2014 Pormpuraaw Youth Summit Report

2014 Pormpuraaw Youth Summit: Piintharrm Thananaah
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2014 Pormpuraaw Youth Summit
Youth Declaration and Strategy
Piintharrm Thananaah
Strong Spirited | Mixed Family
Coordinated by:
Pormpur Paanthu Aboriginal Corporation
Supported by:
Pormpuraaw Aboriginal Shire Council
Australian Government
Photography: Christine Howes

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Foreword
“You pick your weapons on the battle field and tell your story your way”, stated
CEO Liz Pearson in response to being asked by a teenager about what should they
do, or whose shoes they should follow in.
The Pormpuraaw Youth Summit philosophy was to create a safe space for
conversations and discussions about solutions confronting young people while
allowing them to get involved in socially inclusive activities from sports,
recreational activities, dance, art, music and information technology including
graphics and videography.
Pormpur Paanthu Aboriginal Corporation wanted the voices of youth across Cape
York and beyond to be heard; and to show case the strengths and talents and dare
people to dream for a future within their reach. It is up to young people to
champion change, pick up the flag on the battle field and with their resilience, their
aspirations and goals, their strengths and talents given them by their predecessors
and ancestors – including the oral histories and lifetimes of struggles and create the
Future.
The handing over of the Declaration and Youth Strategy by the youth to Prime
Minister and Cabinet representative Laverne Burke

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Table of Contents
1. Executive Summary: .............................................................................................................................5
2. Summit Objectives .................................................................................................................................6
3. Identified Key Themes.........................................................................................................................7
4. Key Recommendations........................................................................................................................8
4.1 Happy, healthy and strong communities.............................................................................................9
4.2 Strong, empowered and proud people..............................................................................................10
4.3 Skills, training and jobs.............................................................................................................................11
4.4 Participation, role models and leadership.......................................................................................12
4.5 Healing, connected and positive lifestyles.......................................................................................13
4.6 Services, support and activities ............................................................................................................14
5. Young Peoples today.......................................................................................................................... 15
6. Our vision for the future:................................................................................................................. 16
7. Workshop Method:............................................................................................................................. 17
7.1 Workshop One: The current experience in communities ........................................................17
7.2 Workshop Two: The future they hope to see in their communities ...................................17
7.3 Workshop Three: The pathway to achieve the vision of their communities..................18

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“Over the past few days of the youth summit we have gathered information about
issues that occur day to day in communities from Weipa down to Yarrabah. We
invited youth from different communities to come together and have a say on how
they think ongoing issues could be resolved. To gather this information we formed
little yarn groups so that people would feel more comfortable with others. Then after
each session we collected what was brought to the table in each group and combined
all of the raised topics into our youth strategy plan. After viewing and discussing we
saw that even though we come from different places we have similar matters at hand
in our own town. We hope that the material you find in this blue print will give you an
insight into what we the youth go through in our communities and will contribute
into helping and forming a better future for generations to come.“
Gwen & Rita
Youth Representatives
Pormpur Paanthu Aboriginal Corporation

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1. Executive Summary:
The 2014 Pormpuraaw Youth Summit took place on 22 – 26 September 2014 in the
community of Pormpuraaw. The Summit brought together more than 150 people
from nine communities (including over seventy; 12 – 26years) to develop a youth
strategy for their communities. The communities represented were:
 Pormpuraaw
 Rockhampton
 Hopevale
 Mackay
 Wujal Wujal
 Yarrabah
 Kowanyama
 Napranum
 Weipa
 Aurukun
Facilitated by the National Indigenous Youth Leadership Academy (NIYLA), the
young participants provided insights into their communities and their ongoing
development through three key focuses:
 The current experience within communities
 The future they hope to see in their communities
 The pathway to achieve the vision of their communities.
The key focuses provided a framework for workshops to inform the Youth
Declaration and Strategy.
Benson Saulo and Nayuka Gorrie: National Indigenous Youth Leadership Academy

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2. Summit Objectives
a) Gain a deeper understanding of the current issues impacting young people
in their communities
b) Create a vision that their communities can aspire to in the future
c) Develop steps and identify actions to achieve the future aspiration of their
communities.
d) Empower young people to take ownership of the solutions
e) Ensure that young peoples voices and input was at the core of the Youth
Declaration and Strategy
f) Build connection between community groups and young people
g) Inspire participants to think about their future and the positive role they can
play in their community.
Through a series of facilitated workshops six key thematic areas were identified for
the focus of the Youth Declaration and Strategy.

