Copy

Ganyu Newsletter Edition May/June 2021

Our mission is to operate successful and responsible businesses emphasizing local employment, training, career pathways, customer service, and safety.

We strive to improve the health, quality of life, and economic development of our members, giving primacy to their cultural heritage, dignity, and desire for opportunity and equality with their fellow Australians.
 

Bukmak Constructions Wins Milestone Contract

 
Bukmak Constructions was recently awarded a major contract by the Northern Territory Government to build 87 new houses on Galiwin’ku community in North East Arnhem Land over the next 5 years. This welcome news was announced as part of the Northern Territory Government’s
$1.1-billion-dollar Home Build Program and The National Partnership Agreement of Remote Indigenous Housing (2018-2023).
 
The contract will allow Bukmak Constructions to build:
 
16 x 2 Bedroom Houses
48 x 3 Bedroom Houses
19 x 4 Bedroom Houses
4 x 5 Bedroom Houses
 
Additional funding will allow Bukmak Constructions to also enact the Northern Territory Government’s Room to Breathe Project. Allowing 60 expansions on current living spaces of houses in the community.

As a wholly-owned Aboriginal Company, Bukmak Constructions is excited to have been awarded this major contract and its Chairman Micky Wunungmurra says that this contract demonstrates that the Northern Territory Government is showing trust in Aboriginal-owned businesses and are listening to Aboriginal people’s wants and needs in remote communities. This is not just about new houses but jobs, skills, and training.
 
“We are pleased that the Government has awarded this contract as it now allows us to increase employment in our communities for Yolngu people. This will see Galiwin’ku have local employment for 5 years. This will house dozens of families, reducing overcrowding and this contract will create a legacy for our people to have houses built by us for us.”
 

Fruit and Vegetable Training Goes Digitial
 

ALPA Retail, Nutrition, Training, and our Media teams has joined forces to develop an online training resource that will equip new store team members with the skills and knowledge to provide our customers with high-quality fresh fruit and veg.

We are so excited to transition the training from its current paper-based manual to our online training platform. The new training incorporates more than 20 new videos that have interactive activities to enhance engagement and learning.

We have covered everything from ordering new stock, completing quality checks, safe cutting techniques, wrapping fruit and veg to storing fresh produce.
Our fruit and vegetable suppliers, Simon George and Sons, also make a guest appearance to explain the work they do behind the scenes to find the best produce.
 
Ramingining Retail member Justin Gaykamangu presented in many of the new videos to be released online soon.
 
As you can imagine, providing high-quality fruit and vegetables to some of the remotest locations in Australia comes with its challenges. The produce travels long distances on bumpy roads and seas, and most stores only receive one delivery a week.

We are so proud of the efforts of our store teams to overcome these barriers to support the health of our customers.

Media member Charmaine Ingram filming at Simon George and Sons

Yurrwi Raypirri Camp Lift Off!

 
The ALPA Community Engagement Team recently supported community leaders in organising cultural healing camps this month with senior mala (family and clan group) leaders. The leaders asked the Yurrwi Community Engagement Officer, Kath Boyne to organise a meeting for both Dhuwa & Yirritja Leaders to come together and brainstorm challenges and solutions for their community.

Dhuwa & Yirritja leaders came together under the trees of Yurrwi to discuss the challenges of substance abuse and break-ins in the community. The group brainstormed and developed a Rapirri (disciplining law) camp as a solution to address the challenge of substance abuse in Yurrwi.

The Rapirri Camp was held at Rrapuma Island with community leader Elizabeth Ganygulpa leading the committee.

" It was the first time a Raypirri Camp was organised and delivered to all of Yurrwi for any djamarrkuli Dhuwa or Yirritja, from any camp, any clan who needed help with substance abuse”.

" We called the camp 'Dhangiyun Walnga' which means 'embracing life."

A group of 6 djamarrkuli (Children), parents, and senior Mala Leaders left for the 10-day trip.



This was a huge achievement for the Yurrwi community as it was the first time a Raypirri Camp was developed and implemented for all Clans and Camps to participate in.
Congratulations to the Senior Mala Leaders, who were the key driver to make this Raypirri Camp happen.

