Summary

The North West Wiradjuri Language and Culture Nest (the Nest) is an initiative that brings Aboriginal communities together around their traditional languages (in this case the Wiradjuri language), and in conjunction with surrounding schools and other educational groups, helps Aboriginal students to maintain and revitalise their understanding of the Wiradjuri language. This report aims to evaluate the implementation and early outcomes of the Nest, undertaken via continued conversations with people in the communities about their experiences with the Nest (students, parents, Principals, teachers, Aboriginal Education Officers, Local Aboriginal Land Council representatives, etc). It highlights a number of positive impacts of the Nest, such as an increase in people learning an Aboriginal language, and the provision of employment and learning opportunities for language tutors. The report also highlights several areas of improvement, such as increased funding and employment security for Aboriginal language teachers, as well as the need for more support to accommodate Wiradjuri learning across more schools.