A young, proud, "speechless" Wiradjuri woman from Wellington has had her artwork displayed in Dubbo Service NSW Service Centre.
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To celebrate NAIDOC Week, 20-year-old artist Shakyla Toomey's painting 'Home' has been unveiled near the entry of the centre as part of Service NSW's Aboriginal Artwork Initiative aimed at strengthening engagement with and acknowledging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
'Home' reflects how land and water is connected and how those elements have been essential for the continuity of the Wiradjuri people.
"I'm speechless," she said.
Ms Toomey started doing Indigenous paintings when she was in her final year of high school three years ago - where she painted her own story on a surfboard for her HSC.
"I just love it and it's just progressed from there," she said.
![Wellington Artist Shakyla Toomey standing in front of her painting titled 'Home'. Picture by Ciara Bastow Wellington Artist Shakyla Toomey standing in front of her painting titled 'Home'. Picture by Ciara Bastow](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/37qTRiw9gHRe7AczHzCfjaK/471353d5-c033-4f78-8b35-94ab67a222bd.jpg/r0_0_3333_2643_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Ms Toomey first saw an advertisement on Facebook about the Service NSW art competition and wanted to enter because, in her words, she had "nothing to lose".
"I didn't expect to win because I'm new at this and there's so many other people with experience," she said.
At such a young age Ms Toomey was prepared to get knocked back, not expecting to have her artwork showcased, so publicly, so soon, into her life as an artist.
"It's definitely an honour," she said.
Lee Schwager, manager Dubbo, Wellington and Nyngan Service Centres said the idea around having a local artist's work hanging up in the centre was to help create engagement between the service centres and the Aboriginal community.
The criteria for the artworks included that it had to be a local artist creating a work that represented the local area.
Working with the Aboriginal Lands Council, Service NSW managed to get a number of submissions before working together to decide on the most suitable for the centre and represented the Wiradjuri Nation.
"We are extremely happy with the artwork, and Shakyla has been fantastic with everything, it's just all come together," he said.
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Dubbo is the first of 10 Service Centres engaging with local Aboriginal communities to display Aboriginal artwork and follows a successful pilot at Moree and Kempsey Service Centres in 2022 where staff engaged with Elders and Aboriginal community organisations to select an Aboriginal artist's work to display in the Service Centre.
Service NSW also offers an Aboriginal Traineeship Program and partners with a group training organisation to provide an employment pathway for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
An Aboriginal trainee is currently working at Wellington Service Centre with the program offering on the-job training, development and study with the opportunity to work towards a Certificate III in Customer Engagement.
Most graduates move into ongoing customer service roles with two Aboriginal trainees recently receiving ongoing roles at Dubbo Service Centre with the centre's four Aboriginal team members working closely with the local Aboriginal Land Council and other community organisations to increase awareness of government services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Minister for Customer Service and Digital Government, Jihad Dib said he had recently visited Dubbo and attended the Service Centre where he had the chance to chat with many locals.
"It is great to see this community coming together to celebrate Australia's long history," he said.
"Being able to share stories, especially through artwork, is a great way to engage and educate local communities whilst also bringing people together to share a sense of place."
Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty, David Harris said it was great to see such a "beautiful" artwork unveiled in the Dubbo Service Centre.
"I want to thank Shakyla Toomey for her passion and dedication to share Aboriginal culture and stories with her local community," he said.
"As people come to visit the centre it will surely start conversations which can lead to stronger bonds between community members."
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