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Chairperson's Story

The council is responsible for the running of everything within the community and is funded through State and Federal Government Departments and ATSIS (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Services, formerly part of ATSIC). Elections in the community are yearly and usually occur in December.

Election process:

The elections are held during the annual general meeting (AGM). After the issues of the last meeting are raised the existing members are stood down, then a decision is made on how many members will be on the new elected body. The names are written on a whiteboard and everybody on the community (over the age of sixteen) votes by ticking names on the whiteboard in a secret ballot. The candidates with the most ticks win.

The voting constituency for Nyapari includes the homelands of Ulkiya and Tankanu as well as Nyapari. The number of voting adults is usually between fifty and sixty and the number of council members could be nine, eleven or thirteen. Currently there are nine council members.

After the members are newly elected they sit together and make the decisions as to who will fill the positions of chairperson, vice chairperson etc.

The chairperson is the first port of call for decision making in the community if the advisor (who runs the office) has any problems. The issues are always taken to council and to the wider community to discuss decision making.

In this commuity, the chairperson Mr Keith Stevens considers Nyapari not so much as a community but as one big family. The council is responsible for the running of the municipal services, CDEP, housing, health and all areas of community life.

The council employs an MSO / CDEP manager and an office assistant, and through the CDEP program, employs participants who carry out CDEP programs and municipal services duties including waste management, landscaping, dustcontrol, maintenance of airstrip, dog control (Ivamec treatment, worming tablets) with the assistance of Nganampa Health vet.