Community development
We work directly with Indigenous communities to realise Yolŋu goals of greater control and understanding of non-Indigenous services and systems that impact on Yolŋu lives.
Our Board and Indigenous team members, their families and communities, experience complex cross-cultural realities on a daily basis. Our Yolŋu staff clearly articulate and share the challenges of understanding the huge number of non-Indigenous services and programs operating in their communities. Our community development facilitators are made up of small teams of Yolŋu and Balanda staff, who have built strong relationships and communication practices over years of working together.
Our expertise is in creating effective means of sharing ideas and information with Yolŋu people – in Yolŋu languages, and in a way that makes sense from Yolŋu perspectives.
We make sure that learning is always two-way; we start with the Yolŋu story and Yolŋu knowledge first, then build a bridge into the dominant culture knowledge and systems.
Our community development methodology has been refined over many decades. For those familiar with community development practice, our approach draws heavily from Participatory Action Learning, Participatory Action Research, two-way Indigenous methodologies and writings from cross-cultural educators such as Friere.
We believe that good process is crucial - you cannot expect good results from a bad process.
We believe that in community development, we must prioritise quality over quantity.
We believe that Yolŋu control is fundamental, and we must always reflect on ways that projects might unintentionally take control out of the hands of Yolŋu people.
Our community projects include
Delivering comprehensive workshops with community members that answer the questions they have about a range of topics, including health, legal and economic concepts that under-pin the services they engage with
Designing community engagement and consultation strategies
Developing radio programs to be aired on Yolŋu Radio
Producing films and other multimedia resources to support the project’s aims
Ensuring messages can be communicated effectively in local languages and/or plain English
Long-term engagement with communities – we are not a fly-in fly-out organisation
Our expertise
A dedicated team of Indigenous and non-Indigenous expert cross-cultural facilitators and communication specialists
Decades of experience working with Indigenous communities and understanding the barriers they face when engaging with services and programs
In-depth understanding of Indigenous knowledge, culture and languages
Decades of experience working alongside mainstream service providers in health, legal, economic, employment, social and government sectors
Provision of ongoing professional development for Indigenous and non-Indigenous staff in best-practice approaches to communication in cross-cultural and multi-lingual contexts.
Past Projects
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Dharray Manymakkum Pawaw Ga Gapuw
ARDS was engaged by Power and Water as part of the National Low Income Energy Efficiency Project to train Yolŋu Energy Efficiency Workers to more effectively discuss power and water delivery and usage with their communities.
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Supporting Aboriginal Mental Health Workers
ARDS was asked by the NT Primary Health Network to conduct research into their Aboriginal Mental Health Worker (AMHW) program.
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Legal Literacy Radio Programs
ARDS has created a huge range of audio and radio programs exploring legal terms and topics to assist Indigenous people to better navigate the justice system.
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Family Violence Prevention Education
ARDS has developed a comprehensive resource pack – including a poster and series of radio plays – exploring the concept of ‘the cycle of violence’ from a Yolŋu perspective.
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Miwatj Employment and Participation Capacity Building Project
ARDS was engaged by Miwatj Employment and Participation (MEP) to facilitate a series of workshops for Remote Jobs in Communities Programme (RJCP) participants.
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Inclusive Community Development: Disability Issues
ARDS was contracted by Motivation Australia to undertake community research into Yolŋu understanding of impairment and disability.
We would like to thank all our sponsors and clients for their support
