What we do
Waltja means ‘Family’ and our services follow the life-cycle of the family. Our programs support youth, mothers and fathers, and elders in day to day activities and we aim to alleviate social distress and improve community relations more broadly.
All programs are the result of in depth consultations with the community and guidance is provided by our indigenous board of directors.
At the core of Waltja’s work is a desire to develop members of the Central Australian community’s capacity for self- management and determination. Because at Waltja everyone is family, and in a family we support each other.
Reconnect youth services
Reconnect is a program aimed at helping young people aged between 12 and 18 who are at risk of homelessness to feel safe and to re- engage with their family and their community.
If it is needed, we help youth find a safe place to live, and help get them back into school, or training or work. We assist young people with boarding school applications and also with the transition if they are successful.
We run programs, initiated by the communities, around important issues like problem gambling, youth suicide and healthy relationships.
Getting smart about media
This program focuses on disadvantaged youth by engaging them with media and technology, in order to allow protect, revive and maintain Indigenous culture, language and knowledge.
We also provide media traineeships for young people helping them to become job ready in the areas of graphic design, photography, new media and Arts management.
Young parents, nutrition & money management
We run a range of programs and workshops according to current needs and issues. We distribute ‘baby bags’ full of essentials for new parents – this creates an opportunity to check in with young parents and see how they are coping. We also support people in the area of organising and managing finances; including workshops about online banking and shopping, videos about problem gambling. We also run nutrition and cooking workshops on the ground in communities using what is available in that community.
Family mental health
This program is funded by the Australian Government Department of Social Services. It aims to support families who are worried about their children’s mental health. We use family and art as a way to effectively support people in a relaxed and non-invasive way.
Community workers engage with families to discuss challenges and how to overcome them. Because we have a close and ongoing relationship with family members of different generations, Waltja staff can identify people in need and recommend appropriate actions of support.
Art Traditional Way, language and culture
The Arts Traditional Way project is about the traditional art practices that have been passed on and maintained within the Indigenous culture. The focus is on elders teaching and passing down their knowledge to the younger generation within their community. Waltja facilitates trips back ‘on country’ for elders so they can be nurtured and healed by the land. Hunting trips and painting workshops bring forth many stories, laughter and a sense of wellbeing. As people age, it becomes difficult to reconnect with culture without assistance.
The community people we work with are very generous and provide us with stories in many languages which we then record and publish. They also earn money by creating paintings and artwork for Waltja which are sold online. All proceeds (100%) go back into our Social Programs.
Tjilpi Wulkumanu Yantayantalpayi
Keeping our elders safe and strong.
We work to help elders stay safe and strong by offering disability support and enabling access to visit country (home). We look out for opportunities to support elders, helping people to stay at home on communities, providing warm blankets and clothing in the winter.
The public has supported our annual blanket appeal generously. Frail aged people on communities can become ill quickly during the bitterly cold desert winters, and sadly some pass away early because of neglect. We seek out those who may have fallen between the cracks and offer our support. It is vital that we renew the supply of blankets each year because of the harsh conditions.