Kelly Barclay

Indigenous Rights - Education - Australia

Kelly lives in a small indigenous community in Doomadgee, North Queensland, consisting of approximately 1500 people. The majority of families in this area are indigenous and most survive on $300- $400 a fortnight.

The community has serious problems with youth drink-driving, driving without a licence and school truancy. Many children don’t attend school but spend their days sniffing petrol or simply doing nothing. The self-esteem of youth in Doomadgee is so low that many kids cannot picture themselves ever travelling out of the area. On average, around thirty people end up in court each month because they know very little about the law. People are not educated in their basic human rights and especially not their legal rights.

Kelly has taken a practical approach to getting a positive message to Doomadgee’s youth – the message that they can do plenty, both for themselves and their community. In 2004, Kelly was a co-ordinator of the Future Skills program, run through TAFE. This program gives kids opportunities to learn better everyday living skills such budgeting, food preparation and driving awareness. These basic skills increase kids’ abilities to get jobs in the community or go onto higher education. It also helps youth improve their knowledge of maintaining social order - young people come to understand what is expected of them and how they can contribute positively to society.

Since the project began, young indigenous kids in the area are more aware of their legal rights and have more basic skills. Kelly hopes that with the next course, the young people involved can build their self-esteem and work towards positive social change. Kelly also aims to improve the level of legal education in the community. This will involve integrating legal studies into the high school curriculum, and jointly addressing the education of the wider community of Doomadgee Queensland, through a collective action plan.

Kelly believes that “we can make a difference right now. Not tomorrow, not when we have more funds or more indigenous people in power, but now.”