What’s happening?
A First Nations youth leadership program is being held in Rockhampton, bringing young local leaders together for two days of mentoring, storytelling and cultural learning.
Rocky News interviewed Mal Meninga and Jeremy Marou during the program, which is being delivered through Regional Economic Solutions in partnership with Rockhampton’s local decision-making body.
The program is called Finding Garmu. Garmu is the Durrumbul Bidjara word for water, and the theme is used to help young people think about life, direction, change and the choices they make.
Participants include young leaders from school, sport, work and community life. Some are in grades 11 and 12, while others are already in the workforce or taking on leadership through apprenticeships.
The group also includes young people connected to soccer, netball and rugby league, with Rockhampton’s strong sporting culture forming part of the program’s local connection.
Why it matters?
The Rockhampton program gives young First Nations leaders time to talk about identity, leadership, purpose and the issues affecting their communities.
For Meninga, the visit carries personal meaning because Regional Economic Solutions began in Rockhampton and has since grown into work across Australia.
Speaking with Rocky News, Meninga said he and his cousin Leanne Wilson started the organisation about 15 years ago to work with young people, governments and corporates.
“My cousin and I, Leanne Wilson, we started a company, Regional Economic Solutions, about 15 years ago to work with young people, but obviously with governments and corporates as well,” he said. “So, just around cultural agility and leadership programmes. It’s exciting. We’ve been 15 years old now, and it’s always good to come back to Rocky because that’s where it all started.”
He said the Rockhampton program was different from some of the organisation’s other work because it was shaped with the local decision-making body.
“This is a bit more unique, coming to Rocky with the local Decision Makers body here in Rocky,” Meninga said. “They wanted to put a little programme on for some of their participants in their programme, which is exciting.”
Jeremy Marou, Chair of the local decision-making body, said he was involved in two roles during the program.
“I’m wearing a couple hats, actually,” Marou said. “I’m the chair of the local decision-making body, which is a state government-supported body, and I’m also here as a facilitator with Regional Economic Solutions.”
Marou said the program is about investing in young First Nations leaders and giving them space to discuss leadership, life skills and the gap facing First Nations people.
“We’re investing in our young people,” he said. “We’ve got a great group of young First Nation leaders in our community, and what we’re doing for the next couple of days is just sitting down and talking about what leadership is, talking about the basics, the basic life skills, and then learning about the why.”
He said the program does not only focus on fixing the gap. It also asks why the gap exists.
“The gap’s always going to be there. We know it’s there now, and that’s what today’s about,” Maru said. “It’s about sitting down, talking about the gap, understanding why the gap is there, and then addressing it, because we tend to always jump onto fixing the gap. We need to understand why the gap’s there.”
Local Impact
The program brings national leadership experience back to a local setting, with young people placed at the centre of the conversation.
Meninga said Regional Economic Solutions now works with government contracts and private enterprise, delivering programs across major cities and regional areas. But returning to Rockhampton remains important because it is where the organisation began.
The local program also builds on earlier work in the city. Maru said a similar program was held in Rockhampton about a year and a half ago, and this week’s sessions give facilitators a chance to reconnect with young leaders and see how they have grown.
“It’s a follow-up programme,” Jeremy Marou said. “We did this about a year and a half ago here in town, in Rocky, and this is a follow-up programme to that. So it’s just been good to actually watch these young leaders.”
He said the group includes students, workers and young apprentices already showing leadership in practical ways.
“They’re all really, really good young leaders,” Jeremy Marou said. “Some are still at grade 11 and 12, and some are in the workforce that are doing really great. We’ve got second and third-year apprentices that are leading hands on projects around the state.”
The sessions are shaped around storytelling, music and yarning circles, so participants can speak openly and listen to others in the group.
“A lot of our discussions and storytellings happen around a yarning circle,” Jeremy Marou said. “That’s a very ancient protocol that we’ve done for a long time. In that process, everyone gets a chance to speak and voice their thoughts. It’s just a way we all get to know each other as well.”
Rockhampton’s rugby league culture also plays a major role in the program. Marou said having Meninga in the room meant a lot for young people growing up in the heartland of the game.
