Who are the festivals for?
YOU! All you kids in primary and secondary schools out there, especially our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mob, and your parents, teachers, schools and communities.
Why?
To help you get into the Strong, Smart and Deadly side of school, like going full on for the best you can achieve, making it what you want it to be, getting you where you want to go later in life. AND have fun doing it! You can do anything with the right education behind you and by being strong — so go for it. Education doesn’t just make you smart, it makes you strong — too deadly!
What are the Strong, Smart & Deadly Community Festivals?
The festivals will be between 2 days to 5 days long, depending on where you live and who is running your festival. Festivals will have student, school and community activities that get you involved in fun learning and achieving, where you can get together with your friends, schools and whole communities to make something deadly happen.
Some of the activities this year are music, song-writing and story-telling based on Aboriginal cultures and even Aboriginal languages, workshops, concerts and cultural activities that promote education, health, culture and potential vocational pathways, meeting and learning from cool role models, story dance, film, singing, and writing culminating in a mini festival, sport, dance and art in high-energy, youth-friendly programs.
But the best part is that by being part of your Community Festival, you will help your school learn how to keep making these activities a part of your learning through the whole year, so it won’t just end when the Festival ends.
How will it make me Strong, Smart & Deadly?
Easy. It all happens while you’re having fun being part of your Community Festival. It’s what you learn and achieve and how you do it that shows you how easy it is for learning and education to be great to be involved in, and what it can do for you if you just hang in there and keep going.
This is what else you will learn along the way:
- that it’s fun to be at school every day, and to keep going right through to the end of high school;
- to be smart, strong and positive about education and how to live well, including staying healthy and away from strife and drug abuse;
- to achieve a higher standard of reading and writing and maths;
- to learn more about, and to keep, contemporary and traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures alive;
- to build self-esteem, to stay strong and know you can achieve success in educational and for the whole of life;
- to connect with strong Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander role models and learn from them, and to know how to find the right information and resources for education, training, and career pathways; and
- how to make communities strong by being involved at the community level in planning, developing and suppling goods and services to the festival(s) and other similar events.
Who runs the Strong, Smart & Deadly Community Festivals?
Community festivals are an Australian Government initiative funded under the Community Festivals for Education Engagement Program.
This year the government is providing $3.05 million for the community festivals program, the same amount as last year. The number of festivals taking place in 2008 has increased to 15 (8 more than last year). This means more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities can take part.
Where are festivals being held?
Wakakirri, Vibe Australia, the Music Outback Foundation, Broome Media Association, and TAFE NSW North Coast are producing festivals this year.
Festivals will be held at Yuendumu, Laramba, Tanami, and Alice Springs in the Northern Territory; Kalgoorlie and Broome in Western Australia; Rockhampton, Bloomfield and Cunnamulla in Queensland; Coonamble, Lismore, Coffs Harbour and Taree in New South Wales; Port Augusta in South Australia, and Mildura in Victoria.
What Government policies are important for the Strong, Smart & Deadly Community Festivals Program?
The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Policy (AEP), which started on 1 January 1990, receives funding under the Indigenous Education (Targeted Assistance) Act 2000.
The AEP is the foundation of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education programs. This policy has been agreed to by the Australian Government and all state and territory governments. The Department of Education, Employment and Workplace Relations (DEEWR) administers the Community Festivals Program through its Strategic Support Branch in the Indigenous Group on behalf of the Australian Government.
Protecting our kids
The Australian Government is committed to protecting children from harm and promoting their well being, and to protecting students involved in any Indigenous education program funded through the AEP.
Everyone involved with young people as part of the Community Festivals Program has to comply with state, territory, and Commonwealth legislation. In particular, DEEWR’s Working with Children Policy which is available online at http://www.dest.gov.au/sectors/indigenous_education/programmes_funding/working_with_children.htm
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New South Wales |
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Coonamble |
20 to 21 August 2008 |
Vibe Australia |
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Lismore/Wollongbar |
22 October 2008 |
TAFE NSW North Coast |
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Coffs Harbour |
29 October 2008 |
TAFE NSW North Coast |
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Taree |
30 October 2008 |
TAFE NSW North Coast |
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Northern Territory |
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Yuendumu |
19 to 23 May 2008 |
Wakakirri |
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Ti Tree, Laramba, Utopia |
Series of events |
Music Outback Foundation |
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Tanami |
14 to 16 October 2008 |
Music Outback Foundation |
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Alice Springs (town event) |
4 December 2008 |
Music Outback Foundation |
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Queensland |
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Bloomfield |
26 to 30 May 2008 |
Wakakirri |
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Cunnamulla |
2 to 6 June 2008 |
Wakakirri |
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Rockhampton |
19 to 20 November 2008 |
Vibe Australia |
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Western Australia |
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Broome |
27 June to 12 July 2008 |
Broome Aboriginal Media Association |
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Kalgoorlie |
5 to 6 November 2008 |
Vibe Australia |
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South Australia |
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Port Augusta |
3 to 4 September 2008 |
Vibe Australia |
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Victoria |
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Mildura |
12 to 13 November 2008 |
Vibe Australia |
* The dates for festivals are those provided by the respective organisers prior to publication on this website. As these dates could change to suit local circumstances they should be verified by direct contact with the relevant organisation.
TAFE NSW North Coast Institute
The TAFE NSW North Coast Institute is a highly recognised and regarded educational organisation on the North Coast of NSW. It was awarded Australia's Best Large Training Provider at the Australian Training Awards in 2004.
