Elders-led community development in Walgett
Yuwaya Ngarra-li partnership with the Dharriwaa Elders Group
What
The Yuwaya Ngarra-li (YN) partnership is a long-term, community-led partnership between UNSW Sydney and the Dharriwaa Elders Group (DEG), an Aboriginal community-controlled organisation in north-west NSW. The DEG invited UNSW to work with them longer term on their vision for change following collaboration on a research study from 2011–2015.
Over the past ten years, YN has grown into a multidisciplinary, whole of university partnership involving academic and professional staff and students working on issues of priority to the Walgett community, guided by cultural protocols. Collaborative projects aim to improve wellbeing and reduce Aboriginal children and young people’s contact with the criminal justice system, address fine debt, improve food and water security and care for Country, and build Aboriginal community capabilities and control.
Who
- UNSW Yuwaya Ngarra-li team in the Office of Societal Transformation & Equity, Division of Societal Impact, Equity & Engagement:
- A/Prof. Ruth McCausland, Director
- Peta MacGillivray, Senior Research Fellow, Law & Justice (p/t)
- Andrea Hadaway, Program Manager – Justice
- Dr Rebecca Reeve, Senior Research Fellow, Quantitative (p/t)
- Samantha Rich, Project Manager, Housing (p/t)
- Alicia Dunning, Project Manager, Food and Water Security (p/t)
- Yssy Burton-Clark, Project Officer
- Team at DEG in Walgett
In Walgett, the DEG facilitates collaboration with key local organisations including the Walgett Aboriginal Medical Service and Walgett Shire Council, and collaborators at UNSW include the Global Water Institute, The George Institute for Global Health, and others from the faculties of Engineering, Arts, Design & Architecture, Science, Law & Justice, and Medicine & Health.
How
In 2016, UNSW provided seed funding to support the development of the partnership following the invitation from the DEG. YN then secured philanthropic funding from 2018 from the Paul Ramsay Foundation (PRF) to fund teams in Walgett and at UNSW , and PRF have continued to support the partnership since then. From 2026, UNSW will fund the university-based YN team and PRF will directly fund DEG. Other research and government grants have also contributed to YN’s work including an NHMRC Ideas grant from 2021–2026 focused on community-led food and water security solutions.
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