Offering Aboriginal home care, yaliwunga means always and we promise to walk alongside our people – not behind, not in front.
We are “always” here – showing up with strength and compassion when the rope is too heavy to carry alone. We’re committed to long term, systematic change by starting small: where it matters. Supporting our mob in their everyday lives, in their homes and in the community with heart and resilience.
I’m Ashton. A 90s baby born in a time of good music but raised in times of difficulty. My roots run deep through the lands of the Kamilaroi (Gomeroi) people and I grew up on Jagera, Yuggera and Ugarapul country. These lands, stories and ancestors have shaped and continue to influence who I am and the work I do today.
From a young age I understood I was different. Different in the colour of my skin, different in the way my brain works and different in the way that I would find love. This feeling made it easy to want to hide my true self. To run away from my culture. And to avoid this telling feeling that I was meant to be a voice, an advocate and a fighter.
My journey begins long before Aboriginal home care and yaliwunga. And it begins in a place far away from boardrooms or business plans: in fact it began behind the counter of a rural KFC. Since then I’ve worked in many different organisations who offer Aboriginal home care and reported to many different people. Unfortunately I witnessed what happens when values are missing in the workplace more times than I care to count. But those lessons taught me exactly what not to do. They lit the fire to build a business grounded in ethics, culture and real accountability – where values aren’t just talked about, they’re lived.
yaliwunga doesn’t want to follow in the footsteps of other Aboriginal home care organisations. yaliwunga is for my mob and to make the changes we need for the generations that come after us. It’s more than a service, it's a commitment.
I didn’t come from a stable home but I come from a long line of strong Aboriginal men and women who carried our culture, our values and our strength through generations of destruction and cultural slaughter. Their resilience is in me. Their resilience is in you. And it’s what drives yaliwunga forward.
Meet yaliwunga’s Founder
Our Vision
Our vision is to lead and raise the standard for what culturally safe, accountable and purpose driven support and Aboriginal home care looks like in our communities. yaliwunga strives to build a future where cultural ways are not just included but rather embedded, honoured and a default within this Aboriginal home care industry and beyond. In our future, we see strong families, empowered individuals and a system transformed by truth, respect and pride.