from YAPRap February 2005
by Al Bingham, YAPRap Feature Writer
The Attorney General's Department in NSW has many Advisory Groups set up to offer input on a range of issues. Community Justice groups across the state offer advice on how best to achieve justice for Indigenous people in NSW. Aboriginal Community Liaison Officers working for Mt Druitt Police tried to establish such a group for Indigenous adults in their local area. Unfortunately, the group wasn't able to go ahead so Hebersham Aboriginal Youth Service (HAYS) stepped in and suggested that the group be run by Indigenous young people, instead.
The Mt Druitt Aboriginal Community Youth Justice Group has now been operating for over eighteen months. It meets every Tuesday at HAYS for any Aboriginal young people between the ages of 12 and 25, and their friends. The majority of people in the group are from the Mt Druitt area, but there are also people from Doonside, Quakers Hill and Penrith.
The group is a legislative body under the Attorney General's Advisory Council, so it has a lot of influence. It is also the only Indigenous Community Justice group in NSW that is run by and for young people.
At the end of 2003 the group worked to identify issues for young Indigenous people in Mt Druitt and surrounding areas. Issues common to most groups of young people emerged, including employment, education, alcohol and other drugs, and housing. Along with these issues were some that exclusively affect Aboriginal young people, such as inherited grief and grief at the moment, loss of cultural identity through language and practice, and a high crime rate due to unlicensed driving, uninsured vehicles and unregistered vehicles.
A number of different programs have been set up by the Mt Druitt Aboriginal Community Youth Justice Group, in conjunction with workers at HAYS.
Learn Your Ls
This program was set up to try to combat the large number of young Indigenous people who were being charged for driving without a license. It is run as a TAFE-accredited outreach course, by local TAFE teachers. Oral and visual techniques, such as listening to a computer, are used to teach participants knowledge needed to pass the test for their Learner Driving License. This works well since the test itself is computerised.
The program has proven so popular that it has been opened up to other community groups, including South Pacific Islanders, and people with an intellectual impairment. There are currently 120 people enrolled in the course, with half of these being young aboriginal people. 25 young indigenous people now have their L plates, as a result. Nobody fails the course, they just keep trying until they get their Learner License.
The program is conducted at the Holy Family Centre, with both day and night classes on offer.
Music
Young Indigenous people have joined the music program run by HAYS to socialise and learn new skills. They have also been given an outlet to express themselves on a range of levels as they write and perform songs about what affects their lives.
A hip hop group called Murdi Rampage has formed from the music program being run at HAYS. Murdi is the language group of a Queensland tribe, from the Coopers Creek area, on the border of Queensland, the Northern Territory, NSW and South Australia. Members of Murdi Rampage are from this tribe.
The three young men who formed this hip hop group have performed at the Enmore Theatre and the Yabun Concert. They have also been the support act for the Newcastle hip hop group Local Knowledge .
Along with these achievements they have recorded two songs on CD, and written a couple of others. Their goal is to write seven songs and take up a deal through Music Oz to record them as an album, in Wollongong.
One of Murdi Rampage's songs is called "Wangkumara Brothers". It is about moving from their homeland, being in the Druitt, running with the crew, and about how it feels to be young, black and deadly. Another of their songs called "Me and the Brothers" describes the relationship, or non-relationship, which some young Indigenous men have developed with local police.
Through expressing issues about police, young people involved with the Mt Druitt Aboriginal Community Youth Justice Group have attracted the interest of the NSW Ombudsman to meet with them for an audit on local area command. They have also become part of activities such as Reconnect, which allows young Indigenous people to connect with the police in positive ways.
One of the young men from the Mt Druitt Aboriginal Community Youth Justice Group participated in Reconnect, taking part in activities such as jail visits, white water rafting, excursion to Port Stephens and other different activities. He has been invited to continue in the program as a mentor to other young Aboriginal and South Pacific Islander men, working alongside Police Citizens and Youth Club (PCYC) workers, Aboriginal Youth Liaison Officers and Youth Liaison Officers.
Language and Kinship Program
In order to address loss of language and cultural practice the Language and Kinship Program was set up. This encourages young Indigenous people to ask questions of their grandparents, aunts and uncles about land, learn key Aboriginal phrases and words and undertake traditional customs they may have forgotten.
Dance
Another important part of Aboriginal cultural practice is the use of dance. To this end a Traditional Dance Group has been started at HAYS. The group will be moving into contemporary areas of dance this year, following in the footsteps of the successful Bangarra Dance Theatre. One of these areas will involve getting a team together to compete in cheerleading, with coaching by a 21 year old woman whose step-father is Aboriginal.
2005
In the year ahead the Mt Druitt Aboriginal Community Youth Justice Group is looking at running some camps. It is also in negotiation with TAFE to run a literacy and numeracy outreach program, with a focus such as photography or art.
The group has received a grant from the Attorney General's Department to do training that will further develop the Youth Justice Group. It plans to look at Youth Circle Sentencing and how Aboriginal Justice Community Groups can operate as an alternative to court.
Stage two of Learn Your Ls will get underway with a Crime Prevention grant. As part of this young people will do up an old car using "Urban Mechanics", a variation on the "Bush Mechanics" that have been employed by many Indigenous people living in rural areas. Participants will also gain First Aid Certificates, and have people talk with them about the dangers of overloading cars, drink driving, speeding, and the importance of wearing seat belts.
The group will continue to link with local Indigenous elders and the Aboriginal Legal Service by involving them in its programs. The Haze Newsletter will continue to be produced on a monthly basis to keep all Aboriginal organisations, youth and community services and the local community up to date with group activities.
One final project for this year will be trying to get a minibus to make group activities easier to run. As Lily Shearer, one of the HAYS workers explained, running Indigenous events means that you don't just need to transport young people. You also need to transport members of the wider Indigenous community. There is a strong sense of kinship among Aboriginal people, which means activities aren't usually run as exclusively for one age group.
After I finished my interview with the Mt Druitt Aboriginal Community Youth Justice Group, this last point was hit home to me. I asked one of the young women if she wanted me to take a photo of her and her friend. She told me quickly that was her cousin, not her friend. Then a worker called all the young people together so that 'Sister She' could take their photo. With pleasure I realised that 'Sister She' was referring to me.
Snapshot
Who
Aboriginal people aged 12 to 25 and their friends
When
Tuesdays from 5.30 to 9.30 pm
Where
Hebersham Aboriginal Youth Service (HAYS)
26 Pringle Road HEBERSHAM
More information
Lily Shearer, Winsome Matthews
02 9832 9330
