Message from CEO:
I am pleased to present the Cape York Partnership Family Empowerment Report for January–June 2018. This Report showcases the continuing hard work and successes of the many committed individuals and families that we work with across Cape York, as they seek to close the gap on Indigenous inequality and disadvantage and create a better future for the generations to come. We are honoured to share their stories with you.
Across the Cape York Welfare Reform (CYWR) communities of Aurukun, Coen, Hope Vale and Mossman Gorge, 2,411 individuals have now signed up to one or more Opportunity Products; 2,137 (88%) are still current members. These partners across the CYWR communities have: learnt to budget and take charge of their family finances; saved over $3.1M for their children’s education; strengthened their parenting skills to provide their children with the essentials for a happy and healthy future in their homelands of Cape York and beyond, and much more.
A good education is key to ensuring our children have the requisite skills and tools to fulfil their potential and have the future they deserve. In this Report, we highlight how students of Cape York Aboriginal Australian Academy (CYAAA), Djarragun College, Girl Academy and Cape York Leaders Program (CYLP) are supported to attend, learn and flourish. We pursue opportunities that enable our students to achieve great things. For example, the CYAAA school band recently showcased their musical abilities, talents and confidence by performing on stage in front of a large audience at the Big Talk One Fire Indigenous festival in Cairns.
In this report you will read about how Cape York Employment (CYE), Bama Services and Cape York Timber continue to support Indigenous employment and economic development, which is a key objective of CYWR. By the end of June, CYE had placed 598 jobseekers into employment with 137 (23%) having remained in their jobs for 26+ weeks.
Maintaining our strong cultures and languages is also critical. Pama Language Centre has had further great success in utilising the mediums of music, art and film as a means to engage First Nations people in their Ancestral Languages.
Thank you for your ongoing support as we and our partners progress on our empowerment journey. We look forward to sharing further progress as more of our partners achieve their individual goals.
Yours sincerely,
Fiona Jose
CEO, Cape York Partnership
