IWAAC is the short name for the Illawarra Wingecarribee Alliance Aboriginal Corporation registered by the Office of the Registrar of Indigenous Corporations (ORIC) in November 2015. It was formed to progress the LDM interests of Aboriginal communities in the Illawarra and Wingecarribee areas.

The idea of IWAAC was developed between 2013 and 2015 by the Illawarra Wingecarribee LDM Advisory Committee or LDMAC. It successfully applied in 2013 for the Illawarra and Wingecarribee areas to become one of the initial LDM sites.

LDMAC then continued to consult local Aboriginal leaders and community organisations on how LDM should be implemented, on the communities’ service issues and priorities and then on an appropriate organizational structure for the communities to manage the LDM process. The result of this was IWAAC.

IWAAC membership is open to all Aboriginal persons or organisations operating in the Wingecarribee, Kiama, Shellharbour and Wollongong local council areas. Members can be either corporate members or individual members. (Note – individual members must not also be members of corporate member organisations.)

There are currently 9 IWAAC corporate members and 2 individual members. The corporate members include Korewal Elouera Jerrungarugh Tribal Elders AC, Coomaditchie United AC, Shellharbour Aboriginal Community Youth Association Inc., Illawarra Aboriginal Corporation, Illawarra Aboriginal Medical Service AC, Illawarra Koori Mens Group Association Inc, Kullila Housing and Cultural Heritage AC, Yamanda Aboriginal Association Inc, and Koori Kulcha AC. (Three of the initial corporate members have since ceased operating or resigned their membership: Families Sharing Culture AC, Moyengully NRM Group Inc. and Gibbergunyah Aboriginal Association Inc.)

There is currently an interim Board of 7 directors who elected a Chairperson (Mr Geoff Maher) and Deputy Chairperson (Ms Veronica Bird) and who meet monthly. The Board employs a Project Officer (Ms Leann Cross) who provides administrative and operational support. The Board has resolved to continue to use the informal processes of LDMAC as its main community sounding-board for LDM issues.

IWAAC is governed by and operates under the terms of the Corporations (Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander) Act and its ORIC-approved Rule Book.

IWAAC relies on annual funding from Aboriginal Affairs (Department of Education) for its operations.

LDM – or Local Decision Making – is a NSW Government initiative that allows Aboriginal communities to have greater control over how programs and services are conceived, developed and implemented.

LDM Accords are negotiated between community representatives and NSW Government agencies reflecting community priorities and agreed outcomes. Over time, as communities grow in their capacity to manage these programs and services they gain greater authority over funding and delivery.

The current formal LDM groups are Murdi Paaki (western NSW), Three Rivers (Central West), RADA (North Coast), Barang (Central Coast), and IWAAC (Illawarra and Wingecarribee). Murdi Paaki LDM is the only one that has an operating Accord. The other groups are all in different stages of developing their Accords.

The first formal step in negotiating the Accord involves developing a Statement of Claim that outlines the specific policy and service outcomes that the community wishes to see negotiated via the LDM Process.

This does not necessarily guarantee that all these outcomes will be achieved, but indicates to the NSW Government the priority issues for the LDM communities.

Over 2014-15 the LDMAC conducted 10 community forums and 3 community workshops that were open to all Aboriginal community members in Illawarra and Wingecarribee.

Based on this community input, the IWAAC Board determined five priority policy areas for its Statement of Claim lodged with the NSW Government in June 2016.