Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that this website may contain images and voices of deceased people.
Picture: Common Ground's Creators Circle gathering in remote Cape York on Kuku Yalanji Country, June 2023
Common Ground is a First Nations not-for-profit and collective of First Nations people changing systems through storytelling.
Common Ground launched in 2019 as a small collection of curated and original content found on their website. Common Ground has continued to evolve as a place of storytelling and education, to create opportunities for First Nations people to be authors on their terms.
Common Ground has an all-First Nations team and board of directors. While the team is small, they have an extensive network of First Nations contributors who help shape Common Ground every day.
Common Ground’s work touches on intersections of advocacy, education, creative storytelling and systems change, driving change in a unique way. The organisation seeks ways to influence systemic change – often aimed at shifting mindsets and behaviours – through innovative and creative projects that harness the power of storytelling.
Common Ground is working to shape futures that centre First Nations people, Country and truth-telling in everything. Their projects – from Dreamy to the Creators Circle – draw from First Nations community strength, creativity and innovation to achieve incredible reach and impact. Their annual project, First Nations Bedtime Stories, sees Common Ground work with different First Nations creatives and communities to film five stories, distributing money to communities to record their stories in their own way. This project shifts power and resources to communities and builds on tens of thousands of years of strong, community-driven storytelling.
First Nations people have always been innovators, and Common Ground is building on a journey 80,000 years in the making.
Picture: Valerie Patterson Napanangka, Barbara Martin Napanangka, Fiona Gibson Napaljarri, Helen Morton Naparrurla, Masie Kiston Napaljarri and Nancy Oldfield Napurrurla.
Warlpiri teachers and traditional owners of the Newmont Tanami gold mine site set up WETT in 2005 to use royalties from the mine to improve education and training outcomes for yapa (Warlpiri people) in the Tanami Desert. For almost 20 years, WETT has supported a range of partnerships and programs that align with Warlpiri education priorities in Yuendumu, Willowra, Nyirrpi and Lajamanu. So far, WETT has invested more than $53 million to support yapa (Warlpiri people) across its five education program areas:
WETT is a Warlpiri-controlled and governed initiative administered through the Central Land Council (CLC).
The WETT advisory committee comprising four Warlpiri representatives from the four communities, along with one each from Newmont and the CLC, plays a crucial role in designing, planning, and monitoring WETT-funded initiatives. This committee, which meets at least three times a year, advises the directors of the Kurra Aboriginal Corporation, whose members are traditional owners of the mine site. The Kurra directors, guided by this advice, allocate funding to the WETT programs.
Many of the founding members of WETT are still on the WETT advisory committee today and are taking innovative measures to support new and younger members to join the committee and grow into these important roles. WETT's commitment to developing strong governance, careful succession planning, and life-long learning was acknowledged when it received the prestigious Indigenous Governance Award in the non-incorporated category in 2018. In more recent years, WETT has developed an innovative monitoring and evaluation approach, the Yitakimaninjaku, warrirninjaku, payirninjaku manu pina-jarrinjaku (YWPP) ‘Tracking and learning’ program, through which local Warlpiri researches monitor WETT’s programs. The YWPP approach prioritises capturing and amplifying the voices of Warlpiri youth.
WETT’s vision is for Warlpiri people to be strong in their knowledge of culture, country and language, to stand up for Warlpiri communities today and be strong role models for generations to come:
“Our language, culture and decisions will be respected. Our voices will be heard. We will have the same opportunities as everyone else. Our children will be confident, knowledgeable, disciplined, healthy and respected. They will have good roles and jobs, as will the generations to come.”
Play in the Park gives children the chance to learn through play in a supported, engaging and safe environment. Children attend with a parent or guardian and are provided with a range of fun, active and guided NAIDOC themed activities.
Please join us in congratulating Aunty (Dr) Lynette Riley AO on receiving the Officer of the Order of Australia!
Poster celebrating first National Aborigines' Day observed on the 14th of July 1972, after the Department of Aboriginal Affairs was formed as a major outcome of the 1967 Referendum. The second Sunday in July is associated as a day of remembrance for Aboriginal people and their heritage.
Welcome to NAIDOC.
We acknowledge all First Peoples of the beautiful lands on which we live and celebrate their enduring knowledge and connections to Country. We honour the wisdom of and pay respect to Elders past and present.