Museum of the Riverina Resettlement Podcast wins State award
Published: 19 Jun 2025 8:20am
Resettlement: Wiradyuri Gawaymbanha-gu Mamalanha, a podcast produced by the Museum of the Riverina, has won the 2025 NSW Local Government Professionals Excellence Award for Community Development.
Narrated by Luke Wighton, a proud Wiradyuri man, the podcast tells the powerful stories of Aboriginal families who moved to Wagga Wagga under the Aboriginal Family Resettlement Scheme in the 1970s and 1980s, which urged Aboriginal families to move to larger rural centres like Wagga Wagga to be closer to essential health and education services.
Across seven episodes, nine Aboriginal community members share how the scheme impacted their lives and reshaped Wagga Wagga.
The podcast was developed as part of Wagga Wagga City Council’s Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan and was funded by a NSW Government Community Heritage Grant.
“We’re really thrilled, we’re very proud of this, we are all winners on the Resettlement podcast project and are honoured to have received the award for Community Development on 6 June, at the NSW Local Government Professionals Awards,” said the project’s cultural advisor Aunty Dot Whyman.
“Congratulations to all that participated with this project and special thanks to Luke Grealy as it was part of his dream to have this developed and we all made this dream become a reality, and we are very honoured for the Wagga Wagga community.”
The award was presented as part of the 2025 NSW Local Government Professionals Excellence Awards, which recognise outstanding achievements across councils in areas like community engagement, sustainability, and innovation.
The Community Development category specifically recognises leadership in community services.
Council’s Museum Manager Tim Kurylowicz said the state-wide award was a tribute to the Wiradyuri leaders and families whose stories are so compelling.
“Thank you for contributing to a greater understanding of Wagga Wagga's contemporary history,” Mr Kurylowicz said.
“This award is also a recognition of the diligence and care of the Museum team and our volunteers who put in the hours to capture these important stories.”
The Resettlement podcast fulfils a commitment in Council's Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan to capture oral histories of Aboriginal people.
Resettlement: Wiradyuri Gawaymbanha-gu Mamalanha is available on the Museum of the Riverina’s website or wherever you get your podcasts.