together to save more than $87,000 to cover the cost of land-related expenses. The Nipper family, of Hope Vale, recently made the decision to avail of this opportunity to work together and take financial responsibility for costs associated with home ownership. They join existing Homelands members, like Dora Gibson, that have seen the benefits of saving for future expenses. Dora said: “It has been a relief for me to know that there is the Homelands account…if anything needs repairs.”
EDUCATION • STUDENT EDUCATION TRUST (SET) has helped 773 parents and carers from seven Cape York communities (Aurukun, Coen, Cooktown, Hope Vale, Lockhart River, Mossman Gorge and Wujal Wujal) to provide 1,250 students with the educational goods and services they need to succeed at school. Since SET began, more than $3.8M has been diverted to support children’s educational needs, ensuring that money is saved up for ever-increasing expenses as children progress into secondary education. Tegan Kulka, a Cooktown SET donor said: “I was starting to stress about how I was going to pay for everything. Luckily, I had her SET account, which helped me pay for the fees and uniforms. That was a great relief and weight off my shoulders!” • CAPE YORK LEADERS PROGRAM (CYLP) supported 124 Indigenous Cape York students to attend secondary schools and universities across Australia at some point during January–June. Leaders, with CYLP support, continue to achieve academic success, such as taking up leadership roles at their boarding schools, attaining awards, and completing tertiary education. In February, Academic Tertiary Leader, Joel Johnson of Yarrabah, graduated from QUT with a Bachelor of Law degree. Joel, who has been with CYLP for over ten years, said: “My education will allow me to build a stable life for my family and myself. I want to affect change and achieve positive outcomes for our people and this qualification will give me the foundation to do that.” • CAPE YORK ABORIGINAL AUSTRALIAN ACADEMY (CYAAA) supported 158 students across Coen and Hope Vale to attend and achieve at school. CYAAA parents and students understand the importance of attending school each day, with Hope Vale in first place position and Coen a close second, in the Top 10 Attending Schools in Queensland Indigenous communities. Coen and Hope Vale staff worked closely with parents around preparing their children for a successful transition to high school. Interactive Guugu Yimithirr language lessons, complementing what is being taught to Hope Vale students, are being shared with the community through social media. Shane Gibson, one of the community members involved in the project, said: “It is important to teach our language to the next generation to keep our culture intact.” • DJARRAGUN COLLEGE supported 377 students to undertake their primary and secondary schooling in Semester 1. The College’s ongoing, concerted efforts to improve school attendance is yielding results with average student attendance increasing from 50% in Semester 2, 2016 to 71.9% in Semester 1, 2021. At the start of Term 1, the College introduced the ‘Academies of Excellence’ as an innovative educational initiative that inspires and engages students from Year 10 onwards in their choice of a broad range of interests and opportunities. In February, the College Leaders for 2021 were inducted into their new leadership roles as primary, secondary, house sports and boarding captains, and all pledged their commitment to being positive role models within the College community. • CAPE YORK GIRL ACADEMY had 22 students enrolled between January–June, as well as three babies in residence. Senior students in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Language class each wrote a ‘My Language Story’, reflecting on their connection to language and culture in Semester 1. Savanna Forbes, who is a fluent speaker of her ancestral language, said: “When I speak my Kriol language, I feel like I’m at home. I feel comfortable and feel like I belong to something bigger. It connects me with my family and my culture and my community.”
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Family Empowerment Report // January–June 2021
