Kate Mitchell

6.00 AM

Wake up and go for a walk (there’s a lookout not too far from my house that has an unreal view of the sunrise). It gets a bit hot to be active outside later in the day, so I like to get up and get moving early!

7.30 AM

Pack my bag – I’m heading out to visit a remote Indigenous community today, and I’ll need an overnight bag.

8.00 AM

Leave home and head into the office – I’ve been lent a 4WD to get around town while I’m here and the car is honestly bigger than my apartment in Canberra.

8.06 AM

Arrive at PM&C’s Nhulunbuy office (it’s amazing how quickly you can get used to a six minute commute!) I’ve got time to make myself a cup of tea and check my emails before we need to head off to the airport.

8.30 AM

My colleague and I drive out to the airport to jump in a plane. We’re flying out to community – in the Dry season you can drive, but it’s currently the Wet season and large stretches of the (unsealed) road are washed out or underwater, so flying is the only way.

10.00 AM

Arrive in community. The Government Engagement Coordinator (GEC) and Indigenous Engagement Officer (IEO) – community-based PM&C employees – have driven out to the airstrip to pick us up. We’ve got a busy day ahead of us, meeting with service providers and community leaders, so we head straight to our first appointment.

10.30 AM

Meeting at the Community Development Program (CDP) workshop. The Department funds this program, so it’s important for us to check in and see how everything is running. The CDP coordinator gives us a quick tour then we retreat to the office to discuss operational matters and contract variations.

12.00 PM

Lunch time! We swing by the community store to grab some bread to make sandwiches, and head back to the GEC’s office complex. After a quick lunch, we walk over to the local art centre to have a look around and say hello to some of the artists.

1.00 PM

Meeting with some local Elders in the GEC complex. Meetings like these are quite informal, but vital to the work PM&C does in community. Over tea and biscuits, the Elders express some of their concerns and discuss ideas with us on how we can improve our services. The IEO is crucial in these discussions, helping to translate parts of the conversation from Yolngu Matha. We don’t talk much during these meetings – it is important for us to build relationships with the Elders by listening and showing respect.

3.00 PM

Next, we head over to the local school. School attendance has been low this term due to the wet weather, but the Commonwealth-funded Remote School Attendance Strategy (RSAS) team has been thinking of new ways to help kids get to school. The school principal is keen to check in with us and run some ideas past us.

4.00 PM

We head back to the GEC complex to consolidate our meeting notes and check in with our supervisor back in Nhulunbuy. Our supervisor has sent through some discussion points for us to take to a meeting with the local Indigenous Rangers tomorrow morning, and we go through them together over Skype.  

5.00 PM

Work is done for the day. We get settled into our accommodation and then head to the GEC’s house for dinner. We’ve brought her some ingredients she can’t get hold of in community, and she’s cooking up a feast for us in return!