Indigenous Program Managers

Indigenous Programs Managers

Dean Woods

Indigenous Programs Manager South Queensland

This year has been another exciting year of exceptional community engagement and major milestones in our South Queensland locations, with 2019 seeing many new initiatives and programs come alive with local Indigenous Community Sport and Recreation Officer’s (ICSRO’s) now performing better than ever. I would also like to thank my predecessor Daniel

Paul Phillips Indigenous Programs Manager Far North Queensland

This last twelve months has seen another year of outstanding community engagement and service delivery in our locations in Far North Queensland and the Cape. Whilst uncertainty around future funding caused stress amongst staff and community partners, this Egan, whose commitment and hard work resulted in a successful first half of 2019.

The year saw new ICSRO’s come on in different locations, bringing a new sense of passion and commitment to the communities they work hand in hand with. An additional success story was a new cluster event evolving in South West Queensland which saw teams from Goondiwindi, Toowoomba, Dalby and St George converge on Goondiwindi for the first ever South West Touch Tournament. A big thank you to everyone’s hard work to get this initiative off the ground. This year also saw a new way in which we engaged and consulted with community through the Co-Design workshops that were held in each community. These workshops offered a genuine voice for community to direct and drive the Indigenous Community Sport and Recreation Program.

Big things were planned for the annual showcase beach touch football event Bunburra, which has grown from year to year with over 16 communities participating in this year’s event. stress was laid to rest in November with a new contract offered to PCYC Queensland, enabling us to continue to deliver a quality sustainable program for our Indigenous communities. We were able to solidify our co-design workshop process with communities, offering a genuine voice at the table to guide the direction of our service delivery. These workshops provided an opportunity for community members to have their say on targeted services and create community-designed programs, and the engagement in this process was outstanding. Two new local cluster events were added to our calendars with the Dalari Fast 5’s Netball Tournament and the Napranum AFL 9’s. The netball tournament welcoming girls aged 11-14, was held at PCYC Yarrabah on the new netball courts in partnership with Netball Queensland and the Yarrabah Aboriginal Shire Council. This fast-paced version of netball saw some amazing Unfortunately, adverse and unfavourable weather forced us to cancel the event early into the day, however I would like to thank Garry Sheppard for his passion and drive over the past six years supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth in this fantastic initiative.

Deadly 3’s was another great success with over 21 communities converging on PCYC Edmonton to battle it out for the top title. Congratulations to Townsville again taking out the title for the third straight year.

PCYC Queensland would also like to recognise the ongoing support provided by our partner sporting bodies for their amazing support during the year. Finally, I would like to acknowledge the hard work, dedication, persistence, and resilience demonstrated by our ICSRO’s in each community, as without them none of this would be possible. I am excited to see what 2020 will bring and the new way that PCYC Queensland through the ICSRP can engage and support

all the communities that we work in. talent and skills and a local Yarrabah team took first place after a gruelling game against a team from Mareeba.

The Napranum AFL 9’s, a modified non-contact AFL game played with nine per side, brought male and female high school students to Napranum from all over the Western Cape for a day of action, and was run with the support of AFL Cape York and the Napranum Aboriginal Shire Council. Both these local events were greatly supported, assisting communities to come together around sport and active recreation.

As always, the quality and sustainability of the ICSRP rests on the shoulders of the local staff in community, and I am enormously proud of each Officer and the work they do. As we head into a new year facing uncertainty around the continuation of the program, it is the passion and dedication of staff at the coal face who must be acknowledged for making the difference in their communities.