Communities

ICV works in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and organisations through linking skilled and trained volunteers to projects that have been identified as part of a community’s vision or development plan.

ICV is a not-for-profit and non-government organisation. We do not charge a fee for the services we provide to communities or organisations.

ICV works on projects that have been identified as part of a community’s vision for the future, often in the community’s development plan. It is important for ICV to support projects that have engagement by local people in their development and implementation. We can also help communities to document their vision for the future in a development plan.

ICV works by building on local strengths, knowledge and developing strong respectful relationships between ICV, volunteers, communities and other organisations.

ICV volunteers can play an important role in communities, supplementing existing skills and helping to develop new skills that contribute to a stronger future for the whole community. Projects are conducted by community invitation only. Communities determine the skills needed, manage the project design, select the volunteers, and run the project in a way that works best for them. An ICV Project Officer supports the community as it undertakes these processes.

Our Project Officers work closely with communities and are active facilitators, engaging with other agencies on the ground, making referrals and suggesting and supporting partnerships where appropriate. It is important communities have the capacity and time to undertake projects they identify, and local people need to be involved and engaged with the project.

Community story

Preserving the past

Developing and maintaining the heart of the Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association (CAAMA) is the aim of an Arrernte woman and a former NSW north coast resident now living in Alice Springs. Tucked away in a room at CAAMA, Sylvia Purrurle-Neale and ICV volunteer Jody are working hard to systematise a veritable gold mine of visual and audio material of Indigenous culture from throughout Australia.

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School’s in on the Tiwi Islands

Children growing up on the Tiwi Islands no longer have to head to Darwin to finish their schooling. Tiwi College on Melville Island, officially opened by the Governor-General of Australia Quentin Bryce, caters for the needs and aspirations of high school students. ICV has helped to provide human resources and other skills needed to ensure the college will be able to offer the necessary education for the students.

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