These past few months have seen me travel up North to our New England and North West branch regions and down to the Murray and Riverina regions to catch up with familiar faces and meet a few new ones too.
Up North, I visited Coonamble, Collarenebri, Gulargambone, Tamworth & Moree.
Apart from meeting with Indigenous members and delegates I was able to meet with council HR departments to find out about local Indigenous employment opportunities and provide advice on culturally appropriate communication between local government and Indigenous members.
While revisiting Moree Plains Shire Council I discovered nearly 30 existing members have updated their member profiles to reflect their ATSI heritage. At my last visit, earlier this year, there were just 6 members at Moree Council who identified as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander.
My travels in the Murray and Riverina regions included Leeton Shire, Wagga Wagga, Narrandera and Hay Shire.
Much like when I was in the northern region, I met with both Indigenous members and council HR departments to get a sense of what services they provide Indigenous members and identify any areas that the union can provide support in.
A little bit closer to home, I attended Sutherland Shire Council’s ‘Meeting of Two Cultures’. Part of their Reconciliation Action Plan, it aims to strengthen respect, relationships and opportunities for ATSI people. The event brings together over 280 students from the local area, La Perouse Land Council and residents.
The annual event commemorates the landing of Captain Cook and the first interaction between Europeans and the First Nations peoples of Australia’s east coast at Kamay Botany Bay National Park in 1770.
