culture

Federal parliament launches new yarning competition for Indigenous students

Phoebe Blogg Published April 2, 2025 at 2.05pm (AWST)

Promotional material for the upcoming Yarning competition. (Instagram: @aboutthehouse.au)

Described as an exciting new competition for First Nations secondary school students across Australia, the Department of the House of Representatives launched a new Yarning competition on Tuesday.

With a focus on storytelling, the competition aims to raise awareness of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, while also providing a platform for young First Nations Australians to connect with the work of the Australian Parliament.

The goal of Yarning is to give young First Nations students a chance to share their perspectives and stories with a broader audience - in addition to increasing students' understanding of the work of the department and the Australia Parliament.

*Compeition judge Regional Manager, Arnhem Land and Groote Eylandt* *National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA), Gerrit Wanganeen. (Image: Department of the House of Representatives)*

*Compeition judge Chief Information Officer, ICT, Data and Systems Branch | Grants Finance Group* *National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA), Emily Woodward. (Image: Department of the House of Representatives)*

Open to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in years 7/8, 9/10 and 11/12 to share their unique stories and experiences, the competition encourages students from regional, rural and remote areas to take part and showcase their stories.

With four themes to choose from, students can choose from different creative mediums such as 2-dimensional artworks; a piece of writing; photographs or videos; or a song, speech or soundscape.

The four themes are Country and connection, identity and culture, family and community and reconciliation.

*Promotional material for the upcoming Yarning competition. (Instagram: @aboutthehouse.au)*

*Competition artwork commissioned by the Department of the House of Representatives created by local artist Eddie Longford. (Image: supplied)*

Entries will be judged on how engaging the storytelling is, the originality and creativity, how relevant the entry is to its theme, and the care and effort that has gone into is presentation.

The judging panel will include members of the APS Indigenous Senior Executive Network and the Parliamentary Services Indigenous Employee Network.

The three winners will be flown to Canberra for 3 nights and get to meet the Minister and Shadow Ministers for Indigenous Australians. They will also have the opportunity to share their entries, enjoy private tours behind the scenes of Parliament House, and a prize pack of goodies from the Parliament Shop.

The competition opens today and entries can be submitted via the online entry form until the 30th of May 2025.

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