No more waiting on black projects
Aboriginal communities will no longer have to wait months for the Howard Government to fund projects after it gave bureaucrats new powers to spend up to $100,000 to fix community problems. Federal Indigenous Affairs Minister Mal Brough has overhauled his department, establishing a "strategic intervention taskforce" aimed at the troubled communities.
The Australian, 8th September 2006

AMA calls for royal commission over NT deaths
In the Northern Territory the Australian Medical Association is demanding a royal commission into claims that institutionalised racism in the Health Department has caused the deaths of Indigenous patients. The department has launched an inquiry into the death of a 78-year old man in the Top End, whose body was found near a remote airstrip last month. He'd been left there eight days earlier, but a departmental failure meant that no one at the community knew he was waiting to be picked up. ABC Radio, PM, 7th September 2006

Aboriginal people urged to take on mainstream economic role
Aboriginal people had no choice but to join the mainstream economy, business and community leaders told an indigenous economic summit in Melbourne . "What we need to do is to start to find the ways in which we can participate in the mainstream economy, not just as consumers, but as . profit-makers," Ron Morony, general manager of Indigenous Business Australia, said. The Age, 31st August 2006

Australian teenager tipped as first Aboriginal supermodel
A teenage schoolgirl from Australia 's Gold Coast is tipped to become the fashion world's first Aboriginal supermodel. Samantha Harris, a smouldering beauty of just 16, has already modelled for most top Australian designers and recently went to New York for a fashion shoot with renowned photographer Patrick Demarchelier for US magazine Glamour. National Indigenous Times, 24th August 2006

A credit to his people, inspiration to all
Atop Adam Goodes's tall, tuned frame sits a colourful tea-cosy-style hat. He wears a loose T-shirt, jeans and sneakers, like a typical 26-year-old. He speaks quietly and politely. His face displays little emotion, but he looks directly into your eyes when he speaks, compelling attention. At once concentrated and almost frighteningly focused, he is relaxed, confident and poised. It is a contradiction that seems an exclusive trait of great sportspeople. He is discussing his work as a board member on the National Indigenous Council. "We're an advisory body to the federal government on indigenous issues, which is a really important tool for Aboriginal people," he says. SMH, 3rd September 2006

Jackie Huggins: Proud heritage
"The teaching of our shared story is the key to reconciliation because it allows us to understand each other and to build healthy, respectful relationships. It discourages the denigration of indigenous culture that allows people to stereotype us as violent, unintelligent or indolent, the kind of defamatory misinformation that so damages our young people." Jackie Higgins
The Australian, 29 th August 2006

NATSIEC (link to http://www.ncca.org.au/natsiec) - the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ecumenical Commission - is the peak ecumenical Indigenous body in Australia and is part of the National Council of Churches in Australia (NCCA). The MAKE INDIGENOUS POVERTY section of the site includes an education kit, prayer sheets, PowerPoint resources, speeches and more. You can also download an order form for CD-ROM. This CD, which includes facts and figures, educational worksheets and video input from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders, outlines how we can help to Make Indigenous Poverty History.

www.ncca.org.au/natsiec/indigenous_poverty/resources

Us Mob
UsMob is an interactive web project aimed at improving relationships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous young people. Us Mob explores the lives of four Aboriginal teenagers who live in Central Australia at Hidden Valley , one of the Town Camps on the outskirts of Alice Springs . Join Jacquita, Charlie, Della and Harry as they head off on journeys full of fun, excitement and crisis in seven short films available through this site. The films are interactive with you choosing the story endings. You can also play games, see video and text diaries, participate in forums and upload your own stories. To participate in Us Mob , you'll need broadband access, audio, javascript, cookies and Flash 7.

"Unjust economic policies are especially damaging to indigenous peoples, young nations and their traditional cultures; and it is the Church's task to help indigenous cultures preserve their identity and maintain their traditions. A special case is that of the Australian Aborigines whose culture struggles to survive. For many thousands of years they have sought to live in harmony with the often harsh environment of their "big country"; but now their identity and culture are gravely threatened." From Ecclesia in Oceania by Pope John Paul II, 2001

"Look up, my people,
The dawn is breaking,
The world is waking,
To a new bright day,
When none defame us,
Nor colour shame us,
Nor sneer dismay."

From Song of Hope by Oodgeroo Noonuccal

PLEASE NOTE: LINKS TO EXTERNAL WEBSITES ARE NOT NECESSARILY ENDORSED BY CARITAS AUSTRALIA.