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A Kickstart to Life: Australian Football League as a Medium for Promoting Lifeskills in Cape York Indigenous Communities

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  22 July 2015

Maree Dinanthompson ,
Juanita Sellwood  and
Felicity Carless
Maree Dinanthompson
Affiliation:
School of Education, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, 4811, Australia
Juanita Sellwood
Affiliation:
School of Education, James Cook University, Townsville, Queensland, 4811, Australia
Felicity Carless
Affiliation:
Health Promotion Unit, Tropical Population Health Cairns Network, Queensland Health, Queensland, 4870, Australia
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Abstract

This paper presents evidence collected from an evaluatory study of the Kickstart program conducted by Australian Football League (AFL) Cape York in far North Queensland. The aim of the study was to investigate the effectiveness of the Kickstart program in meeting its overall objective of enhancing lifeskills of Indigenous Australians through participation in AFL. Evidence collected via interviews with Indigenous youth, parents, teachers and Kickstart stakeholders (including community representatives) suggest mixed meanings surrounding the interpretation of “lifeskills”, and yet improvement in the education, attitudes and lifestyle choices of Indigenous youth in the selected Cape York communities.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Australian Journal of Indigenous Education , Volume 37 , Issue 1 , 2008 , pp. 152 - 164
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2008

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