Here is a selection of projects we’re currently working on, along with legacy work and past experiences that shape what we do at Good Projects Australia.
Project Examples
Warmun Art Aboriginal Corporation
A comprehensive, multiple-project engagement with a remote Aboriginal Arts and Culture Centre.
Dates
2024-present
Partners
Australian Government
WA Government
FRRR
WAITOC
Location
East Kimberley, WA
Funds Raised
$3,000,000+
Highlights
Strategic Planning
Capacity Building
Connecting to Country
Indigenous Languages
Men’s Wellness Program
About Warmun Art
Warmun Art Centre is a highly-regarded, non-profit, community-owned centre established for the purpose of preservation, maintenance and celebration of Gija culture through the continued development of innovative contemporary ochre paintings and other art forms..
Community Consultation
A key facet of our service is to spend quality time with our partners, to sit down and truly listen to their ideas and aspirations, through regular community visits and virtual support.
Fundraising
Good Projects Australia has secured more than $3 million for the organisation. This is for a variety of activities including a Gija Language program, a men’s health and well-being centre, and operational support.
Capacity Building
Like a lot of remote community organisations, capacity is often limited at Warmun Art Centre. We have provided support with strategic planning and workshops, to help build the team’s capacity to manage finances, fundraising, reporting and acquittals.
Project Development
Given the deep engagement and community consultations, we are working closely with the organisation to develop pilot programs and plan major, multi-year construction projects.
Program Delivery
Having secured significant funds for the organisation, Good Projects Australia is now playing a key role in rolling out programs such as the men’s health and well-being project.
Gija Men’s Place
A multi-year men’s program, featuring a wide variety of programs, activities and enterprises.
Dates
2024-present
Partners
Australian Government
Warmun Art Centre
AMP Foundation
University of Melbourne
Bower Studio
Location
Warmun, WA
Funds Raised
$2,400,000
Highlights
Men’s empowerment
Local jobs and training
Connection to Country
Family & community wellbeing
A Social Enterprise
The Gija Men’s Place is a remote community men’s space and shed (part of our Men’s Place program). In Warmun, the Gija Men’s Place will help to embed vital programs and activities, including employment-based social enterprises, providing jobs and training in a supported environment. Among other things, this enterprise will empower men to generate income through producing cultural artefacts, and designing and constructing community-building projects.
Strategic Partnerships
Good Projects Australia is partnered with the University of Melbourne Bower Studio to plan and deliver core elements of this project. The AMP Foundation is also an early-stage investor in this Social Enterprise concept.
Research Based
The research and background underpinning key aspects of The Men’s Place is the University of Melbourne Bower Studio’s longstanding work in remote communities, co-designing and co-building housing and community infrastructure.
An Innovative Solution
The Men’s Place addresses a number of critical issues at once, and uses an innovative Social Enterprise model to do so. This concept tackles urgent problems with remote housing infrastructure, along with a lack of meaningful jobs and other health and well-being challenges.
Community Led
Importantly, The Men’s Place is committed to ensuring all sheds and enterprises are community led and owned. This project is about empowering Gija men, offering local jobs, and building better housing infrastructure for their own families and community members, while also providing access to trauma-informed health and wellbeing services.
Pilot Projects
Good Projects Australia is currently working with communities to establish pilot projects such as this. In addition to working with Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations and First Nations Communities, we’re also currently exploring delivering this project at scale with Federal, State and Territory governments.
Uncle Rick’s Community Shed
Consultation, design and construction project, providing much-needed additions to a First Nations community shed in regional Victoria.
Dates
2024-present
Partnerships
Nalderun Aboriginal Corporation
University of Melbourne
Bower Studio
AMP Foundation
Location
Chewton, VIC
Funds Raised
$50,000+
Highlights
Improved facilities
Men’s empowerment
Skills transfer and jobs
About Nalderun
Nalderun creates empowering education and employment opportunities for First Nations young people at the foothills of Liyanganyuk Banyul, on Djaara Country. They are an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander run and led organisation under the guidance of our senior Djaara Elder Uncle Rick Nelson and continuing the legacy of Uncle Brien Nelson and Aunty Julie McHale.
Uncle Rick Nelson
Uncle Rick is the Senior Djaara Elder within the Upper Loddon Region and son of Uncle Brien Nelson. He is the Chair of Nalderun’s board. It is under his guidance and oversight that Nalderun’s programs run. He is a Cultural advisor for the broader community on various matters concerning the local Djaara and First Nations Community.
Community Shed
The community shed operates as a central hub from which Nalderun runs its Bush Tucker Place program. They bought back land near Chewton to heal Djandak, watched over by the Grandmother Tree. It is the site for the new First-Nations-youth-led Bush Tucker Place program, where they sow, grow and sell plants. Nalderun’s dream is for this place to be an Indigenous Educational hub.
The Project
In collaboration with the University of Melbourne Bower Studio, and Nalderun Aboriginal Corporation, designs were developed to expand Uncle Rick’s Community Shed with shade, decking and functional outdoor spaces. Master of Architecture students worked side by side with the local team to share skills and knowledge.
Partnerships
Good Projects Australia and the University of Melbourne Bower Studio worked with the Nalderun team to plan and deliver this project, with funding support from the AMP Foundation and in-kind contributions from local suppliers, and the University.
Building a National Network
Our vision is to connect Men’s Places across the nation to create a national network of men’s and community healing, and empowerment.
National Heritage Listed Wave Hill Walk-off Track
This legacy project highlights our team’s prior experience managing a nationally significant heritage project.