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3. Identified Key Themes
1. Happy, healthy and strong communities
2. Strong, empowered and proud people
3. Skills, training and jobs
4. Participation, role models and leadership
5. Healing, connected and positive lifestyles
6. Services, support and activities
The Youth Declaration and Strategy will share the information collected during
workshops and make recommendations of next steps and actions to be initiated by
communities, individuals and Government departments/agencies.
Information provided has been developed in consultation with young people at the
Pormpuraaw Youth Summit. Preparation for the Youth Declaration and Strategy
has been an initiative of the National Indigenous Youth Leadership Academy in
collaboration with the Pormpur Paanthu Aboriginal Corporation.

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4. Key Recommendations
Below are key recommendations relating to each of the themes. The following
observations and considerations should be noted:
 The below recommendations relate to various parties; community,
government and service providers. Through the process of developing these
recommendations the most relevant parties to action these
recommendations was not identified. It is encouraged that youth
representatives from Pormpur Paanthu Aboriginal Corporation and other
participating youth groups identify key stakeholders to action their
recommendations.
 The push for community controlled initiatives and programs were
something that continually came up in conversations of empowerment,
pride and skill development. It was widely acknowledged that capacity
building is key to transitioning communities to self-sufficiency models and
governance structures in the future.
 It is important to acknowledge and understand the context of communities
and the issues that are faced across various communities. It was however
heartwarming to hear young peoples' enthusiasm to the role they can play
and impact they can have in communities given the support structures.
Reframing issues and removing deficit language enables a fresh approach to
ongoing and generational issues like joblessness, housing and alcohol.

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4.1 Happy, healthy and strong communities
 We are happy, healthy and strong because:
- We are engaging and participating in youth programs.
- We’ve broken the cycle of being silent.
- Were setting goals and being persistent.
- We are culturally and spiritually strong and have a solid foundation
as community.
- We are future leaders.
Recommendations
i. Monthly BBQs are held to bring people together from youth, elders,
service providers and guests.
ii. Community groups involving youth are established to focus on various
issues within this report.
iii. Initiatives are established to support health promotion, suggest activities
are:
a. Community Garden
b. Fitness groups
c. Yoga classes
d. Men’s & Women’s Yarning circles
e. Local markets
iv. Establish place-based solutions for addressing issues by building local
capacity in health promotion, governance skills and trade skills.

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4.2 Strong, empowered and proud people
 Our people are Strong, empowered and proud because:
- We speak our minds
- Our culture is still strong
- We are determined
- We share our knowledge and understanding with each other
Recommendations
i. Appoint a local council champion to ensure voices of community and
young people are heard at council meetings and committees.
ii. Community to develop a common vision for their community and develop
a unified voice on issues impacting them.
iii. Empower and provide the opportunity for elders to be recipients and
teachers of culturally lessons and knowledge to younger generations.
iv. Engaged and inspire young people to connect with elders and to be
receptive to teachings, knowledge and cultural lessons and to share
knowledge and insights.
v. Build pride in identity through cultural affirming activities, suggested:
a. Language
b. Land management
c. Arts

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4.3 Skills, training and jobs
 We are skilled, trained and have access to employment because we:
- Are committed to the future of our community and our youth
- Are the solutions to our future
- We feel empowered through training
- We are supported
Recommendations
i. Support field trips to various communities to identify jobs and roles that
are effective in other communities.
ii. Develop online, social media and technology skills in young people to
support web-based job opportunities and online safety
iii. Hold an annual jobs expo for surrounding communities to attend to
connect to employers, RTOs and employment opportunities.
iv. Identify skills and workplace competencies that exist in communities are
transferrable and can be certified through accredited training schemes
v. Promote and support certified training programs that lead to jobs, not
training for the sake of training.
vi. Promote accredited job readiness programs that include specific
competency building activities such as;
a. Addressing a selection criteria
b. Interview techniques
c. Knowing your skills
d. How to seek feedback
e. Building confidence in the workplace

