Community Development Case Study

This case study highlights the empowerment of the aboriginal driven community of Australia through the case study in order to ponder on the issue of community development. The paper will be highlighting the community development principles and theories of social justice.

Running head: COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CASE STUDY
COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT CASE STUDY
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author note

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Introduction
The issue of community development refers to the process of supporting a particular
community and it is mostly taken up by certain agencies. The motto of this community action
is to empower particular community (Arensberg, 2017). The aim of this paper is to highlight
the empowerment of the aboriginal driven community of Australia through the case study in
order to ponder on the issue of community development. The paper will be highlighting the
community development principles and theories of social justice. However the important
question that arises at this juncture is the efficacy of community development. This is to be
noted that community development is associated with economic development to large part;
however it is the process of overall development of the community in order to make them
capable of realising their proficiencies and capabilities (Fife, 2017). This is based on the
understanding that empowerment is the key principle of all community development
initiatives.
Discussion
Background of the case study
This paper will be critically analysing the different aspects of community
development if the Australian aboriginal people by the aboriginal people in the Australian
city of Newcastle. They have put themselves in the “driver’s seat” in order to drive the social
change by their two way approach, the initial phase is called the “ community building
phase” while the second phase is the “ community development phase” (Miromaa.org.au,
2017). This case study is based on the cooperative approach of the Awabakal cultural
association established in 2002 in order of brining meaningful change in their own life

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(Miromaa.org.au, 2017). This is an attempt of brining out changes and transformation in
gaining awareness of their own affairs and strengthens their capacity to support their growth.
The objective of this community development programme is building connections and
networks inter and intra groups in order to foster growth and development of this particular
community.
This paper will be analysing the issue from the theoretical and practical point of view.
In theoretical perspective, it will be indulging into the theories of social justice and
empowerment while for the practical part; it will be harping on the tools created for this
purpose.
Community development and social justice
Theories of community development
There are certain fundamental principles which determine the very mature of that
belied. In case of community development, it has been observed that there are certain
fundamental principles that determine the nature of nature done. The first principle of
community development is the idea of empowerment. The idea of empowerment is based on
the meaningful empowerment of one particular group or community for where the powerful
motivating factor is personal satisfaction (Kenny, 2016). The rationale behind the
aboriginal’s Awabakal cultural association of Newcastle is based on the notion of
empowering the community and the people. The second fundamental principle of inclusion
and diversity of the aboriginal population in mainstream. This community development
approach has been the aboriginal population of Newcastle. According to the Torres ad
Islander population statistics, it has been found out that this city has 5,479 of the aboriginal
people (Malinowski, 2018). What is crucial to note here is that the Awabakal and Worimi
population of the Newcastle city has been acknowledge by number of councils as the

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traditional custodians of the natural resources (Malinowski, 2018). The rationale behind
choice of this community for development has been their backwardness in comparison to
the other aboriginal communities exiting in the land of Australia. It has also been noticed that
this particular community has been their lack of development and empowerment which has
been reflected in their overall growth. This was also realised that these Awabakal people and
worimi people have the spirit of protection of the environment and it is these sources which
they worship (Hond et al., 2019). However due to the lack of development of this particular
community it is lagging in the pace of development. According to the principles of social
justice, the aim of ensuring less unequal treatment is the key to develop these people. The
implementation of theoretical perspective in practice leads to the process of effectively
realising the underlying values of it (Fife, 2017). The rationale of this cooperative
organizational has been ensuring the three pillars of social justice, namely: equity, diversity
and support. This has been argued by the scholars that the equity in terms of the health
services is one of the key aspects of empowering these people. Since the effort of these
cooperative is to bring out effective changes in the health practices of themselves, it is
essential to develop the infrastructure required for the same.
According to theories of community development, it can be argued the empowerment
theory is one of the most crucial in all the other aspects it. As mentioned by the author, the
importance of understanding that empowerment of the self in terms of capabilities and
proficiencies are the core of the community development theories. In case of this agency, it
can be seen that their attempt of developing technology software building skills, education
and language development have been one of the ways of empowering the indigenous
population (Kenny, 2016). This will help them to derive the understanding of their
capabilities and proficiencies in a better way. The message here is based on the
understanding that when people of the community are developed and empowered, they can

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empower the rest of the population. While in case of the communication theory, it is based
on the understanding of the exchange of information between the people of the community
(Fife, 2017). This theory explains the idea that exchange of information help each other to
gain further insight on the issue of culture , identity and their uniqueness in case of this
agency, they have built number of forums and conferences for the dissemination of
knowledge and information in order to spread the message of sensitivity of their indigenous
identity (Fife, 2017).
The characteristics of community development approaches are:
Ecological protection: in an attempt to develop and manage the sustainable community
development, this agency has worked for the betterment of their approaches in ecological
protection. The ACRA established in 2002 have been constantly mastering their skills in
promoting the message of protecting the environment (Miromaa.org.au, 2017).
Village centres: it is also engaged in developing the village centres essential for the
purpose of gathering market and creating the sense of identity for the particular community.
In case of this agency, the ACRA have been developing the village centres for the purpose of
knowledge and public knowledge (Miromaa.org.au, 2017). This is particularly important due
to the fact that it offers people enormous amount of knowledge about this community and
their history which is significant in understanding the tribal part of Australian history.
Protection of culture and language: ACRA has been working for the protection and
reclamation of the Awabakal language by the process of educating the new generation of
people about the importance of protecting these tribal languages. There are number of other
initiatives for promoting these languages in the primary and high schools. Most importantly,
they are publishing number of books, pamphlets and poster in the indigenous languages in
order to popularise the same (Henao et al., 2016). For example, their Pulima initiative is the

