A cafe serving culturally safe skills alongside indigenous flavours wins the inaugural social enterprise prize in the Lord Mayor's Small Business Awards 2025.
When young people sling coffees at Ngarrgu Djerring cafe in Alfred Place, they're also learning to leap over life's hurdles just like their mentor, Olympian Kyle Vander-Kuyp.
Kyle dreams big. As a young man, he became a household name as a champion hurdler.
Now retired from professional athletics, Kyle is a social entrepreneur whose latest venture, Ngarrgu Djerring cafe, offers skills and stability to young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as they navigate obstacles in their own lives.
"There are a lot of young people out there couch surfing, trying to navigate through the unemployment space. We want them to land somewhere positive," Kyle said.
"If someone starts off in the hospitality space and learns how to pour some coffees and meet people across the counter, that skillset will lead on to other areas," Kyle said.
Since opening a year ago with a small business grant from the City of Melbourne, Ngarrgu Djerring has offered culturally safe opportunities and training to 30 young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
“It lays a good foundation for [young people] to get confidence and connection, learn some skills,” Kyle said.
The cafe is the first small business in the City of Melbourne to receive the Social Enterprise Award in our annual Lord Mayor’s Small Business Awards.
“Being a winner in the Lord Mayor’s Small Business Awards shows us, as an Aboriginal-owned business, that we are celebrated, that First Nations culture and inclusive economic development is important to our city.”
“This is more important than ever in a time where cultural expression is often challenged.”
“Ngarrgu Djerring fosters community connection, promotes pride in Aboriginal culture, and provides a vital stepping-stone for economic independence,” Kyle said.
“We want Ngarrgu Djerring to be a safe space for First Nations communities and for all cultures to have an access point to learn about Melbourne through a First Nations lens.”
“Melbourne is such a beautiful city. I've always wanted our young people to feel like they've got a safe place to gather, a hub, a meeting point in the city.”
“If it’s to grab a bit of nourishment or grab a coffee, I'd like to see people feel comfortable that they can come in and sit at the cafe. Come in for a meeting. I'd like to use [the space] for meetings myself.”
Skills, stability and a safe space for young people
While young people learn their way around the kitchen at Ngarrgu Djerring, the social enterprise behind the cafe - Killara Foundation - works with each young person to create stability elsewhere in their lives.
If a young person needs a place to live, for example, Killara connects them with two private rentals a short train ride from the city centre.
"[You've got to get] young people into a living environment where they've got a roof over their head and their own personal space, space to cook, living spaces, a place to learn life skills," Kyle said.
He founded Killara Foundation as a way to work deeply with young people to find their passion.
"And as we start to explore who they are and what they want, that passion and interest in the person will come out. That's when you can really set someone up for a career. They can find the right space they want to be in."
"[We are] addressing long-term disengagement from employment, strengthened connections to community, culture and Country," Kyle said.
How words of encouragement changed everything for Olympian Kyle Vander-Kuyp
Kyle knows first-hand how a few well-chosen words at the right time can change a young person's outlook for life.
Before he dominated the track as Australia's greatest-ever hurdler, Kyle was a young boy growing up to adopted parents in Melbourne's eastern suburbs, and enduring racism at primary school.
Yet to fully explore his heritage as a Woromi and Yuin person of the north and south coast New South Wales, Kyle's eyes lit up when AFL legend and Tiwi Islander Maurice Rioli came to speak to students at his school.
"After his speech, Maurice took me aside and said: 'It's not a disadvantage to be Aboriginal. It's an advantage. But you've got to use it, you've got to be proud'."
"Those words stuck with me and set me on the right course."
Kyle has held the Australian record of 13.29 seconds in hurdles over 110 m since 1996. He won 12 national open titles between 1992 and 2006, represented Australia at four Commonwealth Games, four world championships and two Olympic Games.
Applying the gold standard to a social enterprise
In dreaming up the cafe, Kyle worked closely with Wurundjeri elders to make sure that culture is at the heart of the operation.
Two Woi-wurrung words were entrusted to Killara to name the space: Ngarrgu Djerring means 'knowledge together'.
"To set up a cafe and have a couple of words from Wurundjeri language, that excites me. It excites me to give that to Melbourne, to give it to Victoria, to give it to Australia."
Traditional indigenous ingredients pepper the menu: think macadamia granola, strawberry gum danishes, saltbush caramel macarons, bush chutney to go with a sourdough toasty.
The whole scene celebrates Melbourne's food culture, while also serving as a hub for cultural tourism and education. The team has recently expanded into catering.
"When you choose us to cater your next community event or function, you are supporting a First Nations social enterprise to elevate nutritional, local native foods, and provide on-the-job skills and training for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young peoples."
Look to the walls for artwork by various First Nations artists including Thelma Beeton and Shaun Anthony Thompson, which enrich the space and showcase distinct cultures, songlines, totems and vibrant colours.
"The cafe is creating an opportunity where our community can come together, share knowledge, and grow."
"[It's a place where] diverse communities [can] connect and engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, cultures and histories."
Lord Mayor’s Small Business Awards 2025
Small businesses are key to our city's economic growth and liveability.
Each year, we celebrate Melbourne’s independent small businesses and the people behind them with the Lord Mayor’s Small Business Awards.
The winners for 2025 are:
- Small Business of the Year: Seesaw
- Small Business Innovation Award: Maternal and Infant Wellbeing Melbourne
- Small Business Social Enterprise Award: Ngarrgu Djerring.
These annual awards recognise small businesses that celebrate innovation, resilience, creativity and longevity in the City of Melbourne. We also honour those operating in the city for 10+, 20+, 40+ years.
For more information, visit Lord Mayor's Small Business Awards.
