Tamworth council to consider historic MOU with Indigenous organisations

Councillor Marc Sutherland has put forward a motion for Tamworth Regional Council (TRC) to endorse the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the newly-formed Tamworth Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations (TACCO).

The goal of the MOU would be to formalise ties between TRC and TACCO's five member organisations to support service delivery and the ongoing development of Tamworth's own Closing the Gap Strategy.

"TRC has a commitment to creating our own local Closing the Gap Strategy and we're still really strong on that commitment," Cr Sutherland told the Leader.

The formal partnership would be the first of its kind in NSW.

Cr Sutherland said the partnership would likely be similar to how the federal and state governments work with Coalition of Peaks and NSW CAPO (Coalition of Aboriginal Peak Organisations) respectively.

"There's no other local government in Australia taking this approach," he said.

"The recent signing of the MOU between the NSW state government and TACCO opens up the door and provides a great opportunity for the local government to also move towards formalising that partnership."

Cr Sutherland is referring to an event last week in which the NSW Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty visited Tamworth to sign a formal MOU between the state government and TACCO to improve health, education, housing and legal outcomes for Indigenous people living in Tamworth.

The organisations comprising TACCO include:

If council votes in favour of the motion, the MOU between TRC and TACCO will have to be drafted and agreed upon by all parties.

Cr Sutherland says doing so is the "most appropriate step" for creating a meaningful and effective Closing the Gap Strategy.

"One thing we want to make sure is within anything we create is it's got genuine community engagement, and by moving towards a formalised partnership with TACCO will only increase the level of success our strategy will have," he said.

TRC became the first local government in the state to pursue its own formal Closing the Gap in 2022.

Other major items councillors will consider at their upcoming meeting include a proposed amendment to the Tamworth Regional Development Control Plan 2010, and adopting a new housing strategy which was recently placed on public exhibition.