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City of Wollongong

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Businesses

The Illawarra has a range of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses and groups that can provide services and goods for events, ceremonies, workshops, corporate activities, tourism and more.

Please note, Council does not endorse any one business over another.

If you'd like to have your business added to this list, please email us with a request.

Contact details

Daren Dunn
Phone 0402 900 037
Email alenarra_art@live.com.au

Follow Daren and check out his work on Twitter, Instagram or Facebook

Community Connections

Gamilaroi and Wiradjurri Nations

About Alenarra Art Enterprises

Daren Dunn is an international artist, cultural arts teacher and designer. He is also a NAIDOC Australian Aboriginal Artist Award winner.

Daren has worked with and for Australian Prime Ministers, Premiers and CEOs, creating beautiful pieces for world leaders and VIPs. He works closely with the Department of Education to deliver Aboriginal art and cultural learning experiences across NSW.

Services

  • Aboriginal art on canvas, board, bark and other items
  • Fine Aboriginal prints on canvas or archival paper
  • Aboriginal jewellery
  • Designs and artwork on clothing, apparel and uniforms
  • Postcards, stickers and printed products
  • Collectable sports memorabilia such as hand-painted golf bags, football boots, cricket bats, etc
  • Hand-painted artefacts such as didgeridoos, boomerangs, coolamon, clap sticks, etc
  • Large scale mural painter
  • Design digital images to wrap cars, buildings and other large items
  • Consultant for Reconciliation Action Plans development and delivery
  • Designs artwork to support Reconciliation Action Plan projects
  • Didgeridoo player, public speaker and storyteller.

Contact details

Sharralyn Robinson (Aunty Shas)
Phone 0432 433 899
Email kimandshas@hotmail.com

Kathleen Cambourn
0418 487 439 
Email aboriginalculturaljourney@gmail.com

Community Connections

Dharawal, Yuin and Kamilaroi

About Aboriginal Cultural Journey Company

"Aunty Shas" is a local Aboriginal Elder, born and raised here on Dharawal Country. Kathleen is her neice, and also born here on Dharawal Country.

Services

  • Welcome to Country
  • Aboriginal culture and history talks
  • Artefact kit (an interactive session)
  • Talks to meet identified needs
  • Cultural awareness for staff
  • Storytelling.

Contact details

Adam Towney
Phone 0437 556 723
Email at_culture@outlook.com
Follow @at_culture on Instagram

Community Connections

Wiradjuri, Dharawal and Yuin people and places.

About AT_Culture

AT_Culture provides a range of services, includuing Yindyamarra Gudha, which translates to ‘Respect the Children’ from Wiradjuri to English.

Yindyamarra Gudha is a holistic program for children between the ages of 2 and 8 years to spread knowledge and awareness about Aboriginal culture to all children. It uses a combination of Dharawal, Dhurga and Wiradjuri languages.

Services

  • Education programs - four-part program available, or individual programs can be structured to suit your needs.
  • Smoking Ceremony and Acknowledgement of Country
  • Made to order Aboriginal artifacts for the education centre.

Contact details

Community Connections

Owner Kerry-Anne Lowe is from the Yuin Nation, a part of the Wandandian people. She has been based in the Illawarra for 25 years.

About Bears Hair and Beauty

Bears Hair and Beauty salon is a 100% Indigenous owned and family-operated business based in Warilla Grove. They provide all your hair and beauty needs, including family hair cuts.

Services

  • Quality professional hair and beauty services.
  • Waxing
  • Nail manicure and spa pedicure
  • Cosmetic tattoo
  • Eye lash extensions
  • Teeth whitening
  • Tinting
  • Make up
  • Cuts and blowdry
  • Straightening and perming
  • Hair colouring and styling
  • Facials and spray tanning.

Contact details

Kristy Thomas, Lorraine Brown and Narelle Thomas
Phone (02) 4274 7477
Email coomaditchie@gmail.com

Community Connections

Wollongong - Dharawal, Nowra - Yuin

About Coomaditchie United Aboriginal Corporation

Coomaditchie United Aboriginal Corporation breaks down barriers through art and culture.

