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.

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.

Get your membership application in early

Membership applications need to be approved by the committee to make sure that you do qualify to be a Traditional Owner.
Applications need to be received 2 weeks before the meeting to give the committee time to consider your case. Depending on the timing of your application approval may take 6 weeks.

One committee meeting was conducted 16/17th Feb. The next meeting will be in about a month, we will notify you of the exact date in this blog.

I have just applied for membership, when will I know if it is approved?

Membership applications need to be approved at the monthly Governing Committee Meetings. Depending on when you submit your application and when the next meeting will be, it could take up to 6 weeks before you are formally notified. You will receive a letter within 10 days of the Committee’s decision. 

To apply for benefits through Health and Wellbeing you need to be registered as a Gumala Traditional Owner before 31 December, 2008. GAC will receive Health and Wellbeing  applications for 2 weeks into 2009 to give latecomers an opportunity to apply for these benefits.

I belong to one of the three language groups, doesn’t that make me a Member of Gumala Aboriginal Corporation?

Not necessarily.  If you are over the age of 18 and you have direct links through a family member you can apply for Membership as a Registered Gumala Traditional Owner. Sometimes people think that because their Mother is a member or their Uncle is a member that they are automatically a member too. This is not the case. You must apply to be a member. Call GAC and ask for a Membership Application Form to be sent out to you. This will be put before the Governing Committee.

Is it too late to claim Health and Well Being funds for 2008?

Health and Wellbeing concludes on 31 December, 2008.
You will need to register as Gumala Traditional Owners before this date. GAC will receive applications for 2 weeks into 2009 to give latecomers an opportunity to apply for benefits through the Health and Wellbeing program.