The Chair of an Aboriginal language group in north Queensland says urgent funding is needed before 80 per cent of indigenous languages spoken in the region are lost.
The North Queensland Regional Aboriginal Language Corporation [NQRALC] Chair, Troy Wyles-Whelan addressed the standing committee for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs [ATSIA] on language via uplink from Cairns last Thursday.
Mr Wyles-Whelan said the organisation struggled to reach out to remote communities because of budget limitations.
“We’re the peak body within the region and we’re the largest language body within Australia. Most of the other areas only have one or two [languages] or maybe three at the most,” he said. “My issue is about the funding of these programmes.”