THE AFL is pleased to announce the Round 11 Toyota AFL Premiership match between the Gold Coast SUNS and Hawthorn will be broadcast in traditional Yolngu Matha language by a female commentator for the first time.
Proud Milingimbi woman Sylvia Nulpinditj will join Yolngu Radio broadcasters William Gumbula and Baykali Ganambarr for the history-making call which will see the match broadcast into the six major communities and 15 homelands throughout the North-East Arnhem Land region and across Darwin and Palmerston, thanks to support from Telstra.
Sylvia joins an elite list of First Nations women who have broken ground in the AFL, including Madison Prespakis (first Aboriginal woman to claim AFLW Best & Fairest), Alicia Janz (first Torres Strait Islander player in AFLW and first Indigenous woman to be elected to AFLW Committee), Helen Milroy (first Indigenous woman appointed to the AFL Commission), Tanya Hosch (first Indigenous woman to be appointed to AFL Executive), Sam Riley (first Aboriginal woman to sit on an AFL Club Board) and Jacara Egan (first Aboriginal woman to coach both men and women at U19 level in NAB League).
The milestone marks the fourth occasion an elite AFL match will be broadcast in Yolngu Matha language, following the recent Yolgnu Radio broadcast of the 2022 Dreamtime at the G match.
Yolngu Radio station manager Will Porter said it was great to have Sylvia join the Yolgnu Radio team to broadcast the match at TIO Stadium.
“Yolgnu Radio is thrilled to welcome Sylvia to the broadcast team this weekend. Not only is Sylvia a talented producer, writer and broadcaster, but she is a philosophical thinker who will bring a wealth of experience to the call on Saturday,” he said.
“Yolgnu Radio is pleased to have been part of the 2022 Sir Doug Nicholls Round celebrations last weekend calling the Dreamtime at the G match and is proud to be part of this significant milestone and support Sylvia as she makes her debut.”
In addition, the AFL’s partnership with the Aboriginal Radio Alliance will see the Round 11 Toyota AFL Premiership match between the Gold Coast SUNS and Hawthorn and Round 12 match between the Gold Coast SUNS and North Melbourne broadcast to remote communities via radio stations TEABBA (Top End Aboriginal Bush Broadcasting Association) and CAAMA (Central Australian Aboriginal Media Association).
AFL Executive General Manager of Inclusion and Social Policy, Tanya Hosch said working with community radio stations that engage with remote communities strengthened the game’s long-standing connection with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
“As we continue to celebrate the 2022 Toyota AFL Sir Doug Nicholls Round, I'm thrilled that the AFL is continuing to work with community radio stations Yolngu Radio, TEABBA and CAAMA to extend our reach to rural and remote Indigenous communities across Australia. Their work, along with the National Indigenous Radio Service, is important in ensuring that our game remains accessible for all people,” Ms. Hosch said.
“The AFL has an incredible community of Aboriginal and Torres Strait women who are trailblazers both on and off the field and I’m pleased to see Sylvia’s name added to this group of First Nations leaders this weekend. This announcement represents another important milestone for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and football fans.”
As a proud partner of the AFL for almost two decades, Telstra’s support of Yolngu Radio ensures that some of the most remote communities in the country can connect with footy in their own language.
Fans can find their local frequency and tune into TEABBA Radio and CAAMA 100.5FM while Yolngu Radio will be available on 88.9FM throughout East Arnhem Land, Darwin and Palmerston and both are available via the Official AFL App, thanks to Telstra.
About Sylvia Nulpinditj:
Sylvia is a 48-year-old Yolngu artist born and raised in the community of Milingimbi. Also known as ‘Crocodile Island’, Milingimbi is a small community in central North East Arnhem Land, a two hour flight from Darwin. Sylvia is based in Darwin and has worked with the creative media team at ARDS Aboriginal Corporation/Yolngu Radio for 10 years creating content for radio and other media projects. She is the producer of the weekly Dhäwu Dhäwu show and was the writer and director of the Bulunu Milkarri Songlines on Screen short film, which won the award for the 2015 Best Indigenous Language Production at the imagineNATIVE Film & Media Arts Festival in Toronto Canada.
About TEABBA:
TEABBA broadcasts 24/7on National platform 921 into 29 remote communities in the Top End, with a combination of local shows from community, and content from Darwin. In addition to broadcasting, TEABBA provides technical support to the Remote Indigenous Broadcasting Service (RIBS) in the form of repairs and maintenance work and promotes the development of local broadcasting through training and mentoring.
About CAAMA:
CAAMA is the oldest Indigenous media association in the nation and is owned and controlled by the Indigenous people of Central Australia. The CAAMA radio service has led the way in communicating directly with Indigenous people and provides them with a voice on the nation’s airwaves. CAAMA programming includes critical broadcast services across the largest Indigenous footprint in Australia.
