Aurukun sits on the west coast of Cape York. Situated on the traditional country of the Wik, Wik Way and Kugu people, the community is home to around 1,500 people.
The total number of community members now taking part in the Cape York Welfare Reform initiative (through participation at the O-Hub) has now reached 961. Of these, 48% visited the O-Hub at least once in the last three months and 39% are signed up to two or more Opportunity Products, which means they are working to improve their lives across multiple areas.
Aurukun community members are making steady progress in building their financial literacy. The MPower programme has worked with individuals and families to create hundreds of budgets that respond to members’ needs and priorities. Community members are taking on more responsibility to ensure that their budgets are up-to-date, and taking advantage of opportunities to meet with our in-house Financial Counsellor. Financial counselling sessions commonly relate to superannuation enquiries, managing debts from high-interest loans and the need for members to build a greater understanding and responsibility for their own financial wellbeing.
By the end of June 2018, 151 Aurukun parents had signed up to Strong Families to further build their parenting knowledge and skills. On average, 74% of those parents participated in one or more Strong Families sessions in the six month period. A cornerstone of Strong Families are our Families as First Teachers workshops, in which participants learn fun ways of introduce learning through play, early literacy and numeracy – thereby creating a strong educational foundation in early childhood.
The Aurukun O-Hub leads and supports a range of positive community events, including International Womens’ Day, Reconciliation Day and Child Safety Week. Two SET Fairs were also held where parents and carers were able to access quality educational items at affordable prices.
The O-Hub continues to work collaboratively with other support services as part of its holistic case-management approach to ensure members’ needs are met. Between January and June 2018, 110 internal referrals were made, mainly to MPower and Strong Families, to assist members with money management and parenting skills. A further 156 referrals were made by the O-Hub to other social and economic services, including Cape York Employment, the Wellbeing Centre, Department of Housing and others. Through a coordinated approach, we hope to see community members continue to progress and advance towards their goals of leading healthier, safer and more empowered lives.
