Celebrating National NAIDOC Week: Wilyakali Country

Preparing a community meal to eat, talk and share together as a family — with culturally appropriate foods — is an annual initiative taken by The Salvation Army Broken Hill (Wilyakali Country) to mark National NAIDOC Week. Other local churches, services and schools invite the community to celebrate on different days, ensuring celebrations are diverse, meaningful and span the entire week.

Broken Hill Salvation Army Corps officer, Kevin Meredith, says the desert city in outback NSW is vibrant and full of activity, with a changing population due to mining and tourism. However, isolation is also a reality — social isolation, economic isolation and challenges in accessing services such as healthcare. Although in the far west of NSW, Adelaide is the closest capital city — a 900-kilometre round trip.

Community celebrations

In 2024, and planned again for 2025, The Salvation Army, with the support of staff and volunteers, put on a lunch for the community with a National NAIDOC Week cake, table decorations and local foods such as ‘Johnny cake’ damper and kangaroo tail.

The aim was, and is, to celebrate National NAIDOC Week while giving the community an opportunity to feast, connect, learn and enjoy each other’s company.

Around 80 per cent of those who regularly connect with The Salvation Army locally are of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage.

Broken Hill Salvation Army officer, Sugunama Meredith, Kevin’s wife, says she and her husband are privileged to be treated like family by many in the community they have served for the last four years.

Major Sugunama (who comes from a Burmese-Indian background) says there is a real sense of family in and around the Broken Hill Salvos and wider community. She adds that the NAIDOC lunch is another layer of connection, offering an opportunity to recognise and celebrate the rich local Indigenous culture and heritage.

Salvation Army NAIDOC success

Talking about last year's National NAIDOC Week celebrations, Sugunama says: “So many community members, old and young, and families with kids enjoyed the craft, food and fellowship…”

One meaningful craft activity, led by a Salvation Army staff member with an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander background, involved everyone at the lunch placing their handprint in paint on a giant sheet of paper to mark the day and celebrate community connections.

The work is now displayed in a local Salvation Army service.

Sugunama says, “When people are seeking assistance for homelessness, they come in and [see the artwork], they feel this is a friendly space and people care — so that was really lovely for us to participate in with the other staff from the Salvos, and also other agency team members.”

Salvos in the community

The Salvation Army has been a part of the Broken Hill community for over 130 years, offering support which includes church (corps) activities such as services, men's and women's Bible studies, kids' activities, the Family Store, Doorways emergency relief and a range of programs, including homelessness and family and domestic violence crisis accommodation, transitional housing and case management.

Kevin explains that although the Royal Flying Doctor Service is available for emergencies, the Salvation Army often helps those in the community in crisis with costs and referrals, if urgent medical care is needed in Adelaide (with large fuel and accommodation costs for carers).

Because of the distance and needs, there is also highly effective collaboration and referrals between agencies in the town, from the network of Salvos’ services to a range of other providers and churches.

Sugunama feels this sense of collaboration carries through to National NAIDOC Week, and says since coming to Broken Hill, she and Kevin have learned much more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and culture. They can better see the pain of the Stolen Generations and want to support the community in any way they can.

“It’s always in our hearts,” Sugunama continues.

NAIDOC for all

Kevin says his team aims to make National NAIDOC Week celebrations available to all, regardless of background, age or gender, bringing together community members, Salvos volunteers and people connected with services, past and present.

“Our community we serve are very humble and we are humbled as they trust us,” he continues. “While we are not Indigenous, we serve with our hearts and many of our community members talk to us like we're their family.

“Sometimes in this area, you see a non-Indigenous population and an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population, and it seems like it's two [different] worlds, but you also see [a great] crossover of the friendships regardless of colour of skin or heritage.

“At our NAIDOC lunch and in our services — there's just that beautiful warmth of friendship and community together, which really gives you heart and hope for the future.”