Staff Report – WA State Language Conference April 12 2011
Irra Wannga Language Centre, Geraldton

The WA State Language Conference was held over three days. The first two days were various presentations from language and cultural projects happening throughout the state of WA. It was interesting to note that these projects were a combination of language and culture and not specifically language.

WA languages are quite fluently spoken therefore the focus on Indigenous languages through MILR funding and/or other funding bodies was maintenance and preservation rather than revival.  And it appears that there is a joint effort from all language centres and projects to assist each other in this process and an objective to develop and construct a state language representative body was widely supported by those organisations present.

The facilitation of a state language conference seems to have a large positive impact on the effective relationship between all the major language centres and programs operating throughout Western Australia.

By the completion of the conference, we believe FATSILC have made enormous headway in the reparation of effective working relationships and partnerships with the key and major language organisations in Western Australia. This is also reinforced with the WA FATSILC directors who work closely with those organisations and are well known to the participants of the conference.

Copies of VOTL, membership forms and the Protocols Guide were taken by majority of participants over the three days.

Sone McKendry, Jedda Priman, Uncle Sandy (John) Atkinson

Irra Wangga, www.irrawangga.org.au