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national language and technology skill development that is constantly engaging the people of
the community and the other tribes in order to make an effective contribution in the
development and empowerment of their people (Miromaa.org.au, 2017). The Miroma
language and education software is one that is dedicated to the development of software
knowledge for the people of this community in order to bring them to the mainstream
education and in level with the rest of the population (Miromaa.org.au, 2017).
This agency has been contributing to this cause of ensuring social justice and
empowerment of the same due to factor of the antiquity of this civilisation. The tribal and
aboriginal people of Australia have the longest history in the country and due to number of
European invasion; there have large number of losses caused to these people. This was
further argued that the process of their development have to be holistic since they have not
been able to reach to the ladder of economic and social development in comparison to the rest
of the Australian population.
Principles of working
In terms of their core principles of working, it has been highlighted that the messages
of empowerment and social justice have seemed to have made significant contribution. In
implementation of these principles into practice, they have observed that the idea o ensuring
equal opportunity for all has been the sole driving force of the agency; it has largely worked
for the purpose of bringing all into the same platform.
Levels of community development
Their community development approach has been multilayered and it is not just for
the personal development of the indigenous population, instead it is also for the protection of

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the ecology and their culture (Green et al., 2016). This can be argued that their
empowerment is at all level which is focused on the development of their health, to their
culture and languages.
Power roles, alliances and networking
The agency had divided t their course of work into their distinct categories in order to
make easy alliances at work. This has been observed that the development of the national,
regional and local is equally important. This is the process that has designed their projects in
a way which is able to make alliances with the government agencies as well as the private
players in order to reap benefit of both (Miromaa.org.au, 2017). In terms of their power and
alliances, they have joined hands with the national schools in order to reach to the larger
spectrum and forecast their message to the new generation of children.
Educational initiatives
Their education development skill known as the “Pulima” has been one of the most
significant contributors in the development of educational achievement of this particular
community (Miromaa.org.au, 2017). This is the development of language and technology for
the betterment of the community. This is the aimed at promoting the language of the
Awabakal and Worimi people. The question raises here is the contribution made by these
initiatives in the development of languages sensitivity of the new generation of people since it
was realised that language is the binding force among communities and it is equally
important for the rest of the Australian population to have equal respect for the indigenous
languages, These initiatives offers number of scholarships and stewardship for the new
generation children to gain better understanding and knowledge in the same. Along with

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these initiatives, there are number of other initiative for the purpose of educational
development of these people since it has take number of cooperative measures for the
establishment of schools and colleges for these people (Miromaa.org.au, 2017). In terms of
alliances there are number of private and government initiatives like the “the first language
Australia” and the Batchelor institutes that have contributed to the development of a
sustainable platform for the same.
Leadership skills
The importance of leadership is a widely discussed issue in development and change.
In this issue of community development programs of the indigenous population of Newcastle,
the role of leadership has been played significantly by the agencies and institutions that are
responsible for such change. The role of the leader becomes extremely crucial in this regard
since it has been observed that it is the leader who goes the way and shows the way (Green et
al., 2016). In number of national conferences, the cooperatives and agencies responsible for
this community development have acted as the catalyst of change and they have been
successfully bring out positive changes in lives of the particular community. Their leadership
skills have also been able to fetch number of national and international alliances both in
financial a non-financial contribution to their community development program
(Miromaa.org.au, 2017). Hence it can be argued that the role of leadership has bee
significantly played these agencies in fulfilling their wishes of empowerment of the
indigenous population.
The efficacy of their sustainability principles and practices
The idea of sustainability is based on the idea of development and improvement of
the present generation without harming the chances of development of the future generation.

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The idea of sustainable community development and its efficacy is based on the approaches
undertaken by the agencies for their betterment. However what is important here is to mote
that the approach of sustainable community development differs from one to another
depending in the level of vulnerabilities (Hond et al., 2019). This agency has undertaken
number of programs that are aimed at sustainability of the ecology, protection of the language
and promotion of cultural identity (Green et al., 2016). This is sustainable due to the factor
that it is based on the idea of social justice and empowerment of this indigenous community
who has been lagging behind. In case of achievement and development, there are statistics to
mention the level of development of these communities.
Conclusion
The concept of community development has been defined in different ways by
different scholar, however what is common here is the fact that empowerment and social
justice is the key to all these theories. The four pillars of community development are
“inform, consult, participate and empower”. The rationale behind adopting this approach has
been developing the fullest potentials of individuals in order to achieve higher development.
This agency for the chosen discussion has been successfully developing and bringing positive
change s in lives of people. The aim has been development and empowerment of the tribal
indigenous population who otherwise are lagging behind the ladder of growth, this approach
is holistic in nature and it is operational in all level. Hence it can be concluded form the
above discussion there the core principles of community development are implemented at the
ground level through multiplicity of avenues. Nonetheless, it is the idea of social justice that
has been impacting the lives of people to a great extent.

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