A bridge between worlds: Ŋalimurr goŋ ga rälmanapanmirr romgu yolŋu ga balanda
Start with the Yolŋu way first. Ŋurruyirr’yundhu Yolŋuwal gakalyu ŋurruŋuny. Language, kinship, country and law gives us the strength. Dhärukthu, gurruṯuy, wäŋay ga romdhu ŋalimurruny ganydjarrnyndja gurrupan.
Our work champions the importance of language and culture in developing self-empowerment for Yolŋu people. We provide a range of platforms to enable Yolŋu voices to be heard, and support Yolŋu communities to become informed about and engage on their own terms with mainstream services and systems.
ARDS has nearly 50 years experience working with Yolŋu communities in Northeast Arnhem Land. Led by Yolŋu leaders from across the region, ARDS’ cross-cultural approach puts Yolŋu perspectives, skills and decision-making at the centre of our work.
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Community development
Under the guidance of local ŋalapaḻ, we work across health, law, governance, healing and trauma and many other areas of life to build local capacity, confidence and control.
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Language and translation services
Our team supports local language custodians in keeping language strong. This includes through intergenerational language transmission activities, resource development, language documentation, translation, training and language advocacy.
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Cultural competency training
East Arnhem Land CCT was developed to meet the high demand for accessible, practical and enjoyable training for organisations and individuals working in East Arnhem Land.
Training is available both online and face-to-face.
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Yolŋu Radio
It is a priority of ARDS Board that we continue recording and documenting traditional knowledge, stories, songs and ceremonies. We are committed to supporting Aboriginal cultures and languages to remain vibrant and strong.
“ARDS’ involvement significantly improved the engagement, capability and ongoing employability of the more than 60 Yolŋu employees involved […] the outcomes achieved with ARDS’ involvement proved that this employment model can be very successful, provided there is culturally appropriate support in the employees’ first language.”
We would like to thank our sponsors for all of their support
