Gunawuna Jungai Ltd has become a community partner in the SPARC Research Project (Shared Power for Advocating for Reform Collectively), an initiative designed to "strengthen Indigenous leadership, shared decision-making and community-driven reform" under Australia's Closing the Gap Priority Reform Areas.
The SPARC project emerged, organisers said, in response to the continued failure to meet most Closing the Gap targets, despite national commitments.
SPARC seeks to "address the underlying social, cultural and systemic factors impacting First Nations health and wellbeing by placing Indigenous leadership at the centre of reform".
Gunawuna Jungai, representing the Doomadgee community, is one of four Queensland based community leadership coalitions partnering in the project, alongside Yarrabah Leaders Forum & Jabu Mugay Ltd, Woorabinda Leaders Group, and Deadly Inspiring Youth Doing Good (DIYDG) in Cairns.
Gunawuna Jungai Board Chair Athol Walden said Indigenous leadership is the key to reversing negative trends and making substantive progress.
"We all know the Closing the Gap targets haven't been met. What SPARC does differently is back Indigenous leadership and lived experience. That gives the Doomadgee community real hope," he told National Indigenous Times.
"SPARC respects our cultural authority and our right to self-determination. When communities lead, the outcomes are stronger, more sustainable, and grounded in culture."
Using a collective impact framework, SPARC brings together community leadership groups, government partners and a dedicated research team to co-design, implement and evaluate approaches that create change across the four Closing the Gap Priority Reform Areas: Formal partnerships and shared decision-making; Building the community-controlled sector; Transforming government organisations; Shared access to data and information at a regional level.
Through SPARC, Gunawuna Jungai is working to contribute to strengthening community led governance structures, improving transparency and accountability in service delivery, and ensuring communities have access to the data and information needed to make informed decisions for their futures.
SPARC said community partners have united around a shared vision: "Igniting Collective Power for Self-Determined Change" and "a manifesto that affirms Indigenous sovereignty, cultural integrity, intergenerational strength and the right of communities to lead decisions that affect their lives".
SPARC describes itself as a movement "grounded in unity, advocacy and collective knowledge-sharing".
"By working together across communities and systems, Gunawuna Jungai and its partners are reclaiming power, reshaping reform and ensuring Indigenous-led solutions are heard and implemented," the organisation said.
Government partners in the SPARC Research Project include the Queensland Health Reform Office and the Queensland Department of Women, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships and Multiculturalism.
