Woodleigh School Irrultja Visit - 2025

Irrultja is a tiny, remote Aboriginal community of approximately 50 people located roughly 250 kilometres northeast of Alice Springs. Part of the broader Utopia region, Irrultja is surrounded by the vast Central Desert.

Irrultja is home to members of the Alyawarre and Anmatyerre language groups and traditional practices remain a vital part of daily life. Hunting, bush food, and cultural traditions are still actively practised and passed down through generations.

The Utopia region is internationally celebrated for its artwork, with local artists contributing to the vibrant legacy of batik and acrylic painting traditions. Works from this region have found their way into galleries around the world.

Woodleigh students have been visiting Irrultja since 2010, but due to a lack of funding, only one student from Irrultja has ever visited our school, back in 2017.

Access to Irrultja is primarily via unsealed roads, making travel dependent on weather conditions. Yet, it is this isolation that helps preserve the community’s strong cultural identity and close-knit way of life. Ceremonial gatherings and seasonal events bring people together, reinforcing bonds and celebrating traditions that have endured for many thousands of years.

This year, we are aiming to raise $15,000 to fund a travel, accommodation and activities budget, allowing students and staff from Irrultja to visit us.

Please consider a donation toward Woodleigh’s Reconciliation Group Partnership Fund, which will allow these students to join us here on the Mornington Peninsula for the first time.

If we manage to bring these students to Victoria, it will be the first time any of them have seen the ocean and, for many, the first time they have travelled further than Alice Springs.

We appreciate all support you are able to provide.

Please note: Woodleigh only currently has DGR (deductible gift recipient) status for our scholarship and building funds, and since these funds are not going towards either of those uses, we are unable to offer tax receipts for donations in this instance.