Yuruga Enterprises Pty Ltd

ACN 006 294 060

PO Box 116 FAIRFIELD, VIC 3078

Tel: 03 9481 6931
Fax: 03 9486 8599
Mob: 041 147 2243

Mission

To engage in the process of empowering individuals, enterprises, agencies and communities to achieve their goals of socioeconomic and political change, self determination and full equality.

Background

Overview

Yuruga Enterprises Pty Ltd is an indigenous owned firm based in Melbourne. It is a people oriented service which focuses on the human face of business and organisations. Its Manager, Mr Graham Atkinson BSW, BA, MBA, has an extensive background in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs in Victoria and Nationally and has worked in the fields of business, organisation and community development. He graduated from the University of Melbourne with his Bachelor of Social Work and Bachelor of Arts in 1977 and 1981 respectively, and is an MBA graduate from RMIT (1994).

After graduating in 1994 Graham drew on his extensive knowledge, practical experience and formal skills to restructure the company’s growing business. Later in 1994 Yuruga Enterprises Pty Ltd become one of the few "cross cultural businesses" to offer business and organisation support services to both Indigenous and non Indigenous client agencies. The company was awarded the coveted Victorian Indigenous Business of the Year Award in 1993 and 1995 respectively at the National Indigenous Business and Economic Conferences.

Company Structure

Other partners in the company, Mr. Clive Atkinson and Mrs. Fay Carter are recognised and respected senior Aboriginal elders within their communities. Mr. Clive Atkinson is a self employed Indigenous businessman and owner of Atkinson Partnership, and has worked in private enterprise for over thirty years. He is a qualified graphics artist and is also one of the leading Indigenous Artists in Australia. One of his significant credits is that in 1993 he was elected Victorian Indigenous Artist of the Year, and also designed the current ATSIC Corporate Logo.

Mrs. Fay Carter is currently Administrator of the Aboriginal Community Elders Services for Indigenous aged, frail and elderly. She is a graduate of Prahran TAFE's Associate Diploma in Community Development and has run other business ventures of her own.

In 1984 Clive and Fay combined with Graham Atkinson in a joint business venture and established the Yenbena Cultural Centre at Healesville, just near Victoria’s most popular tourist location, the Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary, which become a feature tourist attraction and the forerunner for other Aboriginal cultural centres, keeping places and Indigenous enterprises in Victoria.

Services

Yuruga Enterprises believes it is operating at the cutting edge of Indigenous Human Resource and Organisation Development Services. It is possibly one of the only Indigenous owned and controlled companies in Australia that offers a range of cross cultural services to both Indigenous and non Indigenous clients in the public, private and community service sectors.

Training and Development

Building on the company’s skilled resource network of high quality professional consultants, the company has targeted its business towards cross cultural training, professional and staff development services. Mr. Wayne Atkinson, BA (1st Class Hon) Ph.D. student, who forms part of Yuruga Enterprises cross cultural training team is not only a qualified Archaeologist and Historian but is a recognised and respected Aboriginal Elder in the Koori community. He has over 20 years experience in Aboriginal Affairs and was instrumental in implementing the State Government's Cultural Heritage legislation in the mid 1980s. Yuruga’s Manager is also a sessional lecture and Coordinator of the Indigenous Studies Elective to final year students at Melbourne Universities School of Social Work.

Particularly in the cross cultural training area, Yuruga has completed many successful workshops and seminars for government, private and community service agencies.

Consulting

Included in our range of services are Research and Development, Strategic Planning, Community and Service Planning, Service Evaluation and Business Planning. Underpinning the delivery of these high quality professional services are the company’s highly developed organisation, management, negotiation, planning and leadership skills. Diverse consultancies have been successfully completed for DEETYA, Melbourne Area North West Office, Inner Northern Group Training Company, Yorta Yorta Murray Goulburn River Clans Group, Department of Human Services, Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages, Deniliquin Local Aboriginal Land Council, Murray River Regional Land Council, Melbourne University School of Social Work, ATSIC Canberra, Brimbank Community Health Centre, Email Training Services Pty Ltd, Northern Metropolitan Region Koori Services Improvement Strategy Reference Group and North West Nations Clans Aboriginal Corporation.

24 August, 1999

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