The Moriarty Foundation story began in the late 1930s when Co-Founder John Moriarty was born to a Yanyuwa mother and Irish father in Borroloola in the remote Gulf of Carpentaria in the Northern Territory.

2011

Moriarty Foundation was founded in Borroloola, NT

2018

JMF secures $4.5M Government funding for expansion

2020

Indi Kindi secures funding from UNICEF Australia to expand

Borroloola Origins

Moriarty Foundation was founded in Borroloola in the Gulf of Carpentaria in NT, the second most remote community in Australia. The Yanyuwa have resided in the area for thousands of years and describe themselves as li-antha-wirriyara, or people of the salt water. The story of the birth of the Yanyuwa is one of the oldest tales in the world, dating back 40,000 years. Local languages include Yanyuwa, Garrwa, Marra, Gudanji, and Binbingka.

Borroloola and its surrounding communities face complex multi-generational issues of deprivation and trauma. Local challenges include severe disadvantage and lifelong poverty which stem from extremely low standards of education, health, and employment. People face overcrowding, insecure tenancy, water contamination, and failing health hardware.

It is these challenges that inspire Moriarty Foundation to deliver considerable health, education, and community impacts to all the communities we serve. Moriarty Foundation’s programs are now delivered in community hubs across NT, NSW and QLD.

John's Story

The Moriarty Foundation story began in the late 1930s when co-founder John Moriarty was born to a Yanyuwa mother and Irish father in Borroloola in the remote Gulf of Carpentaria in the Northern Territory.

Because his skin was paler than his mother’s, John was taken from her at the age of four as part of the now-infamous assimilationist policies of the Stolen Generations. It was a government strategy to eradicate Aboriginality.

After 10 years, at the age of 15, John would find his mother again briefly in Alice Springs, only to be immediately separated once more due to them both being Wards of the State. It was not until another 15 years later that John would have the wherewithal to return to the Gulf, to be reunited with family, culture and country.

baby John Moriarty

A Family Endeavour

Moriarty Foundation founders, John Moriarty and Ros Moriarty, met in Canberra in the late 1970s and began working on ideas to celebrate the beauty of Aboriginal art and culture through design. They have three children, James, Tim, and Julia, who have all played a part in the Moriarty Foundation and its programs.

In 1983, Ros and John founded the iconic Indigenous design studio, Balarinji. Balarinji is best known for the Qantas-Balarinji Flying Art Series, five Qantas aircraft featuring Aboriginal designs.

In 2011, at the request of Borroloola’s senior Law women who wanted to see their grandchildren educated, the Moriartys founded the Moriarty Foundation and its programs, Indi Kindi and John Moriarty Football.

(pictured L-R Jemima Miller Wuwarlu, Marjorie Keighran, and Dinah Norman Marrngawi)

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