Services

  • Collaborative art workshops for community groups, schools and other groups.
  • Art Commission projects (private and corporate)
  • Gallery available all year round
  • Local dreaming stories and products
  • Cultural awareness programs.

Contact details

Community Connections

Minjinbal Waka Waka Kanaka woman, has lived in the Illawarra since 1979.

About Culture Across Time

Culture Across Time has a team who deliver training to local, state and national organisations.

Services

  • Culture Training:  topics include Aboriginal Countries, Structural Racism, Yarning Circle, White Privilege, Policies, Being a Brave Ally, Truth Telling.

Contact details

Community Connections

Supply Nation Certified.

Aunty Munya is a Bardi elder from the Kimberly, lives on Dharawal Country.

About Evolve Communities

Evolve Communities is co-directed by Aunty Munya Andrews and Cara Rogers. They won the 2024 Telstra Best of Business Award for building communities.

Evolve Communities' cultural awareness training combines Indigenous leadership principles with values like collaboration, consensus and Eldership. Not only do they build cultural awareness, they also promote Indigenous ways of thinking that can be applied to any situation, and drawn upon time and time again.

Services

Allyship and cultural awareness training.

Contact details

Community Connections

All of our staff have a strong connection to Dharawal country and all along NSW.

About Gadhungal Marring

At Gadhungal Marring we focus on culture revitalisation.

We are passionate about bringing our culture back to everyday life. By passing down our knowledge and teachings to the younger generations we are able to keep the flame burning.

Services

  • Welcome + Smoking Ceremony
  • Corroboree
  • Opening Ceremony
  • Cultural Camps
  • Cultural Immersion (eg, Bushwalks, Bushtucker talks, etc).

Contact details

Community Connections

Gulanga is based on Ngunnawal country (Canberra), and operates out of an office on Dharawal country (Wollongong). The business is owned by Rick Higgins and Dale Senti, both coming from Wiradjuri country (Leeton).

Community activity and connections are not based in one area: Gulanga positions itself to give back, not based on location, but based on merit and need.

About Gulanga

Gulunga - to partner / walk with

Gulanga Group is a Supply Nation Certified, locally owned Indigenous business. As a trusted partner, we collaborate closely with all levels of Government and commercial enterprises, harnessing cutting-edge Information and Communications Technology (ICT) to revolutionise business outcomes.

Experience excellence with our team of top-notch ICT technologists, boasting extensive expertise in delivering government-based and commercial solutions. At Gulanga, we offer a comprehensive suite of dynamic ICT products and services, bolstered by an extensive network of professional consultants, solution architects, and industry experts. Together, we deliver tailor-made solutions that align with your unique business imperatives.

Embrace the spirit of Indigenous entrepreneurship, as Gulanga embodies the strength, capability, and reputation of a true SME leader. With over 100 satisfied customers across the Commonwealth, ACT, NSW, VIC, WA governments and commercial, we stand at the forefront of the Australian Government's unwavering commitment to fostering a thriving Indigenous business sector.

Join hands with Gulanga Group today, and together, let's pave the way to a future of success, driven by Indigenous ingenuity and powered by cutting-edge ICT solutions.

Services

  • ICT software, hardware and cloud solutions.

Contact details

Community Connections

Yuin Nation, Dharawal cultural connections. Various partnerships with local schools and the community as a whole.

About Gumaraa

Gumaraa is an Aboriginal cultural experience and education company that delivers authentic Indigenous experiences for all, based on the traditions of the Dharawal and Yuin Nation. Our programs and tours serve to immerse and educate the wider community on Indigenous culture, traditions and history.

Feel the land and its stories and experience the oldest surviving culture in the world with our programs and tours packed with deep knowledge and understanding about the traditional custodians of this land.

Services

  • Culture tours
  • Cultural competency
  • Various programs
  • Traditional cultural workshops
  • Dance performances
  • Welcome to Country
  • Smoking ceremony.

