West Arnhem Regional Council (WARC) is thrilled to announce the Maningrida oval lights project is now fully complete and commissioned.
After some initial teething problems, DEC Installation and WARC are happy to see the LED lights being used to their full potential by the community every week. 

The lights have been welcomed by players and spectators, covering 100 per cent of the surface for everyone to show their unique and dazzling skills on the football field.  The AFL football finals are closing in and the Grand Final will be played Saturday, 12 August.
This project was funded by the Department of Territory Families, Housing and Communities Places and Spaces Remote Community Infrastructure Grant.

The people make the place this Territory Day, and every day.  West Arnhem communities celebrated Territory Day in style on Saturday, 1 July.

Official Territory Day events were held in Maningrida and Jabiru with lots of community members and visitors enjoying the fireworks extravaganza.  This year, the Territory Day theme was ‘The People make the Place’, which celebrates the Territorians who make the Territory such a great place to live.

West Arnhem Regional Council supported these community events. 

West Arnhem’s Local Authorities continue to raise and pursue matters of importance in their respective communities.

Maningrida Local Authority members have previously raised the subject of increasing overall safety in the community, and continued with the expansion with an effective solution to invest in additional solar street lighting at identified locations across the community.  West Arnhem Regional Council has been undertaking the work to install additional solar lights at the following locations:

• Takeaway stores adjacent to Council Office
• Ceremonial Grounds

Additional solar lights are scheduled to be installed at:

• School basketball courts
• Bottom Camp road
• Community town park

Solar LED lighting was identified as the most cost-effective solution to increase community safety at these locations with the lights featuring movement detection. Thank you to the Local Authority for funding this important community project.

West Arnhem Regional Council will be holding a series of community info sessions across the region in the next few weeks!

All West Arnhem residents and community stakeholders are invited to attend these sessions and take the opportunity to ask questions about your community!

Council staff, Elected Members and Local Authority members will be present to answer your questions – they want to hear from you!

Member for Arafura Manuel Brown MLA will also be in attendance as well as a representative from the ‘Yes’ Campaign for the Voice to Parliament. This is a great chance to find out what all this means to you.

The community info sessions will be held on the following dates:

• Warruwi: Wednesday 19 July, 10am to 1pm
• Maningrida: Wednesday, 2 August
• Gunbalanya: Thursday, 10 August
• Minjilang: Wednesday 23 August

West Arnhem Regional Council officially launched the Men’s Yarning Space program on Thursday, 6 July.

The impact this program has already had on the community is incredible!  Wellbeing Services Coordinator Geri Narul said the program is about building relationships with our young people.  “There is a disconnect between us and our Elders. It is very important that I have had the opportunity to implement a program for our our men in general to create a safe space for them.” 

“Each week we will choose a topic and start conversations around them, we are not experts but we are here to listen to everyone. The Elders and I have decided to start the conversation around creating something similar for our women.”
One of the male participants said, “I can’t wait for next Thursday, I am really happy for all the men in Warruwi.” 

The Men’s Yarning Space was launched with YSR, BRACS with a blessing by the Warruwi Church as the community welcomes something new for the men in Warruwi.   Senior Traditional Owner Jenny Inmulugulu opened the launch with a prayer before the actual opening took place, and a very big thank you to Community Safety Officer Rupert Manmarulu for the cultural entertainment and for his great speech about the program and how it will benefit the community. 

Jenny Inmulugulu said, “It has been a long time coming and we are glad we have identified the challenges we face daily in Warruwi with our young fellas and I think this program will bring us together.”

Thanks to Damien Narul (YSR Officer) and Peter Nangartpu Gwadbu (BRACS) for assisting and also a very BIG thank you to @13YARN for the merchandise.   13YARN (13 92 76) is a crisis support line for Indigenous people who are in crisis.  If you have any questions, please chat to Geri Narul at West Arnhem Regional Council. See you all next Thursday at 5.30pm.

Gunbalanya celebrated NAIDOC Week with an exciting whole-of-community event on Friday, 14 July.

