FRIDAY 16 AUGUST 2024
SOFITEL SYDNEY WENTWORTH
Acknowledgement
Yalari acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the first inhabitants of this land.
We recognise their culture, history, diversity and deep connection to land, waters and territorial seas of Australia.
We pay our respects to the Elders, past and present, and acknowledge that the Yalari office is on Kombumerri country within the lands of the Yugambeh language group. We acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora nation as the Traditional Custodians of the land we meet on today.
We also acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the lands on which we work Australia-wide and recognise their culture, heritage and beliefs.
Founding Director’s Message
Hello to our friends, supporters, students and alumni in New South Wales. For 19 years we have worked arm in arm with the wider NSW community and with our Indigenous families to support their children on a journey of educational achievement, as well as having their eyes opened to the endless possibilities that are theirs for the taking.
Our alumni are studying at tertiary levels (some have completed their degrees and qualifications), raising families, working in their communities in health, education and with government, others are pursuing sporting careers, some are working in tertiary institutions and state education, mining, the arts and music, aviation and much more.
From here, we share our vision going forward. Yalari will be one of Australia’s great enduring educational and leadership foundations empowering Indigenous people from regional and remote Australia.
Thank you for your attendance here tonight, your heart for doing good and your belief in a better Australia for all.
Waverley Stanley AM Founding Director, Yalari
Major Dinner Partner
Program
Acknowledgement of Country Kymarni Astill and Cameron Hickey-Haroa
Master of Ceremonies Kyol Blakeney and Sheldyn Briggs
Founding Director Address Waverley Stanley AM
ENTRÉE BREAK
Student Speaker Rita Aruba-Tyrrell
Herbert Smith Freehills Kishaya Delaney
Student Achievement Awards
Assa Abloy
Student Achievement Awards
John Boyle and Kathryn Curtis
Entertainment Abbotsleigh Dancers
MAIN COURSE & DESSERT BREAK
Yalari Video
Alumni Speaker Keely-Chè Cain
Live Auction Mr. Sold
Raffle Draw
Close of Silent Auction
Guest Speakers and Performers
Master of Ceremonies
KYOL BLAKENEY
SHELDYN BRIGGS
Kyol Blakeney is a Gomeroi man from Werris Creek, NSW. In 2007, Kyol received a Yalari scholarship to The Scots College and graduated in 2011. During his time at Scots, he was Pipe Major, House Captain and Prefect. He continued his educational journey at St Andrew’s College at the University of Sydney where he studied a Bachelor of Education.
He was elected as the University’s Indigenous Officer in 2013 and was Councillor for the University of Sydney’s Student Representative Council. In 2015 he was elected the President of the Council. Kyol is now in his 7th year of teaching at Glebe Public School and is also the Chair of the Yalari Alumni Board.
Sheldyn Briggs is a proud Gamilaroi woman from Moree, NSW. She was awarded a Yalari scholarship in 2011, allowing her to attend Abbotsleigh, where she graduated from in 2016.
After graduating, Sheldyn studied a Bachelor of Education at the University of Technology Sydney. After completing her degree she returned to her community to teach for two years, before transferring to her current position on Wiradjuri country. She is now in her fourth year of teaching and has taught students from Year 1 to Year 12.
In addition to her teaching career, Sheldyn is currently undertaking her Certificate III and IV in Fitness, as well as a Certificate IV in Indigenous Leadership. Her dedication to learning and personal development highlights her commitment to both her professional growth and the empowerment of her community.
Student Speaker
Rita Aruba-Tyrrell is a Year 7 student at Abbotsleigh. She is a Torres Strait Islander from Manoora, Queensland and her family are from Boigu Island.
Rita is full of energy and ambition and hopes to study Architecture or Marine Biology after she finishes Year 12.
In her free time, Rita enjoys drawing, art and playing netball and volleyball.
RITA ARUBA-TYRRELL
Entertainment ABBOTSLEIGH DANCERS
Yalari’s Abbotsleigh girls have come together to showcase Indigenous culture through two dances.
