TRRA’s vision is to create better outcomes for Aboriginal people. The four priority areas that we’re tackling at the moment are housing, economic development, health, and education. 

Our strategy is to approach these key areas holistically; tackling the barriers for Aboriginal people across their whole lifetime. 

As Shane Riley, Project Officer at TRRA explains, “Health starts with Mum and Dad being healthy and having healthy bubs. Then it’s about educating kids as well as the community. Then there’s housing – making sure we’ve got stable housing for our Aboriginal people, which also goes back to health. And then economic development – making sure there’s appropriate and sustainable employment outcomes for our people, which then flows back into health, housing and education.” 

Dubbo has the biggest Aboriginal population in regional Australia. We unfortunately have an unbelievable amount of kids entering the juvenile justice system, which is why a lot of our focus is on the education space. 

Having better education for Aboriginal people will close a lot of gaps, leading to better health outcomes and better justice outcomes, says TRRA Delegate Rob Riley. 

“It’s hard for Aboriginal people to get a say in education. That’s why we arranged meetings with the Executive Director of a government unit called PES (Professional Ethical Standards), and through our talks we now have two senior Aboriginal Project Officers in that department. So, any educational issues can now have a cultural lens put over how they’re solved and implemented.”

When it comes to creating better outcomes for community, Local Decision Making is really helping TRRA to understand the system and how to create those opportunities within the system to benefit our people. Ultimately, we want to create a world where Aboriginal people have the best chance to be whatever they want to be.