Item 12.1 - Attachment 1 |
Minutes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Advisory Committee Meeting 27 October 2009 |
MINUTES OF THE ABORIGINAL
AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING HELD IN ROOM 1,
GROUND FLOOR, COUNCIL CHAMBERS, PARRAMATTA ON TUESDAY, 27 OCTOBER 2009 AT 6.10 PM.
__________________________________________________________________________
PRESENT
Bruce
Gale in the Chair, Phillip Bradley (arrived
7.02 pm), Marcia Donovan, Councillor Mark Lack (departed 6.27 pm), Lyn Leerson,
Linda McDonald, Annie Nielsen (arrived 6.23 pm), John Robertson, Phil Russo,
Gilson Saunders, Anne Stonham (arrived 6.15 pm) and Greg Stonham (arrived 6.15
pm).
IN ATTENDANCE
Maggie
Kyle - Community Capacity Building Officer and Grant Davies - Minutes Clerk
MINUTES
1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF TRADITIONAL OWNERS THE DHARUG
PEOPLE
Bruce
Gale made an Acknowledgment of Country, recognising that the land upon which
the meeting was being held is Dharug and paying respect to Elders past and
present.
2 WELCOME & INTRODUCTIONS
Bruce
Gale welcomed members and Council staff to the meeting and particularly
welcomed Councillor M Lack. Councillor Lack advised that he had to leave early
but wished to introduce himself to the Committee.
3 CHAIRPERSON’S
REMINDER REGARDING MEETING PROTOCOLS
The Chairperson reminded members of the meeting
protocol.
4 APOLOGIES
An apology was received and
accepted for the absence of Councillor C X Lim.
It was also noted that 2 students
from UTS had been invited to attend the meeting but had not arrived as yet.
5 CONFLICT OF
INTERESTS
There were
no conflicts of interest at this meeting.
John
Robertson, however, sought clarification on a possible conflict of interest
issue and questioned whether Maggie Kyle was a complainant in the Doug
Desjardines’ matter.
Maggie
clarified that no conflict of interest existed and reminded the Committee that
her role was as of convenor rather than a voting member.
John
Robertson commented that members and staff alike were bound by the Code of
Conduct and expressed his opinion that a conflict of interest had existed for
the past 6 months.
Maggie
advised that this matter would best be raised with the Chief Executive Officer,
Dr Lang.
Note
Anne and Greg Stonham arrived at the meeting at 6.15
pm during consideration of this matter.
6 CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES
A copy
of the minutes of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee
Meeting held on 22 September 2009 had previously been forwarded to each member.
RESOLVED (Russo/ Robertson)
The minutes of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee
Meeting held on 22 September 2009
be taken as a true record of the
meeting with the inclusion of Annie Nielsen as an attendee at this meeting.
7 BUSINESS ARISING
Indigenous Employees at Council
Phil Russo
sought advice on the present position with regard to the attendance of
Council’s Manager Human Resources at an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Advisory Committee Meeting to provide information on the rates of Indigenous
employees at Council and other related issues.
Maggie
Kyle advised that Council’s Manager had recently resigned but added that the
relevant advice was being sought from Human Resources Officers. Maggie further
added that upon appointment of a new Manager, an invitation to attend a future
meeting would be issued.
ACTION
That this matter remain a standing agenda item.
Railcorp
Bruce Gale
stated that no further advice had been received with respect to Railcorp’s
failure to display posters for NAIDOC 2009.
Maggie
Kyle indicated that Margarita Perez had been verbally advised that Railcorp
would not display posters advertising events in local areas.
Bruce
noted, however, that Railcorp had displayed posters advertising the Teddy Bears
Picnic and suggested that the Committee could approach the Minister, if
necessary, to ensure its posters were displayed in the future.
Lyn
Leerson referred to the various requests for amendments to the Indigenous
Heritage documents as presented by Paul Kennedy at the previous meeting.
Lyn noted
she had also submitted a list of proposed changes but hoped that the
Committee’s requests had also been taken on board.
Linda
McDonald reiterated her request for advice as to whether the Parramatta Girls
Home was heritage listed.
Lyn
Leerson also again questioned the location of the plaques formerly located in
Charles and George Streets.
ACTION
1. That Paul Kennedy be requested to
consider both the Committee’s suggestions for changes together with any
individual submissions made.
2. That Paul Kennedy be requested to
provide a copy of the final document to the Committee prior to it being put up
on Council’s website.
Note
1. Annie
Nielsen arrived at the meeting at 6.23 pm during consideration of this matter.
2