Yakilla: Training Tracks
Download the Yakilla report (1.3Mb)
As the languages of the Australian continent are many and diverse, so too are the learning needs of language community members. While people in some regions are looking for accredited programs to help them progress to careers that require tertiary education, others are looking to develop particular skills without the need for certified qualifications.
Yakilla is part of First Languages Australia’s efforts to develop culturally appropriate strategies to increase career development opportunities for people in the field of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages.
Download the Yakilla project poster (466Kb)
The report covers a broad range of roles, including language custodians, volunteers, researchers, language teachers, linguists, technicians and resource developers. The relevant qualifications include community specialist knowledge through to university degrees. For this report, the term “language worker” is used where no one specific role is being referenced.
Through 2019-2020, First Languages Australia worked with partners to identify currently available training opportunities which are relevant to language work, and to seek language worker perspectives on needs that are not currently being met.
The project is a collaboration between First Languages Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language centres, learning providers and the Australian Government (through the Indigenous Languages and Arts team within the Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Communications and the Department of Education, Skills and Employment).
The learning opportunities identified are searchable at yakilla.com.au.
Some of the listings included are currently in development. The registration of others has expired. Each is included to ensure that new programs build on the work that has happened before and that overlap in offerings is minimised.
First Languages Australia commends each of the listed learning providers for the ongoing provision of services to language communities and is looking forward to working further with them toward a more coordinated approach.
Yakilla is pronounced with the ‘ya’ sounding like the ‘ya’ in ‘yahoo’, ‘kil’ similar to ‘gill’ and ‘la’ as in ‘lasting’. The title has been provided by the Pathangal Tyalingi Language Centre. It means ‘learning’ in the Latji Latji, Mutti Mutti and Wadi Wadi languages of the Murray River along the NSW–Victoria border.
