Reconciliation Australia Director, Professor Mick Dodson, has heard plenty of the bad news about Indigenous communities and believes it is time to pay tribute to people who are running strong, effective Indigenous organisations. That’s why Reconciliation Australia, a not for profit organisation, along with sponsors BHP Billiton have developed the Indigenous Governance Award. This ongoing awards scheme is offering $20,000 in prize money for the inaugural winners.
“The Indigenous Governance Awards (IG) is now an annual event open to incorporated Indigenous organisations nationwide,” said Professor Dodson, Chair of the Awards Steering Committee. “The awards will recognise best practice in Indigenous governance and help us share some of the experience and good ideas coming out of our communities.”
By boosting awareness about the benefits of good governance, Professor Dodson says the awards will encourage organisations to invest time and energy into this important element of their work for the community.
“The awards will also educate the wider Australian community by highlighting some of the good news in Indigenous Australia and the impressive achievements of our organisations,” he said.
The IG Awards flow from a broader project that was established after Reconciliation Australia staged a ground breaking governance conference in 2002.
Professor Dodson said that through BHP Billiton’s support for the governance project, which includes extensive research on what works and what doesn’t in the governance of Indigenous communities, the first IG Award winner will receive $10,000 and there will be two Achievement Awards of $5,000 each.
“Our organisations have so much to be proud of and these awards give us an opportunity to show what we can do and what we are doing to build strong communities. Much of what we have learned about the importance of governance in overturning problems and meeting challenges comes from the findings of the Harvard Project for American Indian Economic Development in the United States which has been collecting information for more than 15 years.”
Award winners will be announced in December.
