By Sarah Jenkins. Yalari Outback Camp attendee July 2025.
ISS Facility Services on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country (Melbourne)
People want to connect. That was the overriding sense ISS team members brought home after joining the Yalari Outback Camp last week.
For seven days, the group explored from Alice Springs to Ormiston Gorge and Kings Canyon to Uluru. They camped on Country, pitched in with camp duties, joined fireside yarning circles, learnt from Traditional Owners, and hiked through storied, silent landscapes. Often with no Wi-Fi, no distractions – just people. Yalari alumni, staff, and ISS and RACV team members.
ISS is a corporate sponsor of Yalari – a not-for-profit that for 20 years has been creating high school scholarship opportunities for First Nations students from regional and remote communities. A Yalari scholarship opens more than a door for one student; it creates ripples of opportunity for families, communities and generations.
This camp was an invitation to be guests on Country. We came away with a deeper appreciation of the strength, wisdom and excellence of Australia’s First Nations peoples, and of Yalari’s resolute vision to help First Nations students shape their futures.
Every place we visited was layered with stories – creation stories, cultural histories, and family legacies carried forward for more than 65,000 years. Some were sacred, some were shared. All of them reminded us that stories connect us across generations, cultures and difference.
We also had the privilege of learning directly from Traditional Owners, who were generous with their knowledge, food and culture. Their openness showed us that listening and respect are the starting points for any genuine connection.
Waverley, Yalari’s Founder, speaks of ‘stickability’ the grit and perseverance he looks for in scholarship students, a quality that turns opportunity into achievement. We learned that we must embrace this same ‘stickability’ to continue supporting the journey of reconciliation in our everyday lives, wherever we are – in cities or on Country. In this way, we can stay on course for the long haul, working together to create a more equitable and hopeful future for all Australians.
