Iwiri

Iwiri strengthens the Aṉangu community through providing social support programs, cultural and arts activities and employment  opportunities. We want our young people to be strong in their language and culture and to take up opportunities to work for our community.

History

 Iwiṟi was established by Aṉangu in 2018, many of whom had been forced to move to Adelaide due to chronic health conditions and lack of services in their home communities. Living far from their traditional homelands, Anangu were concerned about the cultural and social isolation they were experiencing and saw a need to act.  Iwiri was formed initially to help retain, promote and transmit Anangu culture and language through the areas of arts, language, knowledge and community. Since then Iwiṟi has grown rapidly into an organization that delivers a range of programs that aim to strengthen and advance Aṉangu wellbeing.

Our Mission

Our mission is to promote the wellbeing of Aṉangu across the lifespan who are living away from their traditional homelands in Adelaide. Iwiri  works towards achieving better outcomes for Aṉangu individuals and families who often face considerable disadvantage. We do this by running a number of programs that aim to nurture, strengthen and promote connection to key pillars of Aṉangu identity, Ngura (country/home)  Tjukurpa (philosophy, Lore) Walytja (kinship and other relationships of connection) and  Kurunpa (spirit/soul). As well as a focus on emotional, mental and cultural wellbeing we strive to create economic opportunity for Anangu through employment and arts based enterprise development.

Employment, Enterprise Development and Wellbeing Operations

Iwiṟi employs a variety of strategies to respond social needs such as cultural isolation, poverty, long term unemployment, mental ill health, homelessness, and drug addiction issues, notably:

•    We are providing employment opportunities for Aṉangu through our translating, cultural awareness training and language teaching courses provided to government and non-government services. Over the last 12 months we have generated employment for over 50 Anangu, many of whom have never worked before;

•   We help Aṉangu become ‘work ready’, including by assisting people obtain the documentation they need (e.g., birth certificate, tax file number) to get paid employment;

•    Aṉangu engaged in employment through Iwiṟi are also provided with clothing and transport to work appointments in recognition of difficulty people face accessing public transport. Iwiṟi also offers supervision and support to scaffold people into work after long term unemployment;

• Iwiṟi intentionally chooses interpreting, translating and language teaching contracts that not only help improve outcomes for Aṉangu but also improves the ability of services to work effectively and appropriately with Anangu. Much of our translating work supports the production of culturally appropriate promotional and informational resources for health, drug and alcohol services, housing services and legal services;

•   Iwiṟi regularly provides cultural awareness and Pitjantjatjara language courses to key government and non-government agencies that work with Aṉangu regularly (South Australian Police, Department of Child Protection, Drug and Alcohol Services, Homelessness services, Department of Education and SA Health). The profit from this work is invested back into our wellbeing operations (arts centre, children’s performing arts) and used to fund operational positions; and

• Iwiṟi’s Artt studio, Performing arts program (choir, traditional dance for children and adults) respond to the need for cultural connection, transgenerational cultural transmission, and cultural retention as resources for mental health and resilience. It also provides employment opportunities through performance, recording, project work and commercial art sales.

• Iwiṟi’s Wellbeing Hub is closely connected to our Arts Studio and Performing Arts program and is a key community resource and community as a hub. A range of service providers also use this culturally safe and familiar space to engage with Aṉangu around health, housing, schooling, and mental health issues.

Partnerships

Iwiṟi works in partnership with a variety of government and non-government agencies to provide benevolent relief to Aṉangu community through direct service delivery to Aṉangu individuals and families who are experiencing risk or vulnerability.

These include South Australia Government departments: Department of Health, Drug and Alcohol Services, Department of Child Protection, Department of Human Services and Department of Education. Under these partnerships, Iwiṟi provides cultural advice, direction, consultation, and translating/interpreting as well as through Aṉangu cultural workers. Typically, Iwiṟi is contracted to provide these services

Our Approach

Iwiri includes senior Elders, language and cultural experts who have significant leadership experience.

Iwiri has a core focus of strong and participatory governance and decision making.

Iwiri respects and works from an Anangu knowledge and cultural frame. This is how we can get the best outcome for our members, our business and our partners.

Anangu voices guide Iwiri’s approach and we centre ethical practice.

Iwiri advocates for Anangu; relating to service delivery and other core issues such as housing, access to interpreting, health, among others.

Our Values

Support