The day started with a dance performance up at the art centre, which was followed by the NAIDOC march to the oval carrying the banner kids had made in the youth program.  The community then kicked off the activities, water slide, running races, egg throw, longest kick, turtle hunting, kangaroo spearing, musical hoops and warrior dance freeze. 

To add to the fun, there was also music and videos pumping out of the trailer speaker.  To end the day, there was a big feed and lots of prizes.  West Arnhem Regional Council wish to CDP, Art Centre, SCFC and NAIDOC for their support and assistance.

West Arnhem Regional Council accepted the resignation of Councillor Catherine Ralph at the Ordinary Council Meeting on Friday, 23 June.

Cr Ralph who has represented the Kakadu Ward, was not only the youngest Councillor to sit on the West Arnhem Regional Council, she was also the youngest person elected to a Local Government Council at the August 2021 Northern Territory council election at the age of 19.

During her time with WARC, Cr Ralph has been a great role model for other young people who are interested in getting their voices heard. As an emerging young leader, she was chosen to be a guest speaker for diversity in local government at the LGANT Elected Member symposium in October 2021, where she talked about her journey so far and what drove her to stand as a candidate.

Mayor Ryan and his fellow Councillors wish to acknowledge and thank Cr Ralph for her service and tenure and wish her well in her future endeavours.

West Arnhem Regional Council is working with the NT Electoral Commission to fil the casual vacancy for the Kakadu Ward. It is anticipated that the By-election will take place in September 2023. Further information will be provided in the near future.

ENDS

Having information on companion animal populations is essential for animal population health and management program planning, but also essential in the event of emergencies like cyclones and flooding. 

For many years, AMRRIC has worked with communities and local stakeholders to support animal health and welfare planning, preparedness, response and recovery for emergency events. 

Building on this work, recently, we've been fortunate to have support from the Australian Government and Northern Territory Government through the Northern Territory Risk Reduction Program to work with communities in West Arnhem Land, to undertake community-wide companion animal censuses, to help inform emergency event planning.

As part of this work, in May and June this year, AMRRIC staff members Dr Sophie, Dr Sarah, Rebecca and Jory, alongside dedicated volunteers Luke, Sabina and Dr John, visited Gunbalanya, Maningrida, Minjilang, and Warruwi.  The AMRRIC team were also joined and assisted by West Arnhem Regional Council, the CDP, and the Bawinanga Rangers. Special thanks to Maminjina, Pauline, Cindy, Vicky, Felina, Sheldon and Sherrel.

During the visit the teams visited every house in each community, spoke with the owners about the project, recorded the animals on the AMRRIC App, and offered anti-parasitic medications to treat for fleas, ticks, and intestinal worms to all the dogs and cats. 
They also provided on-the-ground training in disease surveillance to local collaborators, helping to build local animal health and biosecurity capacity. 

The information collected during these censuses will now be analysed by AMRRIC's animal management experts, and be available to help inform planning for future emergency events, as well as animal management programs in the region. Big thanks to the warm welcome from all of the communities, as well as the awesome teams we've worked with throughout the region!

This year National NAIDOC Week will run from 2-9 July with the powerful theme 'For Our Elders'.

Across every generation, our Elders have played, and continue to play, an important role and hold a prominent place in our communities and families.   They are cultural knowledge holders, trailblazers, nurturers, advocates, teachers, survivors, leaders, hard workers and our loved ones.   Our loved ones who pick us up in our low moments and celebrate us in our high ones. Who cook us a feed to comfort us and pull us into line, when we need them too.  

They guide our generations and pave the way for us to take the paths we can take today. Guidance, not only through generations of advocacy and activism, but in everyday life and how to place ourselves in the world.  
We draw strength from their knowledge and experience, in everything from land management, cultural knowledge to justice and human rights. Across multiple sectors like health, education, the arts, politics and everything in between, they have set the many courses we follow. 

The struggles of our Elders help to move us forward today.  The equality we continue to fight for is found in their fight. Their tenacity and strength has carried the survival of our people. It is their influence and through their learnings that we must ensure that when it comes to future decision making for our people, there is nothing about us - without us. 

We pay our respects to the Elders we’ve lost and to those who continue fighting for us across all our Nations and we pay homage to them. 

In 2023, how will you celebrate For Our Elders?