The United Ngunnawal Youth Council (UNYC) was founded by Bradley Mapiva-Brown, a Ngunnawal custodian and youth representative, in 2019. The establishment was a result of an identified need to continually pass cultural knowledge onto younger Ngunnawal generations, and more broadly Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth living on country.
The UNYC creates a safe space for all like-minded Aboriginal Ngunnawal youth to come together and work through the issues they usually experience as young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People within the broader community.
UNYC aims to progress philanthropic programs within the ACT and surrounding regions, which support vulnerable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in improving their social and emotional wellbeing under four main categories, Indigenous housing, Indigenous employment, Indigenous education and Indigenous Culture.
The UNYC operates on Ngunnawal country spanning from Yass to Queanbeyan and covering Canberra in-between, the UNYC is a locally based organisation in the Canberra region, with aspirations to develop into a national body.
The driving factor behind the UNYC participating within the Indigenous Governance Network is to share and learn stories of inspiration, commitment and growth particularly from an Indigenous Governance perspective. We hope this will support the passing of information onto other like-minded youth, whilst we learn from them in return.
Watch a video from Ngunnawal man, Bradley Mapiva-Brown from the United Ngunnawal Youth Council, yarning about what Indigenous Governance means to him.