The first dance is a welcome dance sung by Jo Clancy in Dharug and Wiradjuri language. This dance acknowledges the ancestors and let’s Country know we are here.
The second dance ‘Head, Heart, Country’, which is choreographed by Jo Clancy and music by Amy Flannery, reminds us of our obligation to care for Country, to care for ourselves and to care for our community.
Music, vocals and choreography by Jo Clancy (Wiradjuri woman).
Alumni Speaker KEELY-CHÈ CAIN
Keely-Chè Cain is a Gomeroi woman who was born and raised in Moree, NSW. Keely-Chè received a Yalari Scholarship in 2012 to attend Calrossy Anglican School in Tamworth, where she graduated from in 2017. During her time at Calrossy, her favourite subject was Community and Family Studies, this subject led her to want to continue her studies in this area.
Keely-Chè is currently studying a Bachelor of Social Work with Honours at The University of New South Wales. She is in her final year of her degree with the intent to graduate in November. She is currently completing her final placement within a Social Policy Research Centre.
After graduating, Keely-Chè hopes to return back home to utilise her degree to uplift her community and others, specifically guiding and supporting Indigenous youth with their education, emotional and physical wellbeing, through the implementation of wellbeing and educational programs.
TICKETS: 1 = $20 | 3 = $50 | 7 = $100
1st Prize
HARBOURSIDE NIGHT ESCAPE AT THE PARK HYATT SYDNEY
Value $1,800
Located on the very edge of Sydney Harbour with front-row seats to the world-famous Opera House, your luxiourious harbourside night escape awaits.
As green and gold ferries bustle back and forth across the harbour, sit back on your private balcony and watch Sydney come to life.
Explore the magic of Sydney like nowhere else at Park Hyatt Sydney.
This prize includes:
• 1 night stay in a Harbour View King room for two
• Breakfast for two at The Dining Room
• $500 Park Hyatt Sydney Voucher (dining, spa treatments and other experiences)
Kindly donated by:
2nd Prize
Enjoy a gourmet food and and wine experience on Sydney Harbour. For that truly special occasion or corporate entertaining, the Gold Penfolds Dinner is an unforgettable waterfront restaurant experience where every detail matters. Leave inspired, sated and breathless as you and your guests are treated to not only the view, but a swathe of plate matched Penfolds wines including the classic St Henri Shiraz.
3rd Prize
Kindly donated by:
4th Prize
Kindly donated by:
Kindly donated by:
Silent Auction
1 REGISTER
Scan the QR code or text ‘yalarisyd’ followed by your full name to 0458 678 678 or visit bit.ly/m/yalari
If you have a shared device, see note below
2 VIEW ITEMS
3 BID
4 IF YOU’RE A WINNER...
You’ll receive a text with a link. Simply click the link to pay securely
Shared device instructions
- Click the register tab
- Enter in your mobile number, password and name
- You will receive a text with a link and the verification code
- To continue on the device, enter your verification code in the registration page to continue on your phone
- Please do not log out
- Proceed to step 2
Live Auction
Lot 1
1 WEEK STAY AT VILLA SAMSKARA, BALI
Value: $5,200
Villa Samskara is the perfect place to unwind and hang out with friends or family: someplace you can simply forget about the stresses of life, relax and enjoy the peace away from the busyness of the town.
The villa is located 10 minutes from Echo Beach in the small village of Tumbak Bayuh. It is fully staffed and has three bedrooms with gorgeous ensuite bathrooms, multiple gardens and places to nap, read and a huge pool overlooking the jungle.
