SCHOOL leaders, and other groups gathered with Glenelg Shire Councillors and staff on Wednesday, to mark National Reconciliation Week, and to hear from Gunditjmara Elders and local Indigenous organisations about what the week means, and what needs to be done to achieve reconciliation.

The week is bookended by the anniversary of two significant steps forward for Indigenous Australians’ rights – the successful 1967 referendum which changed the constitution to allow Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples to be counted as part of the population, and the 1992 Mabo High Court decision that set legal precedent for Native Title recognition and overturned the concept of ‘terra nullius’.

It also takes in National Sorry Day, which commemorates the Stolen Generation and was acknowledged separately in a council event on Friday last week.

Students representing each school in the district each spoke to the crowd of around 100 in the Ngoot-Yoong Cultural Healing Centre on Julia Street, sharing their thoughts on the meaning of reconciliation and this year’s theme ‘Be a voice for generations’, following a speech from Mayor Scott Martin.

Gunditjmara Elder Aunty Hilary Saunders, who gave a welcome to country at the start of the event, said she was pleased to hear what students were learning about Gunditjmara culture and Aboriginal affairs.

“I'm 68 this year, and I learned about Captain Cook and we did a play in high school on Caroline Chisholm, there was nothing about Aboriginal people.

“I was born before the 1967 referendum, so me and my family was not even counted in the census.”

While she was happy to see a strong crowd of community leaders making time to acknowledge National Reconciliation Week, Aunty Hilary said it takes much more than just a week of events to properly reconcile Australia’s past.

“You can say sorry, what does that mean?” she said.

“I think we need to tell the truth about what happened to Aboriginal people, that needs to be out there for everyone to see and accept.

“Then people might understand better the conditions under which Aboriginal people endured - being killed, driven off our land, split up and put into housing and the missions.”

Cr Martin said reconciliation was an issue he is passionate about personally, and was impressed by the students who spoke at the event, particularly young Gunditjmara man Kalum Foster, who told his story of returning to the area and reconnecting, after spending his early years in Tasmania, disconnected from Elders and the culture.

“That was really inspiring to hear his story of coming here to Gunditjmara Country to learn more about himself and to be comfortable and proud…It’s exactly the sort of environment we want this place to be and to me it’s what reconciliation is about in a nutshell,” he said.

“Obviously there's a lot of issues that are not resolved, a lot of that can be addressed by truth telling.

“That's the number one thing when it comes to reconciliation, and you know, having some of those difficult conversations.

As for the Voice Referendum expected to be held later in the year which was referenced several times at the event, Cr Martin said the Glenelg Council had not yet formed an official position.

Yesterday, Portland District Health also held a smoking ceremony to recognise the week, conducted by Aunty Denise Lovett, who told hospital staff about the significance of the 1967 referendum and the Mabo decision, and the significance of reconciliation and truth telling as one of the vehicles to acknowledge Australia’s full history.

Afterwards, PDH CEO Samantha Sharp said it was important for the health service to pay special attention to providing a safe environment for Indigenous people, and was in the early stages of developing a Reconciliation Action Plan.

“We need to use this as a launching pad to keep working with the community into the future so that people do feel that we're providing a culturally safe space for them to get well.

“We've got a lot of work to do around the Reconciliation Action Plan. And so, we've started already conversations with (Traditional Owner groups) about how we might bring that together with them.”