First Nation Ambassador - Uncle Barry Watson
Ambassador | Uncle Barry Watson
Odoo • Image and Text
Uncle Barry Watson is a Community Elder in Residence and has worked in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander support teams for many years.  For three years he ran the Nyeumba Jarjumms (“Teaching Children”) A&TSI Childcare Traineeship program, recruiting and mentoring workers annually which he placed in local childcare centres.  He delivers the A&TSI module “Working with Indigenous Children and their Families” every year at training colleges and has developed many early childhood resources including his Walkabout Mat Game, an Indigenous version of Snakes and Ladders, and has produced several children’s books in the local Yugambeh language.  Uncle Barry provides weekly cultural classes in local primary schools, teaches many traditional games and provides cultural awareness training to workers across government and non-government organisations.

He is a respected Community Elder in Logan City and a member of many local action groups.  Uncle Barry was formerly CEO of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Health Service in Brisbane for four years and was also Manager of the Murri and Torres Strait Network, which provided early intervention and prevention programs. Uncle Barry ran the Gunnadoo Vacation Care Program and is President of the Indigenous Sports and Recreation Foundation, which provides grants to young A&TSI children to assist with costs for representative sports such as travel subsidies, registration fees and sporting gear.  He completed his Advanced Diploma of Community Sector Management at age 64 as an encouragement to regional youth and enjoys mentoring others with the same passion for building a better community for our children. In 2015 he received the NAIDOC Award for Elder of the Year for SE Queensland.  In 2017 he was invited to be part of the judging panel for the QLD Reconciliation Awards – Business category and continues his role each year as Ambassador for Australia Day having visited Julia Creek, Cunnamulla, Burketown, Birdsville and Barcaldine.