NAIDOC Week 2021: Heal Country, heal our nation

NAIDOC week and this year’s theme ‘Heal Country!’ is a chance to reflect on the strength, leadership and resolve of Aboriginal communities in protecting Country. It is a chance to listen to their stories and learn from their knowledge and experience.  It also gives us an opportunity to reflect on the action we are taking to ensure we are recognising and elevating the voices and rights of Aboriginal Victorians. At the Commission, we understand the importance of upholding Aboriginal cultural rights across all aspects our work.

‘Heal Country!’ finds support within Victoria’s Charter of Human Rights and Responsibilities. The Charter recognises and protects the cultural rights of Aboriginal people, including the right to enjoy identity and culture, maintain and use language and kinship ties. It also recognises the special relationship with land, water and resources held by Aboriginal Victorians, a connection grown from at least 65,000 years of occupation and care of the continent.

The Commission’s education and engagement work strives to ensure that Aboriginal Victorians are aware of their cultural rights under the Charter and that duty holders, such as public entities, understand and comply with their obligations to uphold these rights.

We have also embedded our commitment to self-determination and raising Aboriginal voices through our Aboriginal Community Engagement Strategy 2020-22 (ACES). Launched in 2020, the ACES will shape the Commission’s work and connections with Victoria’s Aboriginal communities in the years ahead.  From the way we partner with Aboriginal organisations and communities, to the way we support our staff, handle data and make referrals, the ACES will continue to drive improvements in the way we deliver services to Aboriginal Victorians now and into the future.

To coincide with NAIDOC week, we are excited to release the latest initiative under the ACES, our Aboriginal Community Partnership Principles. Guiding our work with the Aboriginal community, these principles will ensure our work is led and informed by Aboriginal voices and perspectives. This includes embedding self-determination in our work, creating meaningful partnership and consultation on issues that matter. It is an opportunity to strengthen our relationships of trust and transparency, provide culturally safe services, and raise the distinct voices of Aboriginal people in Victoria.

As we continue to work to promote and protect Aboriginal rights, we will strive for stronger measures to protect culture and heritage and ensure that the we are promoting and hearing the knowledge and experience of the Aboriginal community, and empowering Aboriginal people to lead and inform us in this work.

We are hopeful at the potential for recent landmark developments in Victoria to make lasting change and continue the process of healing. The commencement on the path to Treaty through the establishment of the First Peoples’ Assembly, and the recent establishment of the Yoo-rrook Truth and Justice Commission are just two promising examples.

And we also know that more can be done. To heal, we – as a community – must acknowledge the past and ongoing injustices experienced by Aboriginal Australians. We must all be a part of the journey to right wrongs and strengthen Aboriginal rights, Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Australians alike.

This NAIDOC week let’s reflect on the resilience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and heritage, and the connection to this continent for many thousands of years. Let’s acknowledge the immeasurable impact that Australia’s First Peoples have had on this land and embrace First Nation’s culture. And let’s call for stronger measures to recognise, protect and maintain all aspects of this culture, now and into the future.

The Commission acknowledges the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Victorians, their communities and cultures. Throughout this statement, we refer to the Aboriginal Victorian Community as inclusive of the many different First Nations Peoples in Victoria, including Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.