Changemaker recognised for her work, plans more ways to support others

Warning: this article contains reference to suicide.

Even days after the ceremony, Papunya ‘Panya’ Connors is still coming to terms with adding another award to her name.

This week the proud Ngambri-Ngunnawal woman was named Person of the Year at the Canberra and District NAIDOC Awards.

“In that second when they announced it, I was in shock. I was in absolute shock,” she told Region.

“My first feeling was shock, and then I just had this overwhelming feeling of confidence.

“It was a brain opener to say I’m with the other nominees.”

In 2019, Ms Connors won VET Indigenous Student of the Year, and currently works as the Indigenous Support and Accommodation Cultural Practice Leader at EveryMan Australia.

Nominees must have their names put forward by their community. The names are then passed onto a panel that makes the decision.

“It means so much to have your peers come to you and say, ‘Can I nominate you for this?’

“To have your peers thinking of you is huge,” Ms Connors said.

“I was very grateful to be in the company of these people who I’ve looked up to as role models, to be recognised in the community for the work I do.”

In recent years, Ms Connors has worked across NSW and the ACT.

“I’ve always worked with mob and in community,” she said.

“I lived in Newcastle for a long time, and up there I worked in tourism and national parks doing stuff for Country, caring for Country.

“When I came home, I could see the gaps in the community here, and having had a few family members pass away to suicide, I saw the impacts that had on our family and the trauma it generated.”

Witnessing the impact mental ill health and other traumas had on her family and community compelled her to look for a new path in life.

“I decided I was going to make a change,” she said.

“I went through all the training that I had to go through to get into this space.”

A Canberra-based organisation, EveryMan Australia advocates for men’s issues and supports men with high and complex needs.

“We work with Aboriginal people who have got a lot of complexities going on in their lives.”

In her role, Ms Connors works with Aboriginal families at risk of becoming homeless or are without a home.

“We do case management to help them with complexities, and we help people in and out of the court system.

“We want to help people going through the system and help them navigate that system to have a great outcome.”

A member of the Domestic Violence Prevention Council and its reference advisory group, Ms Connors also serves on the CSD NAIDOC Steering Committee.

Despite an already busy schedule, she has no plans to slow down and is setting up a new organisation to work in partnership with EveryMan.

“It’s an Aboriginal controlled community organisation called EveryMob – and it’s going to be a game changer,” she said.

“My ultimate vision is to have different people in the organisation so when Aboriginal people or community members come, they can find what they need, whether it be housing, legal or something else.

“I want to have a safe cultural place for them.”

Ms Connors said it meant a great deal to see the men and boys she worked with improve their circumstances.

“It’s genuinely heartwarming to see people have that trust in you and to be able to support them through the roughest times in their lives.

“I don’t want to say they are broken, because no-one’s ever broken.

“People come to us at their lowest point and to be able to help guide them so they can go off on their own is amazing.”

Ms Connors is the niece of Dr Aunty Matilda House, recognised as Female Elder of the Year at the national NAIDOC awards.