Meet Tamworth Regional Council's first Indigenous liaison officer

The role was created earlier this year as an integral part of council's Close the Gap Strategy, aimed at bridging the gap between the Tamworth's Indigenous community and council itself.

Mr Cain is no stranger to the region as he is grew up not far away at Coonabarabran, before moving to Sydney to chase his dreams of being a footy player.

While in Sydney, he began working causally in Redfern for the Aboriginal Children Services.

"When I first went to work it was in a causal role meaning I could go to footy on the weekend, then as my role became more full time I had to make a decision - my role in the community became more important to me than playing footy," Mr Cain said.

Since then, Mr Cain has gained 25 year of experience working in various Aboriginal community-based organisations; his previous role was at the NSW Department of Communities and Justice as a youth case manager.

READ ALSO:

What drew him into the position with TRC was the chance to work with youth and develop connections within the community at a local level.

"I gained good insight into what was happening within my own community and the chance to focus on a community driven project is what really drew me to be a liaison officer," he said.

"I don't want to be the Aboriginal community, I want to be a liaison with the Aboriginal community. So, if I can get more of the community involved in council's processes, I believe it will help the community as a whole."

The key parts of his role include the building of relationships within the Indigenous community, offering cultural advice and guidance, and improving council's cultural capability.

"I hope to be a voice for my community, but I hope that community will come on board and be a voice within the wider Tamworth community," Mr Cain said.

"While also developing council's cultural awareness or cultural protocol program, so people within council will not only rely upon myself to have those conversations, but can also go out into community and have those talks themselves."

Over the next few months Mr Cain hopes to develop councils "confidence" when having important conversations within the community.

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: