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Article: Empowering Young Women: The Kungka Advocacy Project

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Empowering Young Women: The Kungka Advocacy Project

Empowering Young Women: The Kungka Advocacy Project

The Kungka Education Advocacy Project, funded by The National Indigenous Australians Agency, supports young Anangu women to build confidence, develop leadership skills, and amplify their voices. Currently active in Kaltjiti and Pukatja (APY lands, South Australia), the project delivers workshops and camps that create safe spaces for young women to grow their agency and speak out on issues that matter to them, including alternative pathways to education and employment.

A key initiative this year is the development of a storytelling piece featuring Azaria Foster, senior Anangu Youth Development Officer and NPY Women's Council director. The short film follows Azaria's journey as a young leader, highlighting her role in empowering other young women to "speak up strong" and take on leadership roles in their own communities. Filmed on Azaria's family country in Irrunytju, Western Australia, the project also highlights the importance of intergenerational knowledge sharing. Azaria's grandmother was one of the early works at NPY Women's Council, and the film honours this legacy. As Azaria shared, "I was using my voice, I wasn't shame because that's what my grandmother taught me".

Once completed, the film will be integrated into Kungka's Advocacy Workshops as a central resource to inspire and encourage young women. These resources also contribute to an organisation-wide focus on embedding evaluative storytelling to better capture our work, support data analysis, and promote sovereignty over the stories of Anangu. Azaria remind us for the year ahead: "talking to young people, you've got to have love in your heart".

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Building International Markets for Remote Artists

Building International Markets for Remote Artists

While Tjanpi Desert Weavers has long held a strong presence in the Australian art market, expanding into international arenas is key to creating new income streams, enhancing artist recognition, and elevating the profile of Anangu and Yarnangu women weavers on the world stage.

This year, Tjanpi artwork travelled far beyond the NPY region. Tjanpi artwork featured at Le Festival International des Textiles Extraordinaires (France), Songlines: Tracking the Seven Sisters (Finland), World Expo 2025 (Japan), Echoes Unveiled: Art by Aboriginal Women from Australia (Japan) and the International Folk Art Market (Santa Fe, United States). By investing in international markets, Tjanpi is diversifying income opportunities, increasing recognition for highly skilled artists and supporting meaningful work that promotes cultural maintenance and intergenerational knowledge sharing.

Funding support was provided by the Indigenous Visual Arts Industry Support program, Creative Australia and Central Land Council.

 

“Santa Fe was a big market. People from every country were there. I met people from other countries. I was the only artist from Australia there. I was walking around looking at all the different art. I saw lots of artworks I had never seen before, such as big woven baskets made in a different way than we make.

I was sitting down doing a little bit of weaving, demonstrating. People were asking me what I was doing and I told them I was making a basket. People asked if any of my artworks were at the stall and I was able to show them my artworks. I was a bit nervous talking to people but people were friendly. I spoke to a radio lady for an interview, talking about Tjanpi. 

I liked looking at all of the other artworks from other countries and seeing different art, meeting people and learning about other cultures. And also telling people about where I’m from.”
- Cynthia Burke, Tjanpi Desert Weavers Arts and Culture Assistant and artist


“It was a very special experience to go overseas and to take part in the art market at IFAM in Santa Fe NM. I was very happy to see so many First Nations people from all different parts of the world in one place, sharing their art, culture, skills and knowledge and experiences as First Nations Artists. 

I am glad that I got to be a part of that trip and to be able to go over there and share with them the artworks and stories about our artists in the NPY regions and letting people know about the important work that Tjanpi Desert Weavers and NPY Women’s Council do to support First Nations people in the NPY region.”
- Veronica James, Tjanpi Desert Weavers Sales Assistant

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Making Sure the Voices of Our Children Are Heard

Making Sure the Voices of Our Children Are Heard

The National Voice for our Children is an initiative by the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC) that seeks to ensure Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people are meaningfully involved in shaping the policies and programs that affect their lives now and into the future.

NPY Women’s Council has supported this initiative by preparing a formal submission to SNAICC based on feedback from our directors around the priority of centring young people in advocacy and decriminalising the dominant narratives that surround them.

The submission will contribute to the development of the Youth Voice framework by highlighting the specific challenges faced by young people from the NPY region. These include systemic barriers to participation in regional and national decision-making forums, which too often result in their voices being overlooked.

Featured in our submission was our Child and Family Wellbeing Program’s Superheroes project as a case study. This project showcases creative and culturally relevant ways to amplify the voices of young people, empowering them to lead conversations around issues that matter to them.

SNAICC has recognised the value of this approach and plans to draw on the framing of the case study in designing a Youth Voice model that reflects the lived experiences of Anangu young people and strengthens the connection between policy development and positive outcomes.

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NPY Women's Council is grounded in, and continues to live and work on, the sovereign Lands of the Arrernte people, and the Aṉangu and Yarnangu people - the rightful custodians of the Ngaanyatjarra, Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara lands.