ANZSOG’s Indigenous Strength and Leadership video competition winners announced 

Two video initiatives promoting Indigenous leadership in public administration have been recognised as part of a new ANZSOG initiative.

Dawul Wuru Aboriginal Corporation in northern Queensland and New Zealand’s Ngāpuhi Iwi Social Services were recognised for their innovative work in designing programs for Indigenous communities through ANZSOG’s inaugural Showcasing Indigenous Strength and Leadership in Public Administration competition.

The winners were announced on 20 February, at ANZSOG’s Reimagining Public Administration: First Peoples, governance and new paradigms at Melbourne’s Federation Square.

The competition, which aims to highlight and reward programs that demonstrate Indigenous strength in leadership in public administration, was launched last year with a call for video entries from across Australia and New Zealand to showcase stories of Indigenous success.

ANZSOG Deputy Dean Associate Professor Catherine Althaus said ANZSOG had been “overwhelmed” with the response to the competition, h0igh-quality entries from across Australia and New Zealand.

“Too often the public debate about Indigenous affairs focuses on deficits, on failures and has a sense that things are not improving,” she said. “It is important that we recognise the strength and resilience of Indigenous peoples and the value of their knowledge and culture. ANZSOG wants to provide spaces for Indigenous peoples to tell their own stories of success.”

The winners received $5,000 each to donate to the community organisation of their choice, thanks to the support of the Chartered Accountants Australia and New Zealand (CAANZ).

Yirrganydji Tourism: Dawul Wuru Aboriginal Corporation

Adam Goodes with the Dawul Wuru Aboriginal Corporation 

Dawul Wuru Aboriginal Corporation’s Yirrganydji Tourism video outlines the local Indigenous community’s role in preserving the Great Barrier Reef and the success in using tourism to create jobs.

The judges said it “clearly demonstrates how important Indigenous knowledge is to the preservation of some of the most important places in Australia”.

Mahuru: Ngāpuhi Iwi Social Services

Ngāpuhi Iwi Social Services with Adam Goodes 

Ngāpuhi Iwi Social Services’ Mahuru video shows how a community in the Northland region of New Zealand worked together to design a service that uses traditional culture to help young offenders.

The program provides specialist one-to-one care, aimed at giving them the chance to belong to a ‘whanau’ or extended Māori family.

It provides an alternative option for the legal system to consider for young people who are waiting to be sentenced. The judges said it was an amazing project which ‘clearly demonstrates the power of positive approaches to changing the life course of young people. A collaboration that is paying off for all’.

Indigenous Wise Practice stream

All entries to the competition will form a component of another new ANZSOG initiative designed to feature content produced directly by and with Indigenous peoples. The Indigenous Wise Practice stream, which will become a part of ANZSOG’s Case Library, will showcase strengths-based Indigenous initiatives and leadership, and provide a resource for practitioners and scholars for use in public administration teaching and practice.