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4.4 Participation, role models and leadership
 People are stepping up, to become role models and strong leaders because:
- Family and community support each other
- Youths have a vision
- We are more skilled up
- Network established through youth events
- We are more confidence
- We believe in ourselves
- More kids graduating from school
- Kids coming home
Recommendations
i. Support an annual Pormpuraaw and surround communities Youth
Summit, with a focus on:
a. Connecting
b. Empowering
c. Leadership
d. Healthy lifestyles
ii. Establish youth groups that are run by youth leaders for young people,
include skills and competency development activities and youth-led
community initiatives.
iii. Support monthly all-ages discos to encourage peer-to-peer support,
participation and engagement
iv. Facilitate bi-annual youth forums to reconnect young people to a common
issue to address each year
v. Provide community leadership training, including:
a. Financial literacy
b. Governance training
c. Project Management
d. Formal writing skills

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4.5 Healing, connected and positive lifestyles
 We are living connected, positive and healthy lifestyles because of:
- Good personal lifestyle changes
- Trust, transparency and communications
- Eating and drinking healthy
- Being more active and energetic
- Better and limited alcohol
Recommendations
i. Empower and support elders from surrounding communities to connect
and lead cultural activities to share and inspire young people, activities
like:
a. Hunting
b. Gathering
c. Art
d. Survival skills
e. Land management
f. Story telling
ii. Provide the opportunity for young people to consult, interview and
question elders in a safe and respectful environment to gain deeper
understandings of various areas of life in community.
iii. Establish a healing center, staffed by trained practitioners that are
training and up-skilling younger community members to provide
services.
iv. Build a sense of pride and connection in communities by establishing a
‘family-hood’ approach to community.

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4.6 Services, support and activities
 Young people are accessing services and support more often because:
- They want to make something out of their lives
- They have hope for the future
- They want to be a leader for their community
- They can make their family and community proud
- They can gain knowledge and confidence
Recommendations
i. Establish an Internet hub or library in communities to ensure
communities are connected to each other and beyond.
ii. Facilitate Mums & Dads parenting programs to provide skills and support
for new parents, ensure local community members are involved and
training to offer ongoing facilitation of services
iii. Involve community members in all service providers, in a volunteering,
trainee or employee capacity to ensure skills remain in communities and
local empowerment is supported
iv. Identify the shortfall of resources in community schools and support the
collection of adequate resources to meet students and teachers needs
v. Establish safe places in communities for playgrounds, sporting fields and
areas for activity
vi. Support subsidising of freight costs to and from communities, fuel and
groceries to ensure a lower barrier of participation and access to goods
and services.

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5. Young Peoples today
For young people who attended the Pormpuraaw Youth Summit there are many
things they love about their communities. The support, bond and ties with friends
and family are a big part of what makes their communities great. A sense of
community is also important with participants saying, “I’m proud of the sense of
community. That as a WHOLE, we all do our best to help shape our home for future
generations. I’m proud, that we still fight for what’s best, as our elders have years
ago,” that they liked “being a part of something” and “helping each other out.”
However sometimes family and community can be one of many contributing
negative factors with some people saying, “Stress from family” and “the negativity
of others” were things that frustrated them about their communities.
Ties to culture, cultural education and cultural upbringing were another significant
positive factor in communities. Closely related, land and environment and activities
done on land and environment were reported as sources of pride of their
communities. These activities include fishing, swimming, camping and hunting.
Sport was also cited an important part of community life. Despite this, participants
reported boredom as something that is frustrating about their communities. One
participant stated, “There’s hardly anything for the youths to do which results in
them ending in a party (sic), breaking in etc.”
In addition to boredom, young people not being engaged was a source of
frustration with several participants stating that it frustrated them that “young
people throwing their lives away.” For some people who are engaged, sometimes
they don’t feel heard.
Community services such as Home and Community Care, day care, Pormpur
Paanthu, health clinics, Outside school and Vacation Care were reported by
participants as services working well in communities. However pursuing
employment and education opportunities are major contributors for leaving
communities. In addition participants cited nepotism as an issue in community
organisations.