Due to the success of this camp, the community leaders are now hoping to hold similar camps more regularly.

Higher Education Tutor based in Ramingining


We would like to introduce one of our newest team members, Heidi Willans, who has recently joined the Training Department in the role of Higher Education Tutor, based in Ramingining. Heidi comes from an extensive background in Second Language (ESL) teaching, assessing, and examining and also has current Language, Literacy, and Numeracy (LLN) experience. She has worked in many Culturally and Linguistically Diverse (CALD) communities both within Australia and overseas.
 
With COVID-19 travel restrictions making internationally-based employment harder than ever, Heidi is excited at the opportunity of living in East Arnhem land.
 
The Higher Education Tutor Role sees Heidi uniquely placed to encourage, motivate and support students to increase their knowledge and skills in the industry of their choice via the VET system. She is meeting many interesting individuals and is enjoying working with them on their learning journeys. She is also currently running two LLN Community development projects with ASRAC – the Arnhem Land Swamp Ranger Aboriginal Corporation.
 
In her relatively short time in the community, Heidi has already established fantastic relationships with community members and other stakeholders.
 
People and Culture - New Recruit

My name is Michelle Napier and I am currently a month into my journey with ALPA. I am very excited to join the People and Culture Team alongside Brad, Lisa, Nima, Donna, Reanna, and Davina. My role is as an Internal recruiter for ALPA focusing on Community Services. I have met some great ALPA employees so far and look forward to continuing to add more great people to ALPA’s resources as my journey moves forward.
Not only am I new to ALPA, but I am also new to Darwin. 

My professional journey into Recruitment and Human Resources started five years ago when I joined a Not-for-Profit organisation in Canberra called Communities@Work. I had worked alongside them 5 years prior whilst running a Family Day Care service while I was at home with my children. I started in the office as Administration support then slowly moved into recruitment for Outside School Hours Care (OSHC) and then moved into managing recruitment for the whole organisation.

I am delighted to work for another Organisation whose values are similar to where I have worked previously.
DONESAFE APP Makes WHS Reporting Easy

 
ALPA has recently introduced an innovative safety and compliance solution that will simplify the process for reporting safety, security & maintenance issues.
 
The solution is an application called “Donesafe”.With major clients including McDonald's, NAB, Brickworks, State of California, IAG, Audi, and Telstra, Donesafe is quickly becoming one of the most well-known software names for both the SME and Enterprise markets.
 
A staged rollout has commenced that will transition the ALPA reporting process to the APP-based solution followed by Stage 2 that will focus on converting paper-based compliance forms to an electronic format allowing real-time reporting and issue tracking to be managed through the use of a tablet or smartphone.
 
The Donesafe APP can be downloaded at no cost through either the APP store (iOS) and or Android (Google Store).
The URL application is located at https://alpa.donesafe.com with the individual user log in details to be provided through an internal communication.
 
The solution is currently being customised to support the safety and compliance needs of the BUKMAK Galiwinku housing project.
 

Farewell Andreas Roilo


Andreas's started his journey with ALPA in March 2017 as a duty manager at the Ramingining store and transitioned to become the Rulku Lodge manager at Milingimbi. His most recent stint was managing our Dinybulu lodge before making the hard decision to move back to Western Australia to be closer to family.



 
" It has been a pleasure to see how proud people are of their country. It was indeed very special to observe cultural ceremonies, go hunting with my Yolngu friends in Milingimbi and Ramingining and explore this amazing country."

We recently asked Andreas about some of his highlight of working in our communities?

What were the most rewarding memories of working remote?

Working with my small team of regular and hard-working Yolngu staff, to build and improve the two lodges, Rulku and Dinybulu, to ensure that visitors to the communities have a comfortable place to stay.

What are some of your fondest memories about working in our communities?

The two Gatjirrk festivals which I attended in Milingimbi were a real highlight with the full breadth of the musical talent, both in traditional and modern ways, going hunting mussels and crab and the fishing trips to the Arafura swamp. Also, cooking up the catch over a fire or bringing it all back to the lodge and serving up a banquet for guests made for some memorable occasions.   