“We are in the heartland of rugby league, and we’re extremely lucky to have someone like Mal Meninga sitting in a room mentoring young kids, and myself, for the next couple of days,” he said.
Marou said sport can bring people together in a simple but powerful way.
“People don’t see colour in sport, and that’s the beauty of it,” he said. “To have someone like Mal, who’s a super coach, the Australian coach for a long time and the Queensland coach for many years, is truly incredible.”
By the numbers
- Regional Economic Solutions has been operating for about 15 years, after being started by Mal Meninga and Leanne Wilson.
- Meninga said the organisation delivers about one program each week across Australia, including in Brisbane and regional Queensland.
- Marou said storytelling has been central to First Nations culture for 60,000 years, and remains a key part of the training.
Zoom In
Finding Garmu uses storytelling to help young people think about where they have come from, where they are going and how they respond when life changes direction.
Meninga said Garmu means water, and the program uses that idea because water moves through different paths.
“Garmu is the Durrumbul Bidjara word for water, so water flows and goes off in different directions, different streams, and there’s challenges and hurdles you have to overcome through life,” he said. “I’ve experienced those types of hurdles, so I managed to come out the other side. From those experiences, we tell our stories and hopefully the kids of today can grab hold of something from that storytelling and it’s going to put them on the right path.”
Meninga also shared his own story with the participants. He said he was born in Bundaberg and grew up in Monto, not far from Rockhampton. As a young person, he was unsure where life would take him and once thought about becoming a police officer before rugby league changed his path.
“I was brought up, born Bundy, come up not too far away from here down in Monto as a young kid, always not quite sure what to do in life,” he said. “I found out I wanted to be a policeman and then fate took over from a rugby league point of view, so you never know where life takes you.”
He said the program also asks young people to think about purpose and the reason behind their choices.
“If you’ve got a purpose, you’ve got to have a why,” Meninga said. “You’ve got to follow that why, that passion that you have.”
Meninga said resilience matters, but he prefers to focus on resourcefulness because young people need tools for what comes after getting back up.
“Resilience means get back up, get back up and walk forward,” he said. “It’s more about what do you do next? Find a way forward, keep walking forward, keep making sure that you find solutions regardless of the challenges. If you keep that positive mindset, that optimistic way of thinking, you’ll find a way.”
Zoom Out
The Rockhampton program is part of wider work by Regional Economic Solutions, which delivers cultural agility and leadership programs across Australia.
Meninga said the organisation works in places including Perth, Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane and regional Queensland. The work covers government, corporate and community settings.
Marou said storytelling remains central to the training because it has long been one of the main ways First Nations people teach, learn and pass on knowledge.
“With the training that we roll out, we roll out this cultural agility-type training all around the country, and we do it through storytelling,” he said. “Storytelling is really important, because it’s the way we’ve done it as First Nations people for 60,000 years. So we’ll do it through storytelling and music.”
The program also recognises that young leaders often hold influence well beyond formal titles. Maru said the participants can take what they learn back into their own circles.
“It’s so important investing in our leaders because our leaders are the ones who influence,” he said. “The young people that we’ve got for two days, their circle of influence are a lot bigger than any of us facilitating, and that’s why these sessions with young people are so important.”
For Meninga, the work also connects with legacy. He said that idea is part of why he has taken on the Perth Bears role.
“When you get to someone like my age, it’s all around legacy,” he said. “That’s why I’ve taken on the Perth Bears. It’s not about me, it’s about what I can hopefully offer the WA community, hopefully offer our great game in rugby league and leave it in a better place than I found it 12 months ago. So that’s what keeps me getting out of bed every day. That’s why that purpose is really important.”
What To Look For Next?
Because the session followed an earlier Rockhampton program held about a year and a half ago, there is room for the work to keep growing with young people already connected to Regional Economic Solutions and the local decision-making body.
For Meninga, the hope is that participants leave with a stronger purpose, practical tools and a clearer sense of their role in community life.
“Before you even start talking to them, they’re motivated to do something, to make a difference in life,” he said. “Make a difference in their own community. That’s a good start.”
