Veolia and Scouts Australia join to aid Indigenous youth.

Veolia Environnement and Scouts Australia have announced an exciting and worthwhile partnership which will change the lives and futures of many Indigenous children and the communities within which they live, across remote regions throughout Australia.

The partnership, entitled National Indigenous Scouting Programme seeks to help foster leadership amongst the youth within aboriginal communities through the establishment of scouting.

Supported by the both the State and Federal Governments, the program has already commenced in Queensland. The support from Veolia Environnement, through Veolia Foundation will enable Scouts Australia Development Officers to assist elders to introduce scouting in indigenous communities across Australia. Specifically, Veolia has donated just under $70,000 for the purchase of a vehicle which will allow the aforementioned Scouts Development Officers a means of transport so they can reach the communities where this initiative will be established.

The core objective of the project is ‘to develop a culturally specific leadership and community development program for young Indigenous people in isolated communities with emphasis on strong Indigenous ownership, and strong links to Indigenous social and cultural life and traditional Scouting.

The Veolia Environnement Foundation, from whom Scouts Australia have received funding for the programme for was set up in 2004 and is designed to foster advocacy within Veolia on a global scale.

Presently, the Veolia Foundation has more than 249 projects which are community oriented, aimed at establishing sustainable development within these communities, with over €5 million invested by the foundation each year.