OUTBACK MEETS THE BEACH
OVERVIEW
2008 PROGRAMME SPONSORS
OVERVIEW
In 2007, North Palm Beach SLSC launched a cultural exchange programme titled “Outback meets the Beach”. The objective of the programme was to promote iconic young groups of Australians from the beaches with those of Outback Australia to travel to each other’s communities and spend invaluable time learning and living in the vastly different environments that each has to offer.
Every year twelve indigenous youths from the ages of 13 to 18 will be selected from the remote communities of Burunga, Beswick and Wugularr, near the heritage listed Kakadu National Park in the Northern territory of Australia.
On February 13, 2008, (National Sorry Day) coincidentally the day that Australia’s Prime Minister, Kevin Rudd apologised to the stolen generations on behalf of all Australians, the first group arrived. They travelled via Darwin to Sydney and onto North Palm Beach Surf Life Saving Club, where they stayed for two weeks.
These twelve kids undertook a “mentoring and mateship” programme that focused on building their self esteem and learning valuable life skills. The training provided covered subjects such as basic first aid, water safety, water confidence, indigenous tour guiding and deckhand skills to name but a few. They also were provided with motivational and self esteem building activites, sometimes lacking in these remote communities, giving these youth the chance to gain hands on skills and the hope these will be used towards a better future.
Well known indigenous Australians such as Michael O’Loughlin and Adam Goodes from the Sydney Swans, Stan Grant and his wife Tracey Holmes and Tom. E. Lewis visited the Outback meets the Beach “camp” alongside other fantastic Australians such as INXS’ Andrew Farris veteran TV journalist, author and lobbyist Jeff McMullen, Radio and News Columnist Mike Carlton and of course Australia’s most successful Olympian, Ian Thorpe.
Vocational training courses were run by North Palm Beach SLSC with the assistance of Sydney Ferries and the Maritime Union of Australia, NSW National Parks and Wildlife and the dedicated members of the Surf Club who took many days off work conducting surf safety, first aid and resuscitation training.
Later in 2008/09 the Surf Club “mate” kids who worked through training with the indigenous youths will travel to Kakadu from Sydney and stay in these remote communities, learning how to live in the traditional way these people have for thousands of years, hunting Kangaroo and turtle, eating bush tucker, making didgeridoos, learning about aboriginal art and living the life that they live.
This ground breaking program is a “two way street” idea of learning. It’s about breaking down the barriers of bigotry, racism, and learning from and depending on each other regardless of each other’s background.
2008 PROGRAMME SPONSORS
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