The North Melbourne Football Club has proudly launched the club’s First Nations Strategy on the eve of the club’s AFLW Indigenous Round home fixture this weekend. 

The First Nations legacy at North Melbourne first began in 1934 when Gunditjmara man Alfred Egan became the club’s first Aboriginal player. Since then, 32 more First Nations players have pulled on the North Melbourne jumper. 

Noongar men Jim and Phil Krakouer, Nyoongar and Yamatji man Byron Pickett, Wirangu and Wangkatha man Daniel Wells and Wirangu and Kokatha man Lindsay Thomas are just some of many First Nations players who have etched their names into club history. More recently, Yorta Yorta man Jy Simpkin became the club’s first Indigenous captain in 2023, and Jawoyn woman Mia King, the first Aboriginal woman to become a North Melbourne premiership player. 

The club’s commitment was formalised through the club’s first Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) in 2016, and again in the club’s second Innovate RAP in 2018. 

It was at this time the club connected formally with senior Wurundjeri Elder of the Kulin Nation, Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin AO, who has lent her cultural knowledge and expertise throughout the club’s journey. 

This previous work was an important step in laying the foundations for building the capacity of our people to create the most inclusive and welcoming environment for all.  

In late 2023, the club engaged Yawuru woman Taryn Lee to develop a road map towards better outcomes for First Nations people and communities in the club’s environment. 

The recommendations from Taryn’s body of work have led to increased First Nations resourcing, including the appointment of Lucy Amon as Head of First Nations Strategy and Engagement in 2023 to further support the club’s First Nations Working Group and drive the development and implementation of this strategy. 

The strategy represents an evolution from a RAP towards a fit-for-purpose approach that reflects the priorities identified by the club’s people and community. 

The strategy features three key focus areas: 

·         Educate our people 

·         Celebrate our shared culture 

·         Connect with our community 

“From the start, this strategy has been shaped by many different voices across the North Melbourne community,” Head of First Nations Strategy and Engagement Lucy Amon said.  

“We had our First Nations Working Group, players, staff, community leaders like Xavier Clarke and Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin, and trusted friends like Emma Bamblett, a proud Wemba Wemba woman with connections to the Ngadjonji, Gunditjmara and Taungurung people, all involved.  

“The process was about taking everyone on the journey together, really listening, and learning from their expertise and lived experiences, and making sure those voices genuinely shaped the direction of the strategy.” 

North Melbourne CEO Jen Watt shared her pride on the strategy’s launch which represents the culmination of a whole of club journey. 

“This is the club’s first dedicated First Nations strategy, it was built with and for First Nations people,” Watt said. 

“This process has been a whole of club journey and the strategy is a living commitment, with responsibilities shared by all of us. 

“Through everything we do at North Melbourne, we want to leave our people, our community and our game in a better place, and this powerful piece of work will do just that.” 

>> READ THE FULL FIRST NATIONS STRATEGY