Charlotte Portaminni

Wurrumiyanga, NT

My name is Charlotte Portaminni. I am a proud Takaringa woman from Tiwi Islands Wurrumiyanga which is 80km from Darwin. My totem is Crocodile which was passed down to me by my father.

I was born in Darwin (RDH). I attended primary school here at Wurrumiyanga, Murrupurtiyanuwu Catholic School (MCS). I completed my high school in Darwin St John’s College. While I was in Yr.10/11 I undertook a School Based Apprenticeship with Northern Territory Government Fisheries and Resources in 2009/2010.

After that, I returned to the Tiwi Islands. I found my 1^st employment as a till operator with NUA at the restaurant for 2 years. I then went on to work as an administration assistant at The Australian Red Cross (ARC). 2 years went by I got another role within ARC as a youth support worker as well as an administration assistant. I worked for ARC for 5 years.

I then found a new employment with Tiwi Island Training and Employment Board (TITEB) Employment services as an administration assistant. I was in this admin role for 3 Years. I am currently working now as an Employment consultant. In this role I help jobseekers to find employment, enrol in studies and carry out training (e.g. first aid training, Cert II in Community Services etc) It is now my 5^th year with TITEB.

I am a Tiwi Land Council member. I am a Director for my clan group and involved in decision making for our homeland. I am also involved with CSIRO and our Prawn Farm Project where I am talking with family members to see how this business should run, and working with CSIRO visiting the demonstration farm to learn about management and harvesting of prawn farming.

I have been selected as a researcher on the CSIRO-CDU researcher program. In working as a resarcher I’m looking forward to working with my own clan group in supporting the prawn farm development that creates more jobs for Tiwi people.

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