'building communities' capacity through empowerment, healing and leadership.'
NATIONAL EMPOWERMENT PROJECT
Building communities' capacity through empowerment and strengthening
cultural, social and emotional wellbeing.
ABOUT NORTHAM / TOODYAY
Northam is a town in WA situated at the confluence of the Avalon and Mortlok Rivers, about 97 kilometers north east of Perth. This area is home to almost 100 culturally significant sites for Noongar people, including Burlong Pool, the Avon and Mortlock.
Though Northam was the nominated NEP site, consultations also took place with Aboriginal people in Toodyay, a small town approximately 28 kms from Northam. Toodyay also has an Aboriginal and colonial historical background, where various Aboriginal family groups have family bloodline links to Northam and the Wheatbelt region.
Many of the Aboriginal families living in Northam and Toodyay are ‘Sister Kate’s Homees’ and their descendants (Aboriginal peoples with connections to the Sister Kate’s Home where a high number of children were taken from their parents and families and placed there under the Native Welfare Act, are now part of the Stolen Generations in Western Australia) were housed). The Aboriginal Corporation provides cultural healing and advocacy relief service information to Homee families in WA and nationally. Sister Kate's Home Kids Aboriginal Corporation (SKHKAC) has also developed their programs around the ‘Give Back’ principle and now deliver their cultural healing and community engagement programs to other Stolen Generations groups and the wider Aboriginal community.
KEY FACTS ABOUT NORTHAM
Local Language Groups: Balardung
Population: The total population of Northam is 6,580 of which approximately 467 (7.1%) identify as Indigenous people. Most Indigenous people in Northam identify as Noongar.