2. Overview of the program and context within which it operates
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2.1 Overview of the program
The Drum Atweme program was established by Tangentyere Council in 2004, and has been funded by the Indigenous Justice Programme since 2007-08. 'Atweme' being the Arrernte word for 'hit, 'Drum Atweme' literally means or 'Hit the Drum'. The purpose of the Drum Atweme program is to provide drumming classes in Alice Springs schools to develop social skills and increase engagement in school and education, and provide one on one and group mentoring to Aboriginal youth aged 10 - 20 from the Alice Springs Town Camps to reduce their prospects of future contact with the criminal justice system.
The Drum Atweme Coordinator began drumming workshops at the Irrkerlantye Learning Centre run by Tangentyere Council to encourage young people to go to school. It evolved into a school based teaching program run out of a number of schools. A group of young people who particularly enjoyed drumming and who were considered to live in situations that put them at high risk of offending became interested in performing, and a performance group began to play for tourist groups, at local community events and on tours interstate. Since 2004, 225 young people have been members of the performance group.
Currently, the Drum Atweme Coordinator offers weekly drumming classes to students in two schools with primarily Aboriginal students in Alice Springs, and supports the performance group to perform. In recognition of his sustained work with Aboriginal young people in Alice Springs through music, the Drum Atweme Coordinator (Peter Lowson) was awarded an Order of Australia in 2013 and Centralian Citizen of the Year in 2014.
"If kids are not going to school or there's problems ... you're often sitting there and mentoring them and talking to them about school. It's not just going into the schools and drumming, it's making sure the kids are OK and developing long-term relationships. That helps because they trust you. I don't want to put the Drum Atweme program up on a pedestal. But if you can engage kids early, you've got a really good chance of getting them through school. And that's where the Government should engage more – not take money away from families but engaging with innovative school programs. It makes a big difference. It's up to the Government to take notice of those programs - whether it's Drum Atweme or another program that is there to engage school kids and give them a chance."
Peter Lowson, Drum Atweme Coordinator
Tangentyere Council is the major service delivery agency for the 18 Housing Associations known as 'Town Camps' in Alice Springs. The Council was established to assist Aboriginal people to gain some form of legal tenure of the land they were living on in order to obtain essential services and housing. Tangentyere's Family and Youth Services Division aims to improve the quality of life of Town Camp families and young people through providing a range of innovative, responsive and culturally appropriate services to meet their needs, including the Drum Atweme program.
2.2 Context
The Drum Atweme program is designed to address the lack of support available to Aboriginal young people in the Town Camps of Alice Springs which inhibits their ability to live healthy lives and develop a strong identity. Their circumstances lead to a range of issues for the young people and society including low levels of engagement in education and training, poor health outcomes, lack of self-worth, anti-social and offending behaviour and, ultimately, contact with the justice system. 65 per cent of the young people in the performance group surveyed in 2013 were considered medium or high risk of engaging in offending behaviour.
"You can pick the repeat offenders. Detention is a safe place for them. They get three meals a day, a bed to sleep in, no drunks, no violence, no one committing suicide around them. I think some kids offend to get in. We can do all this stuff in here [Alice Springs Juvenile Detention Centre] to set them up, but then we have to send them back out into the community into the same situation".
Aboriginal Islander Education Worker at the Owen Springs Education Centre, Alice Springs Juvenile Detention Centre
The young people that the program works with face a number of risk factors for offending, including family alcohol and drug abuse, family violence, abuse and neglect, intergenerational offending, lack of role models, poor relations with the police, isolation from services, overcrowded housing, social exclusion (due to being both young and Aboriginal), racism and a lack of education and employment opportunities.3 Many of the young people in the program experience a combination of these factors in their lives. There are limited services available to support young people who are at risk, with several youth services in Alice Springs recently closed.4
"The kids aren't refugees from the justice system. Drum Atweme is getting in before that. Too much money is spent at the bottom on the waterfall, rather than at the top. If you get youth involved with something, distract them, it has to pay off. We know it has to have some rub-off on their siblings as well. But it is hard to measure the value of early intervention."
Damien Ryan, Mayor of Alice Springs