This prize includes:
• 7-nights for up to 6 people (2 king rooms, 1 single/twin room)
• Daily inclusive breakfast
• Butler service
• In-house chef (lunch and dinner to be billed separately)
• House-keeping/ laundry service
Kindly donated by: Andrew Crook
Live Auction
Lot 2
INDIGENOUS ARTWORK
SPIRIT OF THE ROCKS, 2017
BY FIONA OMEENYO
Value: $7,700
Dimensions: 180cm (w) x 107cm (h)
Material: Acrylic on canvas
Fiona Omeenyo is best known for her figurative arrangements, symbolism of ancestral spirits and nurturing family stories. With an intuitive confidence for colour and composition and a desire to reveal an implicit Indigenous narrative, Fiona explores the essential notions of connectedness in her work. Beginning as a teenager as part of the famed Lockhart River Art Gang, Fiona has exhibited nationally and internationally and travelled to the USA and UK with her exhibitions. Her work is held in most major collections in Australia including Artbank and the National Gallery of Australia.
The themes of Fiona Omeenyo’s artistic practice constantly revolve around bloodline, kinship, connectivity and country. She states, “My figures are about family and country. I do my painting to carry my culture on and so my children will know our stories”.
Much of her work is informed by the joys but also the challenges of family responsibility, listening to and teaching one another.
Artist Fiona Omeenyo
Live Auction
Lot 3
1 WEEK STAY AT THE WATERFRONT, PALM BEACH FOR 8 PEOPLE
BARRENJOEY, NEW SOUTH
WALES
Value: $10,500
A house where the crystal-clear water is so close it feels like you could dive right out of the living room – and you can walk in from the backyard.
Enjoy a morning coffee or an evening glass of wine in a deck chair or hammock, watch the white sails of the yachts slip past, climb down the stairs for a dip, and enjoy the sunsets over the inlet.
This prize includes:
• 7-night stay for up to 8 people at The Waterfront at Palm Beach
• Includes 2 x king rooms with en-suite, 1 x twin room (king singles), 1 x queen room
Kindly donated by: Michael Mills
Live Auction
Lot 4
INDIGENOUS ARTWORK RAINSTONES, 2023
BY ROSELLA NAMOK & MICHAEL EATHER
Value: $11,000
Dimensions: 225cm (w) x 90cm (h)
Material: Acrylic on canvas
Rosella Namok (a leading artist from North Queensland’s Lockhart River) and Brisbanebased artist curator and gallerist, Michael Eather, have teamed up over the past few years in numerous art workshops. Here, they bounce off one another, developing and innovating their respective art practices. This creative connectivity has naturally evolved into collaborative artworks where a visual conversation takes place, where two artists from different cultures work on shared ideas.
Rosella began her professional career as a member of the Lockhart River Art Gang in the 1990s – a collaboration of the first youth-driven Indigenous art movement to gain national and international recognition. Since 1985, Michael has worked as a multi-disciplinary artist as well as a gallerist, project curator and consultant with extensive experiences across contemporary Indigenous art forms and issues. Michael has had 25 solo exhibitions and been involved in over 50 group exhibitions nationally and internationally.
The pair have worked together to create this large coastal landscape. The painting fuses Rosella’s Stinging Rain imagery, developed over recent years to become a powerful and evocative landscape arrangement merging sky and water, with Michael’s shadowed coloured stones. The stones bring these forces of nature to earth, balancing all these elements, both philosophically and compositionally, to offer spatial tranquillity.
Kindly donated by:
Artists Rosella Namok & Michael Eather
Live Auction
Lot 5 6 NIGHT ZAMBIA SAFARI FOR 2 PEOPLE
THE BUSHCAMPS, SOUTH LUANGWA NATIONAL PARK Value: $24,500
In Zambia’s iconic South Luangwa National Park, The Bushcamp Company operates six exclusive Bushcamps including the award-winning Mfuwe Lodge.
Mfuwe Lodge is the perfect place to ease into Luangwa life. The open plan reception, lounge, dining, and bar areas overlook two lagoons.
