New paper published
16 April 2018
Congratulations to NI researchers Dr Kate Golebiowska & Alicia Boyle along with NI Adjunct Sophie Pennec and CDU VET's Denise Horvath who have just published a paper "Immigrant-born workers and quality early childhood education and care in the Northern Territory, Australia" in the International Journal of Training Research.
The paper showcases collaboration between Northern Institute (Kate and Alicia), Institut National d'Etudes Demographiques (National Institute of Demographics) in Paris (Sophie) and CDU VET Children’s Services and Education Support.
Read the paper HERE
NT Young Achiever Awards 2018
13 April 2018
Friday night we joined the Ford family at the NT Young Achiever Awards to support Emily Ford, a Northern Institute junior research assistant and @CDUni Law student who was a finalist of the Genesee & Wyoming Australia Indigenous Achievement Award. It was a close race with some inspiring leaders in the running including 2016 NT’s Miss World Australia entrant Magnolia Maymuru but the winner was Daryl Lacey. Daryl is dedicated to helping conserve Australia’s northern environments and Indigenous cultures, was a senior ranger with the Dhimurru Aboriginal Corporation and is a Team Leader with the Federal Department of Agriculture. Daryl’s work covers the Top End with a focus on North Eastern Arnhem Land. He has created strong links and facilitated better outcomes for Northern Australian biosecurity efforts. Daryl is also an accomplished sportsman. Congratulations Daryl and all the finalists for being role models in your community and beyond. See more pics HERE
NI hands over International Women’s Day donations
12 April 2018
This week Northern Institute Director, Professor Ruth Wallace, handed over nearly $400 raised from the gold coin donation entry and cup-cake fundraiser held at Northern Institute’s annual International Women’s Day function in March.
Paula Hawthorne and baby Lauren (who slept through the entire event) joined Mary Petersen to accept the donation on behalf of the Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA). The money raised will help the local branch to continue to provide their valuable services to the Darwin, Palmerston and Rural community.
To find out more about the ABA’s services and events please visit their Facebook page HERE.
New College office opening!
03 April 2018
Congratulations to the new College of Indigenous Futures, Arts & Society (CIFAS), which NI is now a part of, who opened their reception area today at CDU Casuarina Campus - Yellow 1 Level 2 - the CIFAS admin team now have a dedicated area to support their staff and students....so we all celebrated with black forest cake. To find out more visit the CIFAS Facebook page LINK
Pic: Professor Ruth Wallace (Acting Dean, CIFAS) symbollically breaks a bottle of sparkling while Alan Graham (CIFAS College Manager) cuts the cake
Jakarta ‘Realist Evaluation’ workshop
03 April 2018
NI Realist Evaluation expert Gill Westhorp travelled to Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia in Jakarta recently to run a three day ‘Introduction to Realist Evaluation’ workshop. The workshop was jointly sponsored by Northern Institute (CDU), Atma Jaya Catholic University of Indonesia and Wahana Visi (World Vision Indonesia). Over the past four years, Gill has led a capacity-building realist evaluation of a Citizen Voice and Action program conducted by Wahana Visi - co-facilitators for the Jakarta workshop were drawn from that group.
“It’s fantastic to see the progress those team members have made,” Gill said, “from participants in training workshops themselves to helping to provide training in realist evaluation for others.”
More than 30 participants took part and came from several universities, Wahana Visi’s national office and international regional office, international non-government organisations and evaluation consultants in Indonesia.
“This workshop filled in three days after it was advertised, and there’s a lot of interest in running a repeat event later in the year. We really hope to see more realist evaluation in Indonesia over time,” said Gill. To find out more about NI’s Realist Evaluation work please visit HERE
Cyclone Marcus & 'Lessons not learned' - An article by NI researchers Deepika Mathur & Supriya Mathew
27 March 2018
Darwin was directly in the path of Cyclone Marcus and suffered severe impacts from wind gusts up to 130km/hour on Saturday, March 17. Northern Territory authorities made no declaration of emergency, but the Insurance Council of Australia declared it a “catastrophe” for the Greater Darwin region. Marcus is considered the city’s second-worst cyclone after Tracy, which devastated Darwin on Christmas Eve 1974.
The good news is that no deaths have been reported. But had it been a category 4 or 5 cyclone, instead of category 2, how would the city have fared?
The post-Marcus chaos in Greater Darwin is not just “a real wake-up call”, but a typical case of lessons yet to be learned. For example, large shallow-rooted trees planted after Cyclone Tracy and overhead power lines brought down in the cyclone were both hazards that could have been avoided. Read more...
Bush footy may be health key - researcher
26 March 2018
An Australian Rules football competition in Central Australia’s bush communities may hold the key to improved health and wellbeing outcomes among Aboriginal people, a Charles Darwin University researcher says. Northern Institute Indigenous Social Researcher Professor Barry Judd put forward the idea to guests of philanthropist Susan Alberti at the Australian Club in Melbourne this month on the eve of the 2018 AFL season.
“I spoke about the wellbeing benefits of playing football in Indigenous communities such as Papunya, and of the need for an on-country football league with support from the AFL industry to operate out there in a way that it hasn’t to date,” Professor Judd said.
“I explained that these communities are relatively safe places for young men to play football. They are places where they know how to behave socially according to traditional law, and where elders are able to engage with younger men and put them on a right path in life through football.”
Professor Judd, a descendant of the Pitjantjatjara people and a leading scholar on Aboriginal participation in Australian sport, has spent several years observing the social impact of Australian Rules on Indigenous Australia and how participation in organised sport affects identity and everyday life in remote communities. Read the full story here
NI celebrates their 8th International Women’s Day event
18 March 2018
Over 70 guests gathered on CDU campus March 8 for Northern Institute’s annual International Women’s Day event. An opening address was presented by the newly appointed NT Administrator Her Honour Vicki O’Halloran with The Hon Lauren Moss MLA delivering the keynote speech. Bo Remenyi, Northern Territory Australian of the Year, was guest of honour and Bilawara Lee, CDU’s Indigenous Academic in Residence provided the Welcome to Country. The gold coin entry fee & cupcake fundraiser raised several hundreds of dollars for the local branch of the Australian Breastfeeding Association (ABA).
As well as a delicious morning tea and Photo-booth for people to express their #PressforParity support there were displays by:
- Australian Breastfeeding Association
- Childbirth Education Foundation
- CDU Office of People and Capability
- Northern Territory Education Union
- CDU International House
- Centrelink
- Miracle Babies Foundation
- Rheumatic Heart Disease Australia
After the morning tea Northern Institute, in partnership with the ABA, ran a panel discussion entitled ‘Paid work & Parenting: Policy Matters’ addressing the issue of returning to work as a primary carer of children, the challenges faced and the policies that make it easier. The panel was MC’d by Megan Lawton with panel members including The Hon Lia Finocciaro MLA, NT Anti-Discrimination Commissioner Sally Sievers and primary caregivers Amy Harrison and James Courtney. It was wonderful to see so many women taking part in the Q&A and particularly families with young children and babies attending the event as a whole – we hope this tradition continues for future IWD celebrations. See you at IWD2019!
View event photographs LINK
View Photo-booth photographs LINK