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6. Our vision for the future:
Individually we are healthy, wise, and confident, empowered and are role models
to those around us. We are running our own businesses, studying, educated and are
professionals.
Communities are unified and self-determined with strong leadership, locally owned
business employing local community members and greater community control.
There is also more political representation on a local, state and national level.
Communities are safe, no longer affected by drugs and alcohol. Communities have
built capacity, celebrate and highlight identity.
People are healthy, and have greater access to education and are completing high
school, TAFE and university at higher rates. People are also able to access
employment opportunities. People are increasingly professional and have greater
access to modern technology.
Communities have adequate housing and infrastructure and have access to home
ownership. The natural environment is still untouched and owned by the
community. People are culturally grounded.
Team Building exercise with cooking: Everyone had a role and it was important to
the final outcome!

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7. Workshop Method:
The workshops aimed to be fun, engaging and informative to the Youth Declaration
and Strategy. To provide different perspectives, issues and solutions were
approached by various ways to prompt diverse answers and ideas. Workshops
were between 45mins to 1hr in duration, conducted outside and leadership was
shared between facilitators and peer-to-peer leadership.
7.1 Workshop One: The current experience in communities
In mixed groups, participants were given six questions, these questions were:
1. What makes you proud of your community?
2. What works well in your community?
3. What makes you want to stay in your community?
4. What makes you want to leave your community?
5. What frustrates you about your community?
6. Do you feel like your voice matters in your community? Why is that?
As an individual or as a group, the responses were written on cards and placed on a
spectrum that represented ‘Good/Positive’ and ‘Bad/Negative’ on respective ends
of the spectrum.
The responses where recorded in their respective place on the spectrum to
understand what the participants feel is positive in their communities and what
aspects of their community are negatively impacting them and others.
7.2 Workshop Two: The future they hope to see in their communities
As a visioning workshop, participants were asked to step ten years into future to
the year 2024. Facilitators were asked to role play as a journalist conducting an
interview at the 10 year anniversary of the first Pormpuraaw Youth Summit. In
small mixed groups, journalists lead the discussion through the following
questions:
1. What makes you proud about your community?
2. What works well in your community
3. What makes young people want to stay in your community?
4. What makes you hopeful about young people today?
5. What challenges did you face in the last ten years? How did you overcome
them?
6. What is the biggest change you have seen in your community?
7. What is the biggest change you have seen in yourself?
The journalists were taking notes, clarifying points and maintaining the futuristic
aspect of the inquiry to provide a perspective of solutions and overcoming issues
being faced currently.

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7.3 Workshop Three: The pathway to achieve the vision of their communities
To connect the present experience of young people to the vision they created, this
workshop focused on steps that communities and individuals could take to achieve
the vision they wish to see in their communities.
To achieve this, in small groups they engaged 5 different stages/activities to
explore actions and recommendations, these stages were:
1. What could I do tomorrow
a. Bonus: You’ve been given $5,000.00 for your community! How would
you spend it?
2. What actions can my community take together?
a. Bonus: Well done! People from across the country have heard about
the good work your community has been doing! If you could call on
any support outside of your community, what do you want and why?
3. It’s election time! You’ve been given time sit down and chat with the next
prime minister of Australia. What do you talk about?
a. Facilitator role played the Prime Minister and received the questions
from groups.
4. Complete the questions:
a. What are 3 things your community could do to beat boredom?
b. How can your community make sure young voices are being heard by
adults and elders?
c. How can your community engage young people who are disengaged?
5. Complete these sentences:
a. We are living connected, positive and healed lifestyles because…
b. We are strong, empowered and proud people because…
c. We are skilled, trained and have access to employment because…
d. We are happy, healthy and strong because…
e. People are stepping up to become role models and strong leaders
because…
f. Young people are accessing services and support more often
because…
Outputs and Outcomes
Photographs, videos, and Strategy can be located on the Pormpur Paanthu Website:
www.purpurpaanthu.com.au

2014 Pormpuraaw Youth Summit Report

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