15 / 80
When opportunity knocked,
Rarrtjiwuy nominated herself
for a board position and was
unanimously elected chair—the
youngest person, and only female,
to do so. She now juggles that role
with her position at Miwatj, and
spearheads other key community
social issues.
Recently Rarrtjiwuy has advocated
at state level in favour of a banned
drinkers register to operate in
licensed takeaway outlets, to curb
the pervasive social destruction
caused by alcohol. Community
elders urged her to step forward
for this. She also had a very
personal motivation:
My own family members have
passed away, ended up in
prison, or had an unhappy
life because of alcohol. That’s
had a ripple effect on me
and all the rest of my family.
That’s why the values that I
work towards are my values
and I’m not afraid to share
them. That’s why I advocate
for alcohol permit restrictions
and for understanding of
domestic violence.
I spoke about this on the
news; I said we have a great
permit system but one of the
things I continue to see is our
families crawling out of the
pubs, being allowed to be
that drunk that they go back
and harass their families or
disturb their children who are
trying to sleep.
This is an issue I want to deal
with. If I’m passionate about
something, I’ll step up and be
part of that.
Rarrtjiwuy is setting up a Regional
Young Leaders Program, inspired
by Jawun’s Emerging Leaders
program. She is determined to see
it become a success and meet a
real need in her region:
I want this to be a program
that supports young people
build their confidence,
enabling them to be on
committees and boards
and understanding why
it’s important to do that. In
this region not many young
people sit on boards and
committees. They need to
use their full potential and
participate at a full capacity.
Rarrtjiwuy considers herself an
educator more than a leader,
and thinks the older leaders
who inspired her were primarily
educators as well:
Throughout all my roles, I’ve
always had an education
role—whether educating
about Yol
ŋ
u and their society
and culture and language—or
educating Yol
ŋ
u about things
like policies and procedures
and professional realities
that a lot of people take for
granted. It doesn’t matter
what it is I do, it’s always
about education. I feel
like the people who raised
me and went on to be my
leaders, that’s all they were
doing, trying to educate
people on how to live in this
world of two cultures, how to
walk in both worlds and use
that to our advantage.
There are times when Rarrtjiwuy
finds leadership a heavy burden:
Once you step into a
leadership role there’s a high
expectation on you, not just
from your organisation but
from your community as well.
She stays in touch with her fellow
2015–16 Emerging Leaders and is
part of Jawun’s Stories of Female
Leadership network that brings
together corporate and Indigenous
female leaders (see Section 1.4).
Underscoring how challenging a
demanding leadership role can be,
Rarrtjiwuy considers both these
networks ‘a treat’ for the way they
energise and nurture her.
Not yet 30 years old, Rarrtjiwuy
has achieved an exceptional
level of influence and trust in her
community, among her peers and
in the eyes of traditional elders.
She sees it simply as having a
voice and respecting customary
values of leadership:
When I think of the values of
those old leaders, it would
be about not being afraid to
say what you feel. It’s about
having a voice, opening your
mouth and saying, ‘This is not
what I think is right’.
Talking about your values,
whether in personal or
professional contexts, is
important. Waiting around
for Superman to come, it’s
never going to happen. That’s
one thing I learned from the
elders we have here, that if
you wait for a leader, they’re
never going to come. If you
don’t see a leader in front of
you, then you need to step up
into that position.
Rarrtjiwuy believes she was
born into the responsibilities she’s
taken on:
My name means ‘from afar’.
Literally it refers to an actual
place just north-west of
Gove, near a long island that
I’ve only flown over, but the
meaning is just somewhere
far away. Old people have
a sense of what’s the right
name. I’ve reflected on my
name a million times and I’m
pretty sure they gave it to me
because they thought I’d have
to go far.
1. EMPOWERING INDIGENOUS LEADERSHIP 15