Best of luck Andreas!

New Posters Rolled Out to all stores


The retail team is excited to announce the roll-out of their new Point of sale (POS) promotional posters across all their stores. The role of the new POS is to promote New products, Special prices, Big Deals, our everyday low ALPA/I&C prices and to inform customers of our Healthy Choices.

“ALPA will only permit promotional activities on healthy food and drinks and non-food items” – Nutrition Policy.
Promoting healthy products is our focus to archive our Nutritional strategy objectives. The new POS will support customers to make healthy food choices by increasing awareness of healthy options.



 

New storage cupboards for homes in Ramingining and Galiwinku Homelands
 

Residents in the Homelands of Ramingining and Galiwin’ku will receive special deliveries to their homes this month. Each house serviced by Dinybulu Regional Services will be receiving security storage cupboards, made possible by a successful grant application through the NLC’s COVID-19 Homeland Assistance Project.
 
This funding allows Dinybulu to assist the Northern Land Council (NLC) in addressing the immediate infrastructure needs associated with Aboriginal people returning home during the Covid-19 lockdowns.
 
With the grant funding, 96 storage cupboards were purchased from a local supplier in Darwin and traveled more than 500 kilometres by barge to Galiwinku and Ramingining. Each house received three storage cupboards that were installed in any location of the house at the tenant’s request.
 
The following homelands are serviced by Dinybulu Regional Services.
 
Homelands in Ramingining:
  • Gatji
  • Galawdjapin
  • Garanydjirr
  • Ngangalala
  • Yathlamarra
  • Wulkbirmirri
  • Mulgurram
 Homeland in Galiwin’ku:
  • Dhambala
So far, the cupboards have been installed at homes in Dhambala (homeland in Galiwin’ku). The remaining storage units are due to be installed in the next few months at Ramingining.
 
Dinybulu Regional Services thank the NLC for providing much-needed funding to allow families to have secure storage in their homes.
 

Samantha Greenwood nominated for the 2021 NT Training Awards
"Indigenous Trainee of the Year"

 

Samantha started to work in the ALPA Ramingining store in 2019. She has completed Certificate 2 & Certificate 3 in Retail Operations and at present enrolled in Certificate 4 in Retail operations in this short space.
She is currently leading and running the Ramingining Express store and is also a part of the Leadership team at the ALPA Ramingining store.
 
She was employed as a casual register operator in 2019. Over the next 6 months, the management was pleased with the commitment and application she had displayed towards learning the skills needed to do the job. As a result, she was made a permanent part-time employee and offered to do a Certificate 2 & subsequently Certificate 3 in Retail Operations course.
 
Being the mother of 2 young kids, she is always juggling to maintain a balance between her work and personal responsibilities. She does not own a personal car, so it made it challenging during the wet season to drop kids at school and turn up to work on time during heavy rains. She is an active part of the community, and she also helps coach the women’s football team consisting of her work colleagues on the weekend and actively participates in the games.
Taking into consideration the hard work and dedication shown by her to complete the courses and taking on the responsibility of managing the Ramingining Express store, the management and the training department have recommended her to be nominated for “Aboriginal Trainee of the Year.”
 
Samantha was really excited about the nomination and says,

“The courses have helped me in gaining more skills and being confident in my ability to perform certain tasks. It has made me more confident in performing the responsibilities at hand and being more efficient. I believe becoming a Trainee of the year will help me inspire and motivate other people in the community to acquire new skills and further their job”.
 

$300k Worth of Whitegoods Gifted to Our Member Communities

 
The ALPA Board has approved a one-off investment of benevolent funds to provide every Indigenous household in our member communities, with the choice of a washing machine, chest freezer, or fridge.  680 households will benefit from this support and we will see the first of these delivered to each community by the end of May.

The fridges will assist in remote households being able to store food for longer while the washing machines will help with skin health for families.

The washing machines were by far the most popular selection of the three gifts to choose from and we are happy to be able to provide this essential item to our residents.


