Showing their support for National Reconciliation Week (NRW), which this year ran with the theme ‘Grounded in Truth Walk Together with Courage’, and celebrating the growing relationship between Orbost Regional Health (ORH) and Moogji Aboriginal Council East Gippsland, staff at ORH gathered for a morning tea on Wednesday, May 29.

The dates of NRW were explained to those gathered by new ORH chief executive officer, Vicki Farthing – the dates, May 27 to June 3, remain the same each year, representing two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey; the successful 1967 referendum, and the High Court Mabo decision respectively.

A highlight of the morning was the re-presentation of eight artworks, painted in recent years by significant local Aboriginal identities, now reframed with the artists’ and painting names clearly acknowledging their work. The artworks, by Trina Wilmot (Turtles Meeting),

Bundle (Birds in Time), Phyllis Hewat (Moonlight on the Snowy), Anna Bundle (Bogong Dreaming), Teresa Martin (Bush Tucker), Paula Martin (Community) and Sharlene Martin (Tools of Past and Present), will be displayed in prominent positions around the ORH precinct.

Staff and students at St Joseph’s Primary School joined together to celebrate NRW last Wednesday. Did you know that 30 per cent of the student population of St Joseph’s is indigenous?

Grounded in Truth, Walk Together with Courage, the theme for 2019, is relevant to all members of the school community everyone engages in sharing stories and working together cooperatively every day.

Sharing a special prayer time and indigenous focused activities was beneficial to the entire school community. The school is committed to maintaining its inclusive policies, which encourage diverse enrolments.

“Holistic educational programs that celebrate difference and encourage respectful relationships definitely contribute to a unified future for all Australians,” a St Joseph’s Primary School representative said.

At Orbost North Primary School students enjoyed a number of activities for NRW including reading When the snake bites the Sun, dot painting, Dreamtime story telling and boomerang activities.

PICTURED: Orbost Regional Health (ORH) Aboriginal health worker - early years, Julie Wilson, with her Aunty Thelma Murray’s Sacred Sites, at the ORH morning tea last Wednesday to mark National Reconciliation Week. Eight newly framed artworks by local Indigenous artists were presented on the day and will be displayed in prominent areas of the ORH precinct.