Youth Minister Peter Tinley visited one of the most remote areas of Western Australia this week to present a $2.46 million Lotterywest grant to the Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (NPY) Women’s Council for two community projects.
The grant will fund a pilot project for community-determined delivery of youth services in the two communities of Blackstone and Jameson – located near the borders of WA, South Australia and the Northern Territory.
About $35,000 of the grant will also be used to establish and develop a community history project collating the stories of Ngaanyatjarra women.
The three-year pilot in Blackstone and Jameson will provide an integrated approach to youth services reflective of the unique needs in the communities and will empower the community to run its own programs, including employment and training of local young Anangu people.
The community history project will interview women from the Ngaanyatjarra region, many of whom can speak several languages of the NPY regions and are the last of a generation that experienced first contact with Europeans.
The knowledge and information collected will be developed into a history book to mark the NPY Women’s Council’s first 40 years of service throughout the NPY Lands.
The NPY Women’s Council was registered in 1994 under the Aboriginal Corporations Act. Its objectives are to relieve poverty, sickness, suffering, misfortune and disadvantage among the people of the Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara communities.
More than 6,000 people live in NPY lands which cover about 350,000 square kilometres across WA, South Australia and the Northern Territory.
As stated by Youth Minister Peter Tinley:
“The NPY Women’s Council does amazing work and is recognised for its efforts in addressing the issues of substance abuse, domestic and family violence, child protection, community safety and the needs of young people.
“This grant will help the Council continue its important work in building and supporting strong communities that are healthy and inclusive.
“Through Lotterywest, the State Government is extremely proud to support community projects like this that help to build a better WA for everyone.”