Ramingining Residents receiving their new white good.

L-R Emma Kelly, CEO Alastair King and Liam Flanagan 2020

Welcome to ALPA’s newly appointed Community Services General Manager, Emma Kelly
 

ALPA has recently appointed Emma Kelly as our General Manager of Community Services. Emma has promoted from Community Development Program (CDP) Manager and has progressed her career here since she was originally employed as an Employment Services Coordinator in 2015.
 
Emma’s predecessor Liam Flanagan says she has years of experience working within East Arnhem Land and her relationships with communities were a standout for her appointment.
 
“She is committed to delivering the outcomes that communities want and knows the importance of working with Yolngu leaders to understand their aspirations and their indicators of success.”
 
Emma’s focus for the next 12 months will be working closely with the communities of Arnhem Land to understand their economic priorities, building on regional workforce development strategies, and supporting the growth of ALPA’s RTO.

Liam Flanagan has been with ALPA since 2013 and will start a new career path and our Board of Directors wishes him the best in his future aspirations.
 
“Liam’s contribution to ALPA has been significant. He was appointed our first General Manager of our Community Services Division in 2016 when it first commenced and has built the division from the ground up. It is now a significant part of ALPA, with a diverse range of services including Community Development Program (CDP), RSAS (school attendance) Community Engagement, Youth Services, and Training.  He also led ALPA’s advocacy on important issues to our Yolngu members including the Cashless Debit Card and CDP reforms”, says CEO Alastair King.

We are also pleased with Emma Kelly stepping into the role of Community Services General Manager and trust that she will bring dynamism and a strong focus on policy change as Liam did.”
 
Bukmak Contractor's Camp Underway
 
Works are progressing on the establishment of the Bukmak Contractors camp in Galiwin'ku. This camp is being set up for the recently awarded housing contract for 87 dwellings to be built over 5 years at Galiwinku.

Bukmak will have 5 ‘pods’ set up at Lot 448 to house 20 plus workers, which include:
  • Pod 1 – is the office and 4 single rooms.
  • Pod 2 – is 4 single rooms and a 2bedroom unit (with shared bathroom and laundry for the whole pod).
  • Pod 3 – is 4 single rooms and a 2bedroom unit (with shared bathroom and laundry for the whole pod).
  • Pod 4 – is 4 single rooms and a 2bedroom unit (with shared bathroom and laundry for the whole pod).
  • Pod 5 – is 4 single rooms and a 2bedroom unit (with shared bathroom and laundry for the whole pod).
There will also be kitchen and laundry facilities with additional 12 single rooms set up at Lot 421. The kitchen will need to cater to the 50+ contractors working on the largest remote housing contract awarded in Arnhem Land.

The camp is expected to be operating by June with contractors moving in once the doors are open.

East Arnhem Land Youth Model will run for 2-years 

Guŋgayunga Djamarrkuḻiny (Helping our Children) 

The East Arnhem Land Youth Model, also aptly named Guŋga’yunga Djamarrkuḻiny (Helping our Children), is a pilot research program that is hosted by ALPA but funded as part of a joint venture between The Northern Territory Government and National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA).
 
Through local consultation in Gapuwiyak, Galiwin’ku, Milingimbi, and Ramingining we are developing activities and projects that are designed to re-engage/inspire our young population. The projects are approved by our ‘Leadership Groups’ in each community and are selected by a number of criteria.

Through careful monitoring and evaluation of these activities, we will work with the leadership groups to monitor what has and hasn't worked to engage youth.

In the second year of the project, our most successful EALYM activities and learnings will help create a wider regional approach to the social issue. The key to this program is to show that local Yolngu people can make informed decisions when it comes to youth engagement; consequently proving that local decision making and governance is the best course of action for remote communities.
 
We are happy to see our community members and leaders take this program and we look forward to seeing many projects taking place in the near future.

Also, a big welcome to Judy Gapugurawuy and Phillip Dhamarrandji from Ramingining and have been working with community members and leaders on developing activities to engage the youth of their community. 



