Empowered Communities

In June 2013, Indigenous leaders from eight regions around Australia met together on the Central Coast of New South Wales with common goals and challenges that they were facing to enable the empowerment of Indigenous people in Australia.

Empowered Communities (EC) was officially launched in August 2013 which proposed a reform agenda to have more effective engagement and consultation with governments, and facilitating place-based development.

The recommendations in the 2015 Empowered Communities Design Report set out the plan for a long-term Indigenous Empowerment policy framework built on a partnership between Indigenous people, governments and corporate partners.

The framework seeks to ensure that Indigenous people in Empowered Communities regions can benefit from their right to economic, social and cultural development and that, in pursuit of that goal, resources and opportunities are most productively used.

EC has established backbone organisations in ten regions across Australia:

• Cape York, Queensland

• Central Coast, New South Wales

• East Kimberley, Western Australia

• Goulburn-Murray, Victoria

• Inner Sydney, New South Wales

• Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjara Yankunytjatjara (NPY) Lands, Central Australia

• North East Arnhem Land (NEAL), Northern Territory

• West Kimberley, Western Australia

• Ngarrindjeri Ruwe , SA

• Far West Coast, SA

In collaboration with Indigenous leaders and organisations, and with the support of Commonwealth and State governments, and corporate Australia through Jawun, the EC model has advanced.

You can read more about the EC national organisation and its journey on their website here.