The region of the park is renowned for its prolific game, giraffe, hippos, buffalo, antelope and crocodile are constant visitors to Mfuwe Lodge’s lagoon. In November, the local elephamts regularly wander right through the lobby, lured by a nearby wild mango tree. This prize includes:
• 1 night at Mfuwe Lodge
• 4 nights at the Bushcamps
• 1 night at the Intercontinental Hotel in Johannesburg
• All meals, game drives, airport transfers, laundry, park fees and government tax
• Regional airfares Johannesburg-Lusaka return (economy)
Kindly donated by:
Terms and conditions apply. Subject to availability. Excludes bar, bed levies, Luangwa Conservation and Community Fund, Zambian Carnivore Programme, visa fees, and items of a personal nature.
*Depending on flight schedules, there may be a need to add an additional night’s accommodation in Lusaka in order to connect with the onward flight to Johannesburg (at your expense). Additional night’s accommodation will be charged at the standard rates.
Our Yalari Community
It takes a whole community to educate a child
Yalari gratefully acknowledges the dedication of everyone who has contributed to the 2024 Yalari Sydney Gala Dinner
We also extend our sincere thanks to everyone who has attended tonight’s event. It is through you, our valued donors, sponsors, supporters and friends, that we are able to continue offering life-changing opportunities to Indigenous children around Australia.
Thank you for your generosity, without you being so kind, I wouldn’t be here having the time of my life and I wouldn’t have the opportunities I have today.
So thank you.
Isaac, Year 8
Sydney Dinner Committee
Alison Woolsey
Elisa Wong
Miranda Wallace
Stephanie Graham (Chair)
Tegan Kelly
Auction & Raffle Donors
Adam Knight and Mitchelton
Gallery of Aboriginal Art
Aesop The Strand
Alliance Française
Andrew Crook
Antony Milne
Archie Rose Distillery
Australian Turf Club
Bangarra Dance Theatre
Belle Bois
Bemboka
Brokenwood
Bunnings
Captain Cook Cruises
Clifford Chance
Dinosaur Designs
Ensemble Theatre
Epic Private Journeys
Escape Hunt
FireWorks Gallery
Hamper with Bite
Hentley Farm Wines
Integrity Candles
Jenni Walke
Let’s Go Surfing
LoSurdos
Michael Mills
Mike Savage
Miranda Wallace
Natalie Marie Jewellery
Olea of Monemvasia
Opera Australia
Origin Energy
Park Hyatt Sydney
Pinot & Picasso North Sydney
Quiz Room
Richard Sleijpen
Simon Powell
Sofitel Sydney Wentworth
Taronga Zoo
The Art Gallery of New South Wales
The Australian Ballet
Thelma & Louise
Toshiba Australia
Verve Portraits
Virtual Room
Whale Tales
World of Whisky
Yalari Friends of FireWorks Gallery
FireWorks Gallery has been supporting Yalari since 2008, and many supporters of Yalari have continued to cross paths with the artists and artworks at our Brisbane gallery.
We are so proud to maintain these relationships but also to reward everyone involved!
To keep the support going, you can join our ART VIP club and become a valued member of ‘Yalari Friends of FireWorks Gallery.’
With your ART VIP card, every purchase you make from FireWorks Gallery will result in a percentage of up to 15% of the artwork’s value being donated back to Yalari as part of our ongoing commitment to Yalari’s enduring support for Indigenous children.
ART VIP friends will also receive advance notice of:
• special focus events
• artist talks
• exhibition launches and previews
• loyalty discounts on the wide variety of fine art available at FireWorks Gallery, including sculpture, paintings and limited-edition prints.
To become a member... scan the QR code and register via email
Partner with Us
With the support of generous and like-minded individuals and organisations, for almost 20 years Yalari has created educational opportunities for 784 Indigenous young adults.
Yalari’s vision is to be one of Australia’s great enduring educational and leadership foundations, empowering Indigenous people from regional and remote Australia.
We’d love to have you join us on this journey.
Looking to become a Yalari sponsor, either individually or as a company?
Please reach out to Laura Harvey at lharvey@yalari.org or on (07) 5665 8688.
Student Artists
The artwork featured in this booklet was supplied for use by
Yalari students Noami Buchanan of the Wadja Wadja Tribe, and Summer Lowe of the Gudanji Tribe.