The night was part of a two-day meeting held in Walcha to discuss the issues facing NRAA with Local Decision Making (LDM) executive sponsors from the NSW Government.

There are currently eight Aboriginal regional alliances in NSW to negotiate on behalf of local Aboriginal communities with the NSW Government about the design and delivery of services to their communities.

NRAA was formed on March 2015 and covers the local government areas of Walcha, Armidale, Glen Innes, Gunnedah, Guyra, Inverell, Liverpool Plains, Muswellbrook, Singleton, Tamworth, Tenterfield, Upper Hunter, Uralla, and the Warrumbungles.

NRAA chairperson and Amaroo LALC chief executive officer Mark Davies said the priorities NRAA focused on were health, education, economic development and employment, social justice and housing.

"The purpose of the NRAA is to achieve positive and sustained outcomes for Aboriginal people in the northern region through committed and collaborative engagement, decision making and action between community members, organisations and government," Mr Davies said

The Chairpersons of each alliance form a committee called the New South Wales Coalition of Aboriginal Regional Alliances (NCARA) who meet on a bi-monthly basis and discuss issues relevant to each regional alliance and broker partnerships to negotiate on a level higher than the regional alliances.

Walcha was picked as the NRAA July meeting site. During the event opening at Summervale residents and guests (including a dozen representatives from the state government) watched traditional dance performances before having dinner and spotting Aboriginal star formations with Tamworth based Gomeroi man Len Waters.

On Wednesday the group met at the Walcha Ex-Services Club to discuss the issues facing the northern region. To help illustrate the priorities elders Cecil Briggs (of Armidale) and Stella Lamb (of Werris Creek) both spoke of the challenges they faced during in their lives.

Mr Davies said change could not be made in isolation but only through partnership with NCARA and the LDM executive sponsors.

"Through strong leadership, Aboriginal community-controlled organisations implement an informed and inclusive consultation process which will give a voice to the whole of the Aboriginal community within the boundary of NRAA to either highlight issues or influence change in services for the betterment of the community," he said.