The team is currently supporting an upcoming BBQ celebration which will act as the launch of the  EALYM program in Ramingining. They have also made some great progress in hosing the EALYM Leadership meeting and are looking forward to delivering projects over the following months.
 
Meet Jospehine Mairu from our Umagico store in Far North Queensland.
 

Badu Island Store celebrates 20-year milestones.

 
This year two of our Badu retail team members have celebrated 20 years of service to their jobs. Ada and Steph Savage have shown true commitment to their Island community and their local store and even after 20 years, they say they still love their jobs.

Ada says, “we have thoroughly enjoyed the last 20 years working at the store. We never expected it to be this long! ALPA has given us opportunities to train and further our learning and skills. We are constantly inspired to work hard, help others and achieve our goals.”

When we spoke to the current Store Manager, Alex Turkowsky, she could not speak highly enough of these two ladies,

“after 20 years of service the girls are still incredibly dedicated, motivated, an always looking to better themselves and the team. Big esso to you both – couldn’t do it without you girls, you are an essential part of this team!”

Thank you, Ada and Steph, for your dedication, commitment, and for being true ambassadors for your local community and for ALPA and Island and Cape.

Ada, Sineva, Steph, and Alex from our Badu Store.

Welcome new ALPA Education and Training Manager

 
ALPA has recently appointed Ryan Buckley to the new Education and Training Manager position. Ryan has been with ALPA for over 2-years, commencing as the Training Team Leader and more recently RTO Compliance and Projects Manager.
 
During Ryan’s time with ALPA he has made a number of significant contributions to the training team. He was a key driver of the e-learning platform and evolving ALPA’s service delivery model to both in-person and online training. He has also championed a number of key streamlining initiatives for the training team’s compliance framework.
 
Ryan has an extensive background in remote training, compliance and a keen interest in utilising innovative techniques and technology to improve engagement and efficiencies.
 

In other Training news,

Lisa Robbins shifts from Retail to the Training team. 



Over the past 4-years, Lisa Robbins has been working with our Retail Relief team and has worked across 16 of our stores across NT and QLD and has built some great relationships across our Arnhem Land and Queensland communities.

in October 2019 Lisa completed her Assessor Skill Set which was a step towards building her pathway to Training. More recently Lisa has been the Remote Manager Trainer for retail, helping our newest Managers/Duty Managers and Relief Managers settle into their new homes and positions. This can often be a difficult time for people as they try to settle into new surroundings, a new position, away from family and friends.

We recently asked Lisa for her thoughts on starting her new position?

"It is important to me that I have the knowledge and firsthand experience in the material I will be delivering, as it is relevant to what our students are practicing on a daily basis. I believe that my industry currency from working in stores will be of great help to the Training team as some of our processes have changed and I look forward to helping the team to update their material."
 
"I am very excited to have joined the Training Team and am looking forward to getting back out in stores to see everyone soon."


 

Healthy Product of the Month


In April, we brought back our popular fishing promotion, which featured as our Healthy Products of the Month.  Fishing is one of the healthiest hobbies out there! 

Some of the benefits of fishing:
  • Fish are packed full of nutrients such as Omega 3's, fatty fcids, and protein.
  • It gets you out and about in nature and can bring down stress levels.
  • The sun provides a nice dose of vitamin D (remember to slip, slop, slap).
  • It's a great way to spend time with family and friends.
This promotion saw fishing product purchases double. We hope the fish were biting for everyone.
 
Stay tuned for next month's Healthy Product of the Month where we will be promoting ingredients to make a healthy and hearty spaghetti Bolognese the whole family will love.
 
Facebook
Website
Instagram
LinkedIn
Copyright © |2019 |Arnheml Land Progress Aboriginal Progress Corporation| All rights reserved|

Our mailing address is:
ganyu@alpa.asn.au

unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences






This email was sent to <<Email Address>>
why did I get this?    unsubscribe from this list    update subscription preferences
ALPA (The Arnhem Land Progress Aboriginal Corporation) · GPO Box 3825 · Darwin, NT 0801 · Australia

Email Marketing Powered by Mailchimp