Eight of Australia’s top Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations have been selected from a record pool of nominees in the prestigious 2012 Indigenous Governance Awards (IGAs).
The 2012 IGAs attracted over 100 applications from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander owned organisations and projects—more than tripling the number from the previous awards program in 2010.
An independent judging panel chaired by Professor Mick Dodson had the tough job of selecting just eight finalists.
“Indigenous governance is really improving and our finalists represent the best of what is happening in Indigenous communities,” Professor Dodson said.
“We’re very pleased with the enormous response. We received a record-breaking 107 applications and the standard of quality was also very high.
“They are true success stories, achieving clear results in what are largely very challenging environments.”
Included in the eight finalists is a women’s council who work to strengthen the economic, emotional and social wellbeing of women and families living in traditional homelands across South Australia, the Northern Territory and Western Australia; and a youth development and leadership program in the Northern Territory.
While the 2012 finalists represent a diverse range of services, each has been developed from the ground up and are genuinely owned and driven by the communities and members they represent.
Judges will visit each finalist throughout August and September with the winners announced at an Awards event at BHP Billiton in Melbourne on the 12 October.
Held biennially, the IGAs were created in 2005 by Reconciliation Australia in partnership with BHP Billiton, to identify, celebrate and promote strong leadership and effective governance.
