Students take the lead in powerful NAIDOC storytelling project

What happens when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people are given the tools and creative space to tell their own stories?

For students in Townsville, the answer is two powerful documentary short films that will be shared with classrooms across the region later this year.

The project, Yarning Circle: Hearing from the Next Generation, is an initiative by Global Leadership Network Australia in partnership with Carinity Education Shalom.

It is being created to mark 50 years of Deadly NAIDOC Week celebrations and is proudly supported by a Queensland Government NAIDOC Grant.

As part of the program, senior students, including Year 8s, are learning filmmaking skills, taking part in workshops and sharing their stories through culturally respectful yarning circles.

From Townsville to communities across Queensland

The students involved in the project are based in Townsville but have deep cultural connections to communities across the state.

Next Gen Director of Global Leadership Network Australia Fiona Cochrane said students bring perspectives shaped by their ties to family and Country.

“The students have strong cultural connections to Country from as far as Mornington Island and Palm Island to Doomadgee and Gregory Downs,” she said.

Fiona said the project supports both leadership development and creative skill-building.

“It’s important that young people from regional and remote communities are consulted, heard and valued.

“It gives them the chance to share their knowledge and lived experience – about who they are as young people and what they want to say about themselves and their culture.”

Building understanding through storytelling

Andy Bollom, Campus Pastor at Carinity Education Shalom, is incredibly pleased how the students are embracing the project.

“We are so proud of our students and future leaders focused on their education, proud of their culture and grounded in their faith,” said Andy.

“NAIDOC Week continues to provide a powerful spotlight on their dreams, family legacy, and unique voices of our land to be amplified across our nation to bring healing and unity.”

Once completed, the documentary films will be shared through the Global Leadership Network’s national program, reaching around 100 schools across Australia.

The project aims to strengthen understanding, respect and connection between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people and non-Indigenous people by sharing authentic stories from the next generation.