Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation named NT Community Group of the Year

Bawinanga Aboriginal Corporation (BAC) was this week awarded the Northern Territory Community Group of the Year Award at the inaugural NT Community Achievement Awards.

The award recognised the Maningrida-based organisation’s Tucker Run service which provides fresh food and essential equipment from BAC’s Barlmarrk Supermarket each week to 130 remote homelands in the 7000-hectare Djelk IPA in West Arnhem Land.

Providing affordable food security to Maningrida and homeland residents, particularly during the Covid-19 pandemic, has remained one of BAC’s primary goals.

Over the past two years BAC developed its bush food’s wholesale enterprise, Maningrida Wild Foods, opened the Wild Food Café to provide healthy takeaway and dine-in food options in Maningrida, and leased part of a commercial barramundi licence to supply fresh fish to locals.

It also operates Barlmarrk Supermarket, which has continued to break monthly records for fresh fruit and vegetables, and low sugar drinks sales.

'We operate many enterprises and services, including civil works, building and construction and arts and culture businesses, but this year especially, our focus has been on promoting wellbeing through good nutrition,' CEO Ingrid Stonhill said.

'Of course, creating employment, programs to get kids to school and vocational training are important, but without the foundation of good health through good food, nothing else will be achieved.

'Living and working in a remote community means food security comes at price and the challenges to deliver it are many,' Ms Stonhill said.

'I don’t apologise for my single-minded focus on delivering the best outcomes to BAC members and this year we launched a two-year strategic plan that is based on the UN’s 17 goals of Sustainable Development, which is a more realistic framework for what needs to be achieved in remote Aboriginal communities.

'Winning the NT Community Group of the Year award is incredibly exciting and validates the approach BAC has adopted in giving our members the option to have sustainable lives on their own homelands.'