General Manager’s Report

2015 and 2016 have been two years for the organisation to settle down and get on with business, after the previous two years which were challenging, but rewarding.

Waardi has continued to implement changes to ensure the organisation has a role now and in the future. This has been achieved by continuing the hard work of the dedicated Board of Directors and staff.

The downsizing of the Waardi Board and introduction of the Steering Committee in November 2014 has resulted in a more streamlined organisation and at the same time reducing operational costs.

Waardi continued to project manage the Reading Recovery program across the Kimberley until the end of 2016 and run the LAPS program. Early 2016 saw the start of the “Bedtime Stories” project very shortly evolve into the Building Babies Brains (B3) project as research indicated the needs across the health and education sectors. The B3 research phase has been completed and we are now going into the project development stage. The three programs will continue to improve early literacy rates of students that require it the most.

2016 saw Guumbarr oversee the:

  • Land Trust sell 18 vacant lots in Broome North back to LandCorp, allowing the trust to build 7 houses, the last of which was completed in November 2016.
  • Land Trust’s involvement in the design of 6 houses in Broome North, that is project managed by the Department of Housing. CWD Builders were awarded the contract and started site works in November 2016.
  • Continuation of the Jirrajun Trust programs,  making some changes to the programs based on feed back from beneficiaries.

2016 saw Morrgul continue to offer fantastic business support to Indigenous business (new and existing) across the Kimberley. We encourage you to have a look at their web site for some of the success stories to date.

Further Native Title hearings took place in Broome during 2016. The Guumbarr Trust has allocated up to $3M to two of the parties to assist them with this process.

Once Native Title is Determined the Waardi Membership will change and the State will be required to pay $20M into an Indigenous Housing Fund and $10M into an Economic Development Fund. Waardi is planning for a Determination to be made towards the end of 2017.

Waardi continues to focus on it’s goals and vision while working to achieve real results for GJJ people.

 

allanAllan Wedderburn
General Manager, Waardi Limited
14 December 2016