Tip:
Highlight text to annotate it
X
I'm Shaun Braybrook and I'm the Manager of Wulgunggo Ngalu Learning Place.
I actually live on site here, I live just out the front of Wulgunggo Ngalu in a little manager's quarter.
Here at Wulgunggo Ngalu, we aim to address the over-representation of Aboriginal people in the justice system by working with fellas on community-based orders.
Our core business is to address their community-based order and then also along the way is to teach them some skills that they might need to address their re-offending.
That will be around numeracy and literacy, certificates that they might need to get a job, and also about culture aswell, a bit about their identity as an Aboriginal man in today's society.
We're not a containment facility like a prison or anything like that, so people actually choose to come here, anywhere from three months, being the time period where we think we can implement some change and hopefully help them address their reoffending, with a maximum of six months.
Anything after six months we don't want people to become dependent on us.
Wulgunggo Ngalu, is a local Indigenous word from the Gunnai Kurnai people, meaning 'which way together'.
It is a very important word to us because when fellas come here, that's what we like to think 'Which way? Well we'll go this way and we'll go together.'.
Wulgunggo Ngalu is a special place. When you come here you feel that, there's a feeling here that makes it a little bit special.
I suppose there are probably a couple of key things: It was designed by an Aboriginal architect and Aboriginal Elders walked the site to come up with the design and the area of the place, so that's a special thing.
But I think the really special thing about Wulgunggo Ngalu is that it's an opportunity for Aboriginal people and Aboriginal men to stand up and address their own issues and their own problems, in their own way.