Clan violence, incarceration drop in remote Aboriginal town due to love for AFL
Mark Kurungaiyi lives in the remote Aboriginal Top End community of Wadeye and for the last year, footy has been more than just his hobby — it has also been his job.
Key points:
- Five locals working for AFLNT as part of CDP partnership
- Employees taught coaching, umpiring and team management
- Start of local league saw incarceration drop by 30pc
He is one of five AFLNT trainees in the community whose job is part of a new federally funded Community Development Programme, or work-for-the-dole scheme.
Mr Kurungaiyi, 22, said being part of the program had been a steep learning curve.
"One day I'm going to be strong leadership, helping, and I'm going to be the boss for… this community."
Previously, competitions in remote communities were run, managed and supported by external staff — something AFLNT wanted to change.
Remote development manager Josh Connell, from Wadeye, was put in charge of the first trial program which got locals working for the league in an official capacity.
"Wadeye was the first place we introduced this, and I knew there was a lot of guys wanting to come down and help out but they didn't know how to go about it, or they didn't have the correct platform to do so," Mr Connell said.
"So I went down to CDP and we came up with a model, and now I've got five guys working under me — coaching, doing the scoreboard, umpiring, learning.
"These guys don't even realise they're learning the things they're doing."
If all goes to plan, Mr Connell's goal is for his job to become redundant.
"If I can work myself out of a job and these guys take over, I'd love that," he said.
'We know they love football'
Aloysius Lantjin is another of Mr Connell's employees, and he said there had already been opportunities for trainees to test their leadership skills.
"Paul and Mark [ran the games] last week, and when Josh went to Alice Springs, [he was] coaching the players from each community and under-12s," he said.
"So Mark and Paul have done it without Josh, it's really good."
Mr Connell said the success of the program meant it could—and should—be rolled out across the rest of the Territory.
"If we can bring employment into footy, then we've got this opportunity nobody's ever done before to have some guys who aren't so interested in mowing lawns or cutting wood or doing art… they've got this other outlet," he said.
"We know they love football, so to create that opportunity to grow and develop their skills through that way, I think it's really exciting."
Footy drives down incarceration rate
Steven Pulchen, whose father is one of the traditional owners of Wadeye, said local employment was a key factor to reducing violence in the community.
Wadeye has a history of riots caused by tension between rival clan groups, something many leaders like Mr Pulchen in the community are trying to stamp out.
"[It's] been nearly six months now, all the trouble's gone," Mr Pulchen said.
He said an increase in jobs for locals, including the AFLNT program, had contributed to the result.
"No more violence and the other young people are playing footy so Wadeye's doing good at the moment and today we are all happy," he said.
Mr Connell also helped revive the local competition, which had petered out after the previous regional development manager left in 2016.
CEO of AFLNT, Stuart Totham, said restarting the competition had done more than just create local jobs.
"In some cases crime rates also go down when football is played in community which is evident in Wadeye as well," he said.
"The commencement of the 2017 football season in Wadeye caused community incarceration rates to drop by 30 per cent, so it can have a multitude of impacts in community."
He said AFLNT's goal is to one day have local leagues be entirely run by the community.
"It's also really important for local community to be engaged in their football so if our remote development manager for some reason departs his role football doesn't fall apart, we need to make sure we build local capacity so football can be run continuously," Mr Totham said.
AFLNT now run the partnership in three other remote communities, but hope to continue to roll it out across the Territory.
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