Since the
school was closed many local NGO’s had their home there. They had been on a
month-to-month lease and, over the last year, many of them had moved to the
Redfern Waterloo Police Boys Club. South Sydney Community Aid (SSCA) was
struggling to find a place – they had been offered the old Cleveland Street
High School site but the
board knocked it back because it was outside their catchment area. The City of Sydney Council provided a last minute reprieve but they
had to leave Redfern
Public School by 31 May.
SSCA
recently moved to the former site of Alexandria
Town Hall. Margery
Whitehead, SSCA board member said, “We were dependent on someone to help find
accommodation that the organisation could afford. In the end, and it was very
much at the last minute, the City of Sydney said they would let us have space
here for six months. This space is a really good place for the office and for
most of the courses that we’re running and it has the advantage of having
disabled access.”
Ms
Whitehead said she hopes the City of Sydney
will let them have the space for a longer-term arrangement. “Or they could
provide some other space that would have enough room to allow us to run our
painting classes. It really wouldn’t be possible to run those classes on this
carpeted floor because we would probably mark the foor, even if we covered it
with something. They’re an important conduit to our services.” SSCA services
include health and safety programs, English classes, interpretation services,
and probation and parole programs.
Then, last
month, the Commonwealth and the State Governments came together to announce a
national centre for Indigenous youth will be built in Sydney
at Redfern Public School. Plans for the National
Indigenous
Development
Centre (NIDC) were unveiled in Redfern last month by the Minister for Redfern
Waterloo, Frank Sartor, and the Indigenous Land Corporation (ILC) Chairperson
Shirley McPherson. The Minister for Redfern Waterloo, Frank Sartor, said the
Redfern Waterloo Authority had helped negotiate the deal to establish a new
youth precinct and showcase for Indigenous culture.
“The best
way to improve the circumstances of Indigenous families in Redfern and Waterloo is by supporting
a range of opportunities in education and employment,” Mr Sartor said.” This
new Centre will help young people from this area and other communities achieve
their full potential through mentoring, training and learning initiatives. ”It
is expected to help up to 5,000 kids a year, when fully operational.” Ms
McPherson said redevelopment of the former Redfern Public School
site was expected to commence early next year and is due for completion in
2009.
“The ILC is
proud to be taking a leading role in redeveloping the former Redfern Public School
site for the benefit of current and future generations,” Ms McPherson said.
Plans for the NIDC include a new 25-metre heated swimming pool and sports
training field. The redevelopment includes construction of new multiuse
classrooms and accommodation and dining facilities for up to 100 people. The
existing Murawina Child Care Centre and four school buildings (including two
heritage-listed buildings) will be refurbished.
The Centre
will accommodate a number of established programs, including:
The Exodus
Foundation, which will establish a tutorial centre for children, aged 10-14;
the National Aboriginal Sports Corporation Australia, which runs a number of
sporting and life development programs for Indigenous people encouraging health
lifestyles through sport and education; the Lloyd McDermott Rugby Development
Team, which provides opportunity for Indigenous youth to become involved in
rugby union, netball and golf.
Community
aid worker Kati Lengyel in new work accommodation Photo: Ali Blogg
[South
Sydney Herald August 2006]