Warning: Images of deceased persons may appear | See the Yuwaalaraay / Gamilaraay pronunciation guide here
On 19 August 2025, Dharriwaa Elders Group’s Ngarrangarra-li Walaaybaa Rangers joined a cultural burn at Narran Lake Nature Reserve.
Work with us! Have a look at the new Aboriginal Male Youthworker job for Galumali and our Cleaner job!
Delegates from DEG attended an info session hosted by NSW DCCEEW's Water Group in Walgett 31 July 2025.
Walgett, NSW – 23/7/2025 – The Dharriwaa Elders Group proudly announces the official opening of Galuma-li, a vibrant, community-led space meaning ‘Care for’
DEG asked Jacqui Webster and her team, through our Yuwaya Ngarrali partnership, for a review of national drinking water guidelines to support our future advocacy
Led by DEG Speaker Sandra Suey-Thorne, Elders Councillors and the DEG Leadership Team met with relieving General Manager Walgett Shire Council's Andrew Brown,
DEG is celebrating a HUGE Milestone. Since launching our Reverse Osmosis Water Kiosk on 13 December 2023, we have dispensed 28,384 litres of chilled low-sodium drinking water!
We have published two research and policy papers to assist public servants in meeting their Closing the Gap commitments in working with Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations:
At the Elders Council meeting 28 March 2025 we reaffirmed DEG’s commitment to the Yuwaya Ngarrali partnership with UNSW. "It was good to have with us this week Ruth McCausland and Andrea Hadaway
Improving food and water security in Walgett has been a long-term priority for the Yuwaya Ngarra-li partnership between the Dharriwaa Elders Group (DEG) and UNSW Sydney due to the degradation of local rivers and poor
Dharriwaa Elders Group was pleased to host staff of the Natural Resource Access Regulator at its offices in Walgett on the 11th March 2025. We had a wide-ranging and productive meeting
DEG's Elders Council (board of directors) has been going through a process of renewal after losing three long term leaders in 2024. We will always remember and honour them.
Statement from Dharriwaa Elders Group 30 January 2025. So that the Walgett community is kept informed. Dharriwaa Elders Group ("DEG") was made aware of a social media post by an employee of Walgett Shire Council
Dangerously low dissolved oxygen at Walgett.
Meet our Dealing with Fines team - Wendy Rose and Steven Dennis (Bungee). They work with clients to reduce fine debt - through collaborating with the ALS fine debt team, and a "Work Development Order" program of activities either with Dharriwaa Elders Group
Dharriwaa Elders Group has re-launched the Youth Wellbeing Service! We had a four-week activity trial in December 2024 where Walgett young people came along and participated in a range of activities. We would like to thank the families that came along.
We are working to get the change we need in Walgett and best outcomes for our community. With the strong leadership of the DEG’s Elders Council, 15 local grassroots Aboriginal people are thriving in their jobs. Introducing the new Dharriwaa Elders Group Leadership Team - providing leadership for our community's future and sustainability for our organisation.
DEG always works to understand its progress, and the outcomes our work produces. This Evaluation and Learning Report 2020-2023
Since late 2023, DEG's gali has been providing chilled, low sodium drinking water to Walgett residents. We are keeping a running tally of litres dispensed, and plan to install a second gali soon in our new Galumali premise at 82 Fox St.
Dharriwaa Elders Group (“DEG”) hosted a community event 1 November 2023 to celebrate renewed access to the public road leading to the Barwon River and junction of the Ngamaay and Baawan rivers near the Walgett weir.
Walgett residents are still buying drinking water. River water is unsuitable & Council hasn't made RO system work, so tap water is still high sodium.
Just reminding everyone particularly Australian Senators that voluntary buybacks from irrigators should be applied where greatest environment, social & enviromental benefits will be achieved.
Read here about our Dealing with Fines program.
We're smashing Walgett fine debt! Learn about DEG with Aboriginal Legal Service NSW ACT's nifty Yuwaya Ngarrali Dealing with Fines program - & why ACCOs are the only way a service like this can be successful. Check out the recording of our webinar info session hosted by Peta
DEG made a submission 13/10/23 to the Senate Standing Committee on Environment and Communications Inquiry into the Water Amendment (Restoring our Rivers) 2023.
DEG made a submission 6 October 2023 to provide information to the Productivity Commission Review of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap Draft Report. It provided advice from our work in our Yuwaya Ngarrali partnership with UNSW to Close the Gap.
DEG has always wanted to understand the quantum of government investment into service delivery and infrastructure for the Walgett Aboriginal community, so that we can evaluate from the community perspective, the value and effectiveness of that investment.
Wiradjuri building designer and architecture student Samantha Rich was introduced to DEG in 2021 and she quickly became a much valued member of the Yuwaya Ngarrali team. Her first task was to listen to DEG Elders about their housing and home design needs.
DEG and WAMS developed a joint statement about the high levels of homelessness in Walgett 13 July 2023 when we learnt that Homelessness NSW was preparing a campaign. The statement outlined our understanding of the situation, and evidence from our advocacy in the past.
This photo was taken by the Walgett River Rangers 19 September 2023 on the Namoi River showing the poor water quality we live with in Walgett permanently now. Blue-green algae reports prepared by Water NSW
Dharriwaa Elders Group is determined to make sure that the voters and decisionmakers know what is happening to the rivers and other waterways in DEG's area of interest in the Northern Murray Darling Basin.
Yuwaya Ngarrali Caring for Country program convened a meeting of all DEG's collaborators in its caring for Country - water work so that each of the collaborators could meet the others and learn of their combined work
Yuwaya Ngarrali - the partnership between DEG and the UNSW, recruited three members of a new Youth Team in 2020. We worked together - led by Peta MacGillivray, to build a holistic, community-led model
DEG was shocked to learn from the ABC in early July that the Walgett Shire Council had resolved to "decommission the Walgett pool". We swung into action along with WAMS, the Walgett swimming club and the town's swimming community.
Our new tinny provides the DEG River Ranger team with new access to areas on the river that were otherwise inaccessible by land through hostile landholders' gates and tracks.
DEG's River Rangers are out on the rivers and other waterways in DEG's area of interest daily. They are the organisation's eyes and ears, and notice the appalling condition of the rivers. In February 2023 the team documented dead dhagaay - yellowbelly
Walgett is on the confluence of two major rivers, the Baawan and the Ngamaay (Namoi). Despite this, Walgett is often without river water because of upstream irrigation and poor management.
In February 2023 WAMS and DEG staff travelled to Sydney to begin our advocacy for the NSW Government to bring low sodium drinking water to Walgett and greater capability to Walgett Shire Council
Yuwaya Ngarra-li is continuing work to ensure safe drinking water for the Walgett community. While a reverse osmosis facility was installed in Walgett in May 2020,
At the core of our work is supporting Elders' wellbeing and their work for managing Walgett's Aboriginal cultural values, natural resources and community development. It's about "Ageing Well" and DEG believes its model for
DEG is represented at the NSW Coalition of Aboriginal Peak Organisations by its peak body - Aboriginal Culture, Heritage and Arts Association of NSW,
In June the Acting General Manager of Walgett Shire Council, Hugh Percy, accepted DEG's invitation to morning tea. It had been many years since he had first met DEG as the Council's Administrator. DEG expressed its concern about the need for good facilities