A National
Indigenous Development Centre is planned for the Redfern Public School
Site.

The National
Indigenous Development Centre (NIDC) is being developed by the Indigenous Land
Corporation, which is a federal government authority that buys land for the
social, cultural, economic and environmental benefit of Indigenous Australians.

The range of
facilities likely to be incorporated into the NIDC include:

• A
  training field
• A
  swimming pool
• Short
  stay accommodation for 100 people attending training/development camps
• Basketball
  and netball courts
• A
  dining/function centre

The NIDC will run
sporting, educational and social/personal development programs for Indigenous people
from across Australia.
It will house a number of key Indigenous and youth development organisations:

The Lloyd McDermott Rugby Development Team is committed to introducing Rugby Union to
young Aboriginal men and women around Australia. The organisation offers
educational scholarships for young Indigenous people from regional and remote
communities, and will participate in leadership courses.

National Aboriginal Sports Corporation Australia is a not-for-profit organisation operating
to service the development of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander sport.
NASCA offers a range of programs for Indigenous Australians including:

• Sporting
  clinics with high-profile athletes
• National
  development programs in golf, rugby league and netball
• A
  joint program with professional athletes aimed at young people from the
  Redfern/Alexandria area.
• Educational
  scholarships

The existing Murawina Aboriginal Childcare Centre
will move into a new building on the site. Murawina will continue to provide
affordable day care to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous children from the
local area.

The Exodus Foundation will operate a specialised literacy tutorial centre at
the NIDC. The program will be offered to local Indigenous students between
10-14 years old who are experiencing difficulties at school due to low literacy
levels. The education programme, developed over the past 10 years, has helped many
students improve their levels of literacy and numeracy and school behaviour and
attendance.

Negotiations are
currently under way with the PCYC to
operate out of the Centre.

Community Consultation on the NIDC

Timeframe	Project stage	Community Consultation Activities
July 2006 to February 2007	Development of Concept Plan for Centre	Future tenants of centre consulted on concept plan Information provided to community
March 2007	Development Application submitted to the NSW Department of Planning	Information provided to community Open House Key community stakeholder consultation commences and continues
April 2007	Public Exhibition of Master Plan	Public submissions on the concept plan received by Dept of Planning
March 2007 to June 2007	Detailed Design of Centre	Information provided to community Key community stakeholder consultation continues Community site visits
September 2007	Construction contract awarded	Information provided to community
October 2007 to Early 2009	Construction	Community to provide input on reducing construction impacts
Early 2009	Centre opened	Public launch Ongoing community use of facilities

 

A concept plan for the NIDC will be submitted to the
Department of Planning in March, after which the detailed design will be
completed.

The Indigenous Land
Corporation will be working to keep the community informed throughout the
design and construction of the project. As the construction phase approaches the
ILC will be particularly interested in engaging with the local community on how
potential construction impacts might be reduced. The ILC will also be providing
information and seeking feedback on the issue of how local groups and
organisations might use the facilities of the NIDC once the Centre is complete.

If you want to be involved in any future community
engagement processes, want to be kept informed, or have any questions or
comments about the National Indigenous Development Centre proposal, please
contact Stuart Waters at Twyford
Consulting. Postal: PO Box 6004 Wollongong NSW 2500 Phone: 1800 11 00 55 Email: Twyford@twyford.com.au