The Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre is working with the Anindilyakwa Land Council (ALC) and mining company South32 to launch a program designed to enable and empower the next generation of leaders on Groote Eylandt.

The Anindilyakwa Future Leaders Program aims to give 12 Anindilyakwa people the opportunity to attain formal leadership and governance qualifications, with more locals to join the program in the years to come.

The legendary Adam Goodes helped launch the program on 11 May meeting students and members of the local community. Mr Goodes said: “I’m incredibly passionate about advocating for Indigenous leadership and governance in our communities. “Being here on Anindilyakwa country is a privilege and I’m excited to be able to share some of my knowledge and experiences with this next generation of community leaders.”

AILC trainers have worked with the ALC Education and Language teams to customise the content for the Anindilyakwa Future Leaders Program and will deliver the course in a linguistically and culturally inclusive way, including case studies tailored to Groote Eylandt. Participants in the program will achieve a Certificate IV in Indigenous Leadership and a Certificate IV in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Governance.

The training will be delivered in Groote Eylandt’s communities, with opportunities for senior community figures to come on board as program mentors and share their knowledge with the next generation of leaders.

 “The Anindilyakwa hold thousands of years of leadership knowledge and the AILC feels a great privilege to be working with the community to continue to build on the deep understanding that the Anindilyakwa hold of community, country and culture in driving change for a future Groote Eylandt," concludes AILC CEO, Robyn Forester.