Family

Patrick Goldsmith. In a landmark moment for child care services on Yorke Peninsula, the Maitland Family Centre officially opened on Monday, May 22. Following a long push from central and southern Yorke Peninsula families, the new centre, to be joined by a purposebuilt facility at Minlaton in January, was met with strong enrolments and a productive first week.

There are three things we need to solve the juvenile crime problem: It’s not $250m, not more cops, not more talk. It’s families, families and more families – functioning ones. The film Audrey Napanangka playing in Alice Springs this week is about a woman in her seventies who demonstrates this, and doesn’t take no for an answer.

Helen and Gerard Nolan. The extended Nolan family and friends celebrated 70 years since John and Rita (nee McGahan) moved to "Fairfield" Ellinthorp with two small boys and a six week old baby ... The farm at Ellinthorp was bought in May 1953 on a walk-in walk-out basis with plant, livestock and some furniture.

Two friends, one white, one black. Two film makers, one white, one black. A couple more than 30 years together, one white, one black. Signs of hope for Alice Springs at a time when there isn’t much. The film maker is Penny McDonald and her co-producer is Audrey Napanangka, who also gives the new movie her name.

Patricia Gill. Merninger Elder Lynette Knapp feels for her country the same way as her family does: "Which is the way I taught them". A DNA test conducted through the Esperance Aboriginal Group 12 years ago showed her as having a 75,000-year ‘proper’ connection to Country, other Noongars tested being African or Asian-related.

Friday 12 May is Do It For Dolly Day, a national day dedicated to bringing the community together, spreading kindness and uniting in taking a stand against bullying. One in four Australian school students between years 4 and 9 are being bullied. One in seven of them won’t tell anyone. That’s over 340,000 young people staying silent.

Fifty pairs of helping hands restored the McCormacks’ prize winning garden at Swan Bay. In 2018, Jenny and Jim McCormack won the North Coast Champion Garden. In 2022, that garden was under water with only the tops of the tallest trees poking out of the floodwaters.

The patriarch of one of Riverina’s best-known families has been given a photograph of his mother he did not even know existed taken 120 years ago after the precious portrait nearly ended up in a Central Coast rubbish tip. Former Narrandera resident Don Durnan, 92, was overjoyed when the beautiful old image, called a carte de visit, was handed to him by Federal Member for Riverina, Michael McCormack.

Key details about the proposed $12m Yipirinya  boarding facility  remain unclear while the Federal Opposition has further assured its support for the project in a meeting with the school’s board of Aboriginal elders. Shadow Minister for Indigenous Australians, Senator Jacinta Nampijinpa Price, and Shadow Minister for Education, Senator Sarah Henderson, said the school is “like a family” when they visited the campus.

Since she was a child,  Navanka Fletcher has helped her nan set up the district produce exhibit at the Sydney Royal Easter Show. Her nan Lyn Cregan, 76, has been involved in setting up the Northern District exhibits for 30 years.

Lachie Allen is just four and his big sister Milla is six. When Mila led Lachie to a win on the little white pony Pixie at the recent Equestrian Festival at Warragul, there was hardly a dry eye in the house ... “On the day Milla kept saying how proud of Lachie she was and kept reminding him to sit straight like a soldier, point his toes to the stars and look up."

Daphne and Archie met in the Spring of 1945 at the Spring Creek Hall Dance. The two were enjoying their night dancing away with alternating partners to the Jolly Miller Waltz.

The end of term 1 and Easter is fast approaching, and the local children in Birchip are enjoying a number of Easter traditions that make this time of year all the more fun and exciting ... The Birchip playgroup children had lots of fun on Friday in the park scavenging for eggs and were delighted with their results, as they devoured the chocolate and played in the ever-popular Morton Bay Fig trees and on the playground equipment.

The Tennant Creek Fishing Club’s annual Family Fun Fishing Day made a comeback at Lake Mary Ann last weekend. The weather co-operated wonderfully, with little wind, warm and sunny as around ninety people came out to the lake to discover the joys of fishing.

Childcare users in regional Queensland have waited more than 12 months to access services, according to a new study released by the Regional Australia Institute (RAI). The RAI Childcare Study ... focused on accessibility, availability, affordability and quality of childcare and its impact on workforce participation, liveability, population attraction and retention of staff in the Maranoa and Western Downs regions...

Australia’s leading NDIS online therapy provider, Therapy Connect, is virtually stepping into the classroom, providing early intervention and diagnosis to children in remote communities and slashing years off patient waitlists. It is estimated that around 180,000 children in rural NSW are in desperate need of childhood development services that are not available in their region.

Titilua Ikenasio. A new child-friendly eating place ‘The Yard’ Cafe has officially opened on East Street Narrandera, bringing with it new flavours and a new look ... Owners Cass and Oz Fikri are no strangers to the world of hospitality ...

Serena Kirby. About 30 people volunteered to have their heads shaved before 200 supporters at a recent ovarian cancer fundraiser at the Denmark Boating and Angling Club. The ‘Shaving Noggins for Suzie’ event was held as a way to show support for lifelong local Sue Sinagra who is fighting Stage 4 ovarian cancer.

Julalikari Council Aboriginal Corporation launched its regional report on family violence at Nyinkka Nyunyu ... The Working Group uncovered that the Barkly suffers significant levels of all forms of violence which is often going unreported due to a community belief that violence is tolerated.

Jo Mason (nee Collins) ... The Collins family has a significant place in local history, being the earliest settlers to still have family living in the Upper Murray today. John Collins and his wife Sarah Luke came to Australia from Hampshire, England in 1839 on board the ship Susan, with their seven children.