About

Overview
Linkz Incorporated is a not for profit organisation that has been established to foster connections and partnerships between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, building a culture of social inclusion, equity and participation. As a youth-led organisation our focus is on engaging with children, young people and their communities across Australia and particularly those living in regional and remote areas.

By establishing Linkz between communities we aim to build a widespread sense of pride in the strength, diversity and value of Indigenous culture for all Australians.

Linkz believes this can be achieved by:

• Building shared pride in Aboriginal culture and knowledge for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians – by acknowledging it and promoting it as part of the broader Australian identity;
• Providing communities, and in particular young people, with the opportunities they need to build the skills to identify and create localised solutions;
• Offering resources to address the lack of available services in regional and remote Indigenous communities;
• Increasing the frequency and quality of positive interactions and learning’s between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians;
• Providing opportunities for personal development through volunteering;
• Creating unique Australian-based volunteer opportunities for young people;
• Utilising the ‘ripple effect’ to encourage and support volunteers to share their experiences with the broader community;
• Unlocking opportunities through education, learning and cross-cultural exchange

Where we work

History
Linkz Incorporated was established in December 2008, running a pilot sport and recreation program in the remote Indigenous community of Wadeye. Following the success of this program, and requests from other remote communities in the area it became apparent that the volunteer model in use was an innovative, cost effective and replicable model that could be expanded to help meet the significant service gaps faced by these remote areas and so the Linkz Odyssey Program was developed.

Future
Linkz Incorporated has recently expanded to include Western Australia, with our first programs being run over the September 2012 school holidays. We have a team working in Perth to establish both local and remote partnerships. In addition, we have expanded our volunteer base to include Brisbane and Melbourne and have added a number of remote communities to our NT program.

Linkz is committed to remaining a sustainable organisation with our primary focus on encouraging cross-cultural exchange within both rural/remote and urban settings. We are working to partner with more local organisations to increase awareness and volunteer involvement through various programs.