Rule Book approved by ORIC

At last, the new Rule Book has been approved by the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations (ORIC). It has been through a long and tedious process since July last year and has been worked on by both the current and previous GAC Boards.
It has taken many hours of hard work in the form of a special workshop by the Members in February 2009, as well as ongoing consultation and advice from GAC’s solicitor and was finally approved by the Members at the Special General Meeting held on Saturday, 23 May.
The draft was submitted to ORIC for approval shortly after and GAC received official approval on 2 June.
If anyone would like a copy of the new Rule Book, please contact the Member Services Unit.

Logo Competition extended

The closing date for the logo competition has been extended until Wednesday August the 12th.
We would like to have more options to choose from so please send us your entries. Thank you for the entries so far.

A resource file is available by calling the Gumala office. You can pick up a print or we can email you the pdf file. It has some tips on logo design and some examples of logo's from the region so that you can get some ideas about what works and what doesn't... and make sure your logo is unique.

Members meeting held in Karratha

Thank you to all the members who attended the Members Meetings in Karratha on 23rd and 24th.
The Meetings saw many issues resolved.
The new GAC Rule Book (Constitution) was ratified by the Membership.
The 2007-08 audited financial reports were finally presented and ratified. The new auditors were also appointed for the next financial year.
The members also ratified the change to the General Gumala Foundation Trust Deed in regards to the Tax Office requirement. This means that the Foundation will save millions of dollars in tax over the next 20 years.
The approval of these key important items mean that GAC and GIPL can keep moving forward in our progress and improvements in assisting the members.

Meeting Dates

The next GAC Board Meeting is now due on the 4-5 May

If you are applying for membership please submit your application 2 weeks prior to the meeting date to give the board members time to consider your application.

NAIDOC WEEK

The NAIDOC committee are in the process of making plans for the celebration of NAIDOC week to be held in Tom Price in the first week in June. Contact Tuesday Lockyer.

Thank you to everyone who are participating in the Housing Survey

Over the past few weeks interviewers from GAC and GIPL have been gathering lots of information that will help identify our members' housing needs. This will be used to ask the government for funding.  We hope the government will be able to support Gumala to get some houses for our members - but we can't promise anything yet of course.

Everyone will have an opportunity to have their say by phone, visit or mail.  So far the Gumala staff have visited many people in Karratha, Roebourne, Wickham, Hedland, Newman and Tom Price. There will be more visits around Tom Price, Youngaleena and Onslow soon.  Many other people have been contacted by phone. Letters will be sent out to anyone who hasn't been reached by phone or by a visit. 

Special Newsletter for Tom Price and Paraburdoo

A version of the Gumala newsletter was distributed to the residence of Tom Price and Paraburdoo this week. The content was taken from a combination of the last three member newsletters and info from the Gumala website.

This issue was for local residents who may not know much about Gumala or the traditional owners of this land. If anyone else would like a copy please let us know.

We have had some good feedback. People were interested to hear what we are doing at Gumala.

You still need to be over 18 to be a Member

We have had a few applications for membership from under 18s. The eligibility criteria hasn't changed. There was a proposal put forward at the Feb AGM that membership age be lowered but there was no consensus and no decision made. This issue is yet to be decided by the Board of Directors.

Children of members are currently eligible for assistance with education, sport and recreation programs. We offer scholarships to help students who study away from home. We can provide assistance to sporting teams that include children of Gumala members. Please put in your application to Gumala and we can see if we can help with such things as transportation costs, equipment or uniforms. We are currently contacting schools what we can do from that direction, if you have any ideas please let us know.

The Tom Price Enrichment Centre is a success story. They are partly funded by Gumala and have had great success with students excelling in a number of fields. Congratulations to the 5 children of Gumala members who graduated from year 12 in 2008.

Your Directors

The Board of Directors voted in at the AGM in November 2008 were Archie Tucker, Chairperson, Banyjima. Natalie Parker, Deputy Chairperson, Nyiyparli. Darren Injie, Secretary, Innawonga. Karen Tommy, Banyjima. May Byrne, Banyjima. Gordon Yuline, Nyiyparli. David Stock, Nyiyparli. Sally Anne Johnson, Innawonga. Churchill Jones, Innawonga.

The board meets in Tom Price once a month to consider new members and make decisions on major initiatives to better the lives of Gumala members. Feel free to contact your language group representative with any concerns or ideas. If you can't contact them direct feel free to leave a message by phone, fax or letter via the Tom Price office.

Gumala Radio

Gumala broadcasts music, news and commentary relevant to Aboriginal people of the Pilbara.

Community Broadcasts
We are in the process of installing new equipment which will improve the quality of the broadcast and open up the station to involvement from the wider Aboriginal community; not just Gumala members; through a Community Broadcasting Foundation Grant. Interested people will be able to learn about radio broadcasting and even have their own radio show.

Please call or email Tadam! if you would like to request a song, make a programming suggestion, share information or promote an idea or event on air.

Frequencies: Tom Price 106.5 FM, Bellary 101.7 FM, Roebourne 102.9 FM, Onslow 101.7 FM, Wakuthuni 104.9 FM, Youngaleena 102.1 FM, Paraburdoo 102.9 FM

Work with the Indigenous Mining Services (IMS)

Indigenous Mining Services (IMS) is an aboriginal business owned by the Traditional Owners of Innawonga, Banyjima and Nyiyparli country. IMS is looking for aboriginal workers looking for work, particularly in the mining industry. If you are interested call IMS on 08 9140 2575 or email IMS at IBN or see the IMS ad on the Wangka Maya website

WACOSS Hardship Utilities Grant Scheme (HUGS)

WACOSS is offering a Hardship Utilities Grant Scheme which provides financial assistance to people to pay their electricity accounts to avoid being disconnected. This service is available to people who have been referred to financial counselling by Synergy or Horizon and are in danger of having electricity cut off. The grant is between $100 and $500, depending on level of debt and remoteness of location.
For more detail see WACOSS information sheet, a pdf will open in your browser, or contact Western Australian Council of Social Service Inc. (WACOSS)
Telephone: (08) 9420 7222 Freecall: 1300 658 816 Fax: (08) 9486 7966
email WACOSS

What if I don’t use the whole of your Gumala Purchase Orders?

Purchase Orders (including food or fuel vouchers) can only be used for one purchase. For example if the purchase order is for food to the value of $200 and you only spend $150, the purchase order will be closed off at $150. It cannot be used again. Please send in your receipts and GAC will adjust your balances.

Ambulance cover -cards are on their way

St Johns will be sending out Membership Cards within the next six weeks to all members. They are running behind time this year. If you need to use the Ambulance service please go ahead and do so – you are covered. Send any bills you receive to us and we will pass them on to St Johns.