Building a Foundation for the future – a brief overview of Wunan

“We set up Wunan Foundation to succeed and counter the widespread perception that Indigenous organisations only ever last for a short while before they eventually fail.”
Ian Trust – Founding Chairperson, Wunan Foundation

Wunan is an Aboriginal development organisation in the East Kimberley, with a clear purpose and strategy to drive long-term socio-economic change for Aboriginal people by providing real opportunities, investing in people’s abilities, and by encouraging and rewarding aspiration and self-responsibility.

Wunan has been established for 10 years, during which time it has methodically built its capacity to make a difference in the East Kimberley. With a strong asset base that includes a number of commercial investments, Wunan is able to invest in innovation and carry a long-term, independent strategy for change. We are committed to building partnerships with the community, business sector, and Government to make the East Kimberley a place where Aboriginal people can look forward to building a stronger and more independent future for themselves.

Today, a key objective for Wunan is to shift the balance of dependence of Aboriginal people on welfare from 80% to 20% over 20 years. This objective is based on a clear guiding philosophy that Aboriginal success grows from investing in people’s ability, real opportunity, and reward for effort.

We facilitate long term and sustainable change by focusing on our strategic priorities:

These are being rolled out through a series of projects and programs aimed at achieving results. They include Stepping Stone Housing, Wunan Job Services, and our incubator of skills development programs such as Wunan Construction and Maintenance and the Connections program.

As an organisation we are working hard to gather a coalition of support to advocate and lobby for changes to welfare. We see that there is an urgent need to change attitudes and inspire not only Aboriginal people but Government.

This website will provide more detailed information about Wunan and its aims and objectives as well as giving an overview of the current issues impacting on Aboriginal people in the Region.

Key information about Wunan and the challenges facing Indigenous people in the East Kimberley region is outlined below:

– What does “Wunan” mean?
– The Wunan/East Kimberley region
– Indigenous disadvantage in the East Kimberley
– Addressing the challenge
– Looking forward – the plan ahead
– Relevant publications and other suggested reading