North Coast TAFE operates in one of the largest regions of Aboriginal people in Australia. It has developed a proud reputation for working sensitively and innovatively with Aboriginal communities over many years, including communities confronting significant social and economic disadvantage and high unemployment.
Over the past year, the Institute has adopted a new business direction and initiative called North Coast Aboriginal Learning Partnerships to help steer innovative programs to help sustain Aboriginal communities culturally, socially, and economically through innovative learning programs such as V Tracks for Aboriginal youth and Goori Learning Frontiers for Aboriginal adults. The Community Festivals provides a further opportunity for TAFE and other education providers to engage with Aboriginal people by celebrating community success and by promoting education as a smart life and career move.
http://www.nci.tafensw.edu.au/ 
Music Outback Foundation
Music Outback Foundation is a not for profit organisation dedicated to the use of music and related art forms as a means of improving important education and social outcomes on remote Indigenous communities. Recognising the power of music as a tool for education engagement, over the past six years Music Outback has been delivering effective and innovative music based learning programs in remote Central Australia, focusing on literacy skills, encouraging attendance at school, vocational pathways, and building strong relationships between schools and their community members. Music Outback's programs engage Indigenous kids in song-writing and story-telling based on their own culture, and even their own languages. The programs use age appropriate techniques that inspire students at all levels to actively participate in school based learning, and include the exploration of video and computer technology for the middle and senior years.
Since 2002 Music Outback has successfully delivered its programs to schools in over 35 remote Central Australian communities. With continuity and community engagement a priority, Music Outback has demonstrated the innovation and effectiveness of its programs through the winning of the 2007 Flame Award for best school based music program in the NT.
In 2008 Music Outback will be expanding its school based programs to include the production of remote community festivals under the DEEWR Community Festivals for Education Engagement initiative. The festival events will allow schools participating in Music Outback programs to come together and share their achievements with each other and their local communities. Music Outback festivals, otherwise known as MOB Fest, will engage students in workshops, concerts and cultural activities that promote education, health, culture and potential vocational pathways for young Indigenous people on community.
www.musicoutback.com.au/
Broome Aboriginal Media Association (BAMA)
The Broome Aboriginal Media Association (BAMA) is an Indigenous owned not-for-profit organisation that was launched in 1991 to provide an Indigenous media service for Broome and surrounding areas. In 1997 BAMA formed Goolarri Media Enterprises to represent and manage the day to day business of the organisation.
Goolarri is now a multidimensional multimedia organisation and has established itself as the premium source of locally focused entertainment, community information and performing arts resources in the Kimberly region. It assists in the development and ongoing enhancement of Indigenous music and musicians and undertakes the development and production of community based events that showcase both Indigenous and non-Indigenous culture and artists.
Goolarri Events Management has a wealth of expertise in creating, planning, coordinating and implementing festivals and events. These events include: Kimberley Girl; Shinju Matsuri – Festival of the Pearl; Kullarri NAIDOC Festival; Stompen Ground; Battle of the Artists and the Kimberley Indigenous Performing Arts Showcase. In addition, Goolarri has two events venues – the Gimme Gimme Club and the Goolarri Outdoor Venue which are regularly used to stage local, national and international live music acts.
Through the Festivals for Learning project, Goolarri Media is integrating student learning, training and participation into the annual Kullarri NAIDOC Festival to take place in the Kullari region during the school year. The aim of this initiative is to improve attendance and retention; promote better literacy and numeracy; promote healthy lifestyle; promote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture; build students’ educational expectation; and connect students with Indigenous role models, information and resources promoting education, training and vocational pathways.
http://www.gme.com.au/
Wakakirri
Wakakirri was established in 1992 and is now the largest multi arts event for schools in Australia.
In 2008 Wakakirri will hold three five-day events in Yuendumu, Bloomfield and Cunnamulla. Schools will be selected to participate in an intensive workshops program on story dance, film, singing, and writing, culminating in a mini festival. The focus of activities is on improving literacy and numeracy, providing access to role models, and promoting contemporary and traditional Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture.
The aim of the program is to improve the attendance, retention, educational outcomes, career pathways, and the promotion of healthy lifestyles for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
Wakakirri has built its reputation on being accessible and affordable to every school in Australia, including city, country and outback schools, with an emphasis on creativity and participation.
http://www.wakakirri.com/
Vibe Australia Pty Ltd (Vibe)
Established in 1994, Vibe Australia Pty Ltd (Vibe) is a dynamic Aboriginal media, communications and events management agency with an extensive history of working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australia at local, state and national levels.
Vibe publishes Deadly Vibe and In Vibe magazines and produces the Deadly Sounds radio program, the Deadly Awards and www.vibe.com.au. Vibe has also been bringing the Vibe 3on3® basketball and hip hop festival to regional centres across Australia for the past nine years.
In 2008 Vibe Australia will produce five Vibe Alive two‑day festival events for young Australians of all backgrounds to promote Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and encourage tolerance and teamwork.
Vibe Alive incorporates music, sport, dance and art in a high-energy, youth-friendly setting. Participants also have the opportunity to meet inspiring role models, learn about healthy living and career options and boost literacy and numeracy skills.
All of Vibe’s products promote a healthy lifestyle free from drug abuse and alcohol misuse. All Vibe events are smoke-free and all Vibe products encourage the completion of a full secondary education. Vibe Australia is also committed to increasing training and employment opportunities for Indigenous people and encouraging all young Australians to reach their full potential.
http://www.vibe.com.au/