Dates
2014-2016
Partners
Australian Government
NT Government
Karungkarni Art & Culture
Gurindji Aboriginal Corporation
University of Melbourne
Bower Studio
Location
Wave Hill, NT
Funds Raised
$350,000 +
Highlights
2016 Yali-McNamara Award, Australian Institute of Architects
2018 Venice Architecture Biennale
Wave Hill Walk-off Track
The Wave Hill Walk-off Track is among only a handful of National Heritage sites in the Northern Territory, alongside Kakadu and Uluru. The track follows the footsteps and key sites of the iconic Gurindji strike that took place on 23 August 1966, led by Vincent Lingiari. This action lit the fire of the Aboriginal Land Rights movement, and culminated in the historic Hand-back of traditional lands to the Gurindji by the Hon. Gough Whitlam in 1975, a story captured in Australian folklore in Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody’s classic, From Little Things Big Things Grow.
Community Consultation
At the heart of this project was the long-held vision of the Gurindji community to pay tribute to the courageous men and women of the Walk-off and Land Rights movement. The project involved deep consultation with Elders and a vast number of community and government stakeholders. The University of Melbourne’s Bower Studio delivered invaluable support with architectural cultural mapping, co-design and construction.
Fundraising
A multi-year fundraising strategy secured multiple grants and philanthropic support, complemented by significant in-kind contributions of the University of Melbourne Bower Studio.
The Project
The first stages of the project involved deep consultation, and co-design, with Elders and community stakeholders, culminating in the construction of a series of pavilions and interpretive signage at the key historical sites of Jinparrak (old Wave Hill Station, Junarni and Kalkaringi. The Track was officially opened at the 50th Anniversary Freedom Day Festival in August 2016.
Partnerships
With the Walk-off story being of such national significance, the project was supported by a broad sector of the Australian community including Federal, Territory and Local Government, philanthropic sponsors and the University of Melbourne. The project was community-led by the Gurindji Aboriginal Corporation and Karungkarni Art and Culture Aboriginal Corporation.
10+ Years On
The Wave Hill Walk-off story continues to inspire positive change and the Gurindji community is growing from strength to strength, as they continue their proud journey of self-determination.
Good Cycles
This legacy project highlights our team’s prior experience establishing and managing a successful employment-based Social Enterprise.
Dates
2011-2017
Partnerships
PwC
Westpac
Lord Mayor’s Charitable Foundation.
Location
Melbourne, VIC
Highlights
Youth training programs
Apprenticeship program
Refugee engagement activities
Retail outlet
Corporate volunteering
A Social Enterprise
Good Cycles was developed from an initial idea into a thriving social enterprise and charity. This model was chosen to use business and trade as a force for social good, with the ultimate ambition of being a financially self-sufficient entity over time.
Employment Based
At the heart of the model was the idea that the best way to empower people is to help provide opportunities to learn skills, take part in supported work experience activities, obtain meaningful paid employment and transition into the open labour market.
Funding Secured
Critical to launching a project of this nature from nothing is securing the necessary funding. In this case, a mix of government, corporate and philanthropic funding was obtained on the back of well-crafted proposals, planning documents and direct pitches.
Marketing & Comms
When establishing an enterprise from the ground up, a lot of time and energy is invested in brand building, PR, and developing goodwill with a wide variety of stakeholders. In this case, the organisation benefitted greatly from creating a significant public profile, with plenty of media coverage and goodwill across the government, corporate and philanthropic sectors.
Partnerships
On the back of effective marketing, the organisation developed significant ongoing relationships and partnerships with the government, corporate and philanthropic sectors. This included Local, State and Federal Governments; major corporates, from Westpac to Medibank to PwC; and large philanthropic foundations such as the Lord Mayors Charitable Fund.
10+ Years On
More than a decade on, the organisation has grown and continues to thrive, with more than 150+ employees and operations across multiple retail and workshop sites. Importantly, the organisation continues to provide meaningful engagement and employment opportunities to those in need of a helping hand.
Gurindji Aboriginal Corporation RNTBC
This legacy project highlights our team’s prior experience establishing and managing a successful remote community Aboriginal Corporation.
Dates
2012-2022
Partners
Australian Government
NT Government
University of Melbourne
Bower Studio
Location
Kalkaringi, NT
Funds Raised
$5,000,000+
Highlights
Capacity Building
Community Enterprise
New & Improved Housing
Child & Family Centre
Freedom Day Festivals
Multi-use Court & AFL Oval
Wave Hill Walk-off Track
About Gurindji Corp
Founded in 2013, the Gurindji Aboriginal Corporation is a community-owned, not for profit, enterprise and the Prescribed Body Corporate for the Kalkaringi Township Native Title Area, dedicated to improving social and economic wellbeing of the Gurindji people.
Community Consultation
Establishing a community-controlled entity was a long-held vision of Gurindji Elders, and through deep and ongoing consultation spanning many years, the organisation was established to bring the vision into reality.
Fundraising
With no initial bank balance to work with, a diverse and multi-year funding strategy was delivered to support the organisations establishment, operations, assets, enterprise opportunities and community programs.
Community Building
In just a decade since founding the organisation, multiple high-impact community projects have been led and delivered by the Gurindji Corp team, including land and housing developments, sports facilities, a new Child and Family Centre, and the iconic annual Freedom Day Festival.
Social Enterprise
The Gurindji Corp now operates a number of successful community-owned enterprises including the store, construction and maintenance, and visitor accommodation. These enterprises provide significant employment and economic empowerment to the community and region.
10+ Years On
The Gurindji Aboriginal Corporation continues to be an inspirational model for remote community self-determination, delivering numerous successful community services, enterprises and cultural programs.