From the beginning...
Stepping Black Indigenous Corporation Australia began in January 2013 when four friends decided to address the large gap in services due to a change in State Government which saw the cancellation of many Indigenous programs.
With hard work, a strong commitment and passionate dedication, this small organisation began developing and delivering a range of projects that aimed to help First Nations’ people and their communities achieve their potential. These were created in consultation with communities to address the needs that they identified as important.
Through the long established reputation and achievements of our founding Directors, we experienced an increase in demand for our services and ensuing funds.
In 2014, we partnered with the Cherbourg Ration Shed and initiated the Cherbourg Reconciliation Fun Run to address racism through reconciliation. We conducted this event over the next 5 years attracting more than 520 runners in our final year. In 2018, the Ration Shed received the Premier’s Award for Reconciliation for this event, indeed a proud moment for all.
Throughout our early years we delivered a number of programs that included working with Child Safety to provide children in care with cultural activities and music programs. We also delivered business start-up sessions in various locations.
In 2018, we partnered with Queensland Health and Pluggas Film Makers to work with two secondary schools and the T@Y students to develop 12 Indigenous student lead videos about matters that were of importance to the students. A copy of these can be found on our website under the Resources tab and are well worth viewing. The content and topics were developed solely by the students.
Our flagship program, Strong Aboriginal Families and Elders (SAFE) has been an integral part of our service delivery in the North Burnett Region, which now houses our main office. We were also invited by the then Prime Minister and Cabinet (now National Indigenous Australians Agency) to run three other programs including the Eidsvold Aboriginal Playgroup, the Eidsvold Aboriginal Outside School Hours Care Program and the Together in Education Program (TIE) run in primary schools in Bundaberg. We teamed up with the YMCA to deliver the successful T@Y Program in Bundaberg working with secondary students after school on a Thursday.
We now employ six local workers who continue to deliver successful outcomes with their communities and look forward to continuing to strengthen our valued partnerships with both the community and the businesses and agencies involved. In 2021, we engaged a dedicated CEO who manages all the programs and operations of the organisation.
We remain a small not for profit organisation that is hard working and dynamic in nature.
AGM 2020