Contact details

Errolyn Strang
Phone (02) 4228 1585 or 0402 807 838
Email errolyn.strang@iac.org.au

Community Connections

Tweed Heads Muninjali; family in Forster, Bodalla and Taree

About Illawarra Aboriginal Culture Centre and Keeping Place

The Illawarra Aboriginal Culture Centre has a pool of Aboriginal people who are available for a range of cultural activities. It provides opportunities for all community members to experience and share contemporary Aboriginal Culture

Services

  • Welcome to Country
  • Tailored workshops
  • Culture training for staff and school groups
  • Excursions to sites of significance
  • Bush tucker morning teas
  • Design of bush tucker gardens and yarning circles
  • Didgeridoo workshops
  • Weaving workshops
  • Art exhibitions.

For more information, visit the Illawarra Aboriginal Corporation website.

Contact details

Community Connections

Wiradjuri (Cowra), Ngunnawal (Yass, Canberra) and  Dharawal (Illawarra).

About Kalari Art

Vibrant, modern, contemporary, authentic Aboriginal art by Ngunnawal and Wiradjuri artist LaToya Kennedy.

My art represents the strong, continuing connections and unique relationships that I have with my country, land and community, and the respect that I have for my culture and traditions. I get my inspiration from my surroundings, recreating elements of Country and telling stories through symbolic representation. I also draw inspirations from my ancestors who have walked this land before us, and who have managed and maintained this land for tens of thousands of years.

Services

I specialise in commission and custom paintings, and personalised items such as shoes, handbags, name signs, clocks and platter boards. All of my paintings come with a personalised story.

I have painted several commission artworks for organisational Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) designs, commission artworks for organisational branding / marketing for NAIDOC and other significant Indigenous dates.

I have also designed a vinyl mural wall in the Maternity Unit at The Canberra Hospital.

Contact details

Visit ngiilaygiftboxes.com.au

Email info@ngiilaygiftboxes.com.au or use the online contact form to get in touch.

Community Connections

Dharawal-based, Gomeroi, connections with several other parts of New South Wales.

About Ngiilay Gift Boxes

Ngiilay Gift Boxes provides gift boxes and beautiful items made from and designed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across the country.

Services

  • Gift boxes and items made by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
  • Online shop.
  • Works with a range of suppliers.

Contact details

Michele Moore
Phone 0401 744 652
Email wwcaci@gmail.com

Community Connections

Wollongong, Illawarra

About Wadi Wadi Coomaditchie Aboriginal Corporation

Wadi Wadi Coomaditchie Aboriginal Corporation works to promote respect for Aboriginal protocols and policies, and consultation with Traditional Owners.

They advocate for Illawarra councils and government organisations to be compliant in these areas.

Services

  • Aboriginal cultural protocols
  • Welcome to Country
  • Consulting with Traditional Owners.

Contact details

Community Connections

Wiradjuri, Dharawal, Yuin and Yaegal.

About Yindyamarra Walkabouts

Yind-ya-marra is a powerful Wiradjuri word meaning respect, go slowly, be gentle, be polite and have honour.

Walkabout is a rite of passage, a transformative journey, a process of evolution.

Yindyamarra Walkabouts walks with the purpose to honour empowerment, respect well-being and nurture potential for all ages by connecting minds, embracing cultures and uniting hearts for a brighter future. This is achieved by engaging with a wide range of communities through health and wellness education through a cultural lens.

Yindyamarra Walkabouts' values are respect, family, love and unity, which are threaded throughout all programs, workshops, camps, walks, classes, artworks, gardens and projects.

We aim to support, promote and collaborate with Traditional Elders & First Nation businesses.

Services

  • Health and well-being programs
  • Leadership and mentor programs
  • Day hikes
  • Holiday camps
  • Outdoor education school camps
  • Bush Tucker gardens
  • Artworks and murals
  • Smoking Ceremony
  • Acknowledgement to Country
  • Walkabout workshops
  • Staff development days
  • Yin yoga classes
  • Group fitness classes
  • Team building activities and lectures.