Jalaris Aboriginal Corporation

The Jalaris Aboriginal Corporation, works with the most marginalised of Aboriginal families in Derby. The philosophy and practice of the Jalaris Aboriginal Corporation is based on:

• an Aboriginal controlled family organisation which works on the kinship system;
• political and factional neutrality;
• a holistic and child centred approach to health and well being;
• an early intervention approach; and
• action learning and evaluation.

A lot of Jalaris' work focuses on health education of families - raising awareness about preventable illnesses (eg. worms or glue ear) that have, by their ubiquitous presence, been normalised within the community.  They have run a variety of programs including:

• running a low income, low-cost general store on the Aboriginal reserve in Derby;
• implementing the Mungarri nutrition program, which worked with the local drug action group to provide nutritious meals to the children of drinkers;
• the Building Stronger Families in Derby project, including a health caravan and family support outreach, homemaking and environmental health activities for families, a drop in center for young children (under 12) and a safe place for  women at the Jalaris Center; and
• the Photo me Derby project in which digital media was used to get kids telling local stories and which hosted the first Aboriginal photography exhibition in Derby with images of and by Aboriginal women and children.

What Jalaris does with Aboriginal families in Derby is similar to that which is done by the public health professionals, but on a micro scale.  Jalaris' work with a large proportion of the Aboriginal families in Derby, with a client base of about 800 people.  They do outreach with about 105 families with regular contact with around 22 of these.  At any one time they do intensive work with about 6 households, which can include up to 80 people.  (A detailed description of Derby and the issues faced by Jalaris can be found below.)

Jalaris works with a section of the Aboriginal population who do not engage with any services or supports available in Derby.  Evaluation of their work has found that Jalaris adds value to other services and agencies, making useful to Aboriginal people basic services that are often ineffective for those most in need.  Further, feedback from service providers has shown that Jalaris provides an opportunity for non-Indigenous service providers to learn effective and appropriate ways of interacting with Aboriginal people, as well as educating service providers about the broader contextual and social experiences that affect Aboriginal families - critical capacities as Aboriginal services are increasingly mainstreamed.