NAIDOC Week Tea & Yarns What 630+ alumni taught us

What 630+ Alumni Taught Us at NAIDOC Week Tea & Yarns 

NAIDOC Week 2026 marked an important milestone: 50 years of recognising, celebrating and amplifying Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices, achievements, cultures and leadership.

At Yalari’s NAIDOC Week Tea & Yarns, those values were made real through the stories of alumni who have built meaningful careers, given back to their communities and opened doors for others.

Held at RACV Royal Pines Resort on the Gold Coast and streamed nationally to an audience of over 300 homes, workplaces and morning team functions on YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Facebook, the event brought together Yalari alumni Curtley Oakley, Rachyl Cameron, Kiirra Bligh and MC Marley Holloway-Clarke, who reflected on their journeys from boarding school students to professionals, mentors, and community leaders.

In stories of leaving home, growing in confidence, building lifelong connections and embracing new opportunities, one message emerged clearly: education can change the course of a life, but it is people, relationships, and community that help make that change possible.

Leadership starts with connection

Many of the strongest memories shared during the morning came from alumni’s first days with Yalari.

For many, that meant arriving at orientation camp as Year 7 students, preparing to leave home and begin a secondary schooling opportunity that wasn’t available in their local community. It was often the first time they had met other Yalari students from across Australia who were about to embark on the same journey.

Rachyl remembers finding a sense of belonging almost immediately.

“From the very start there has always been a sense of family.”

That feeling was echoed across the panel. While schools, careers, and locations have changed over the years, the relationships formed during those early experiences continue today.

Alumni spoke about attending each other’s weddings, helping family members find accommodation interstate, and reconnecting at events across the country. As Curtley reflected:

“I didn’t really know what I was signing up for in a way, but instantly feeling that connection and feeling that support – that it’s going to be hard, but Yalari is there.”

Pictured: Alumni Kiirra Bligh and Marley Holloway-Clarke with Yalari Managing Director Llew Mullins

The advice that continues to shape a generation

One idea came up again and again throughout the morning: make the most of the opportunities in front of you. As Curtley put it:

“Yalari opens the door to opportunity, but we’ve got to go out and take it.”

For the alumni, that meant saying yes to boarding school, university, new careers, and experiences that often felt uncertain at the time.

Looking back, many of those decisions became turning points. Rachyl reflected on the role Yalari has played in her own journey:

“Yalari opened the door for us. And now we all, in turn, are opening that door up for other young people.”

It’s a reminder that opportunity doesn’t end with the individual. As students become graduates, professionals and leaders, they’re often creating pathways for the next generation too.

From scholarship students to community leaders

For supporters new to Yalari, the panel offered a glimpse of something not often captured in annual reports or statistics: what happens in the years after graduation.

Today, Yalari alumni are working across education, business, health, government, community services, and advocacy. Some have started businesses. Others are raising families, studying at university or supporting the next generation of students coming through the program.

The three alumni on stage reflected just a small part of that growing network.

Curtley now works in education and is training to become a teacher. Rachyl advocates for better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families through the community-controlled sector. Kiirra has built a career in business and property.

Their paths are different, but each spoke about using their experiences to create opportunities for others.

The four alumni on stage represented just a small part of a growing network of more than 630 Yalari graduates. Their stories were different, but each reflected on the opportunities, relationships, and experiences that continue to shape their lives long after leaving school.

Special thanks to RACV and our alumni panel whose support helped make this event possible

50 Years of Deadly – and the next chapter

The 2026 NAIDOC theme, 50 Years of Deadly, celebrates the people, communities, and leaders who have carried NAIDOC forward over five decades, while looking to the generations who will shape what comes next.

That theme surfaced throughout the Tea & Yarns conversation.

The alumni spoke about education not simply as a pathway to opportunity, but as a way to remain connected to culture, community, and identity while pursuing their own ambitions. As Curtley reflected:

“You do it with pride. You do it black. You do it deadly.”

For Kiirra, the impact reaches well beyond the individual student.

“It’s not just us you’re making changes to. It’s our family, friends and communities.”

Across education, business, advocacy, and community leadership, the stories shared throughout the morning offered a glimpse of what can happen when young people are given the opportunity to pursue their own path and then create opportunities for others along the way.

As NAIDOC Week celebrated community strength, leadership, and self-determination, the conversation served as a reminder that the next chapter is shaped not only by those who came before us, but by the young people stepping forward today.