Indi Kindi’s Alinta DeSatge joins The Apiary Fellowship

Indi Kindi Program Manager Alinta DeSatge (Waluwarra) has been invited to participate in The Apiary Fellowship, a year-long leadership program for early years professionals who are passionate about creating change in the early childhood sector.

As part of the Fellowship, Alinta will attend group convenings in Hobart, Noosa and Perth throughout 2025. The convenings run over three days and involve workshops to engage in dialogue to learn about system change work through connections to place and each other. The Apiary provides an inclusive learning space that supports fellows to be curious and explore new ways of thinking and doing to grow leadership capacity, both personally and professionally.

Alinta is excited to share her unique and culturally-rich knowledge of Indigenous early years. For instance, at her first convening in Hobart she highlighted how current early years systems fail to offer adequate flexibility to be truly inclusive for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their families, especially those in remote Australia.

This conversation spurred important discussions about what it means to be community-led and for programs to be co-designed to be more inclusive for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families.

Alinta explains, “It’s not a one-size-fits-all situation, and a lot of the children fall between the cracks”.

Alinta also shared barriers that can hinder early education inclusivity in remote communities, such as lack of transport.

“This is why the Indi Kindi bus is so vital. For each session, the educators can pick up and drop off children and family members, which leads to higher attendance rates. It also encourages the involvement of family members in sessions which makes a big difference culturally, spiritually and emotionally. It does wonders,” added Alinta.

As a result of her participation in the fellowship, Alinta formed strong connections with early years professionals across Australia and has shared insightful perspectives and brought visibility to the early childhood programs that sit on the periphery – programs that (deliver high quality pedagogy) but do not fit within a formal legislated early education and care system – highlighting how Indi Kindi is an exemplar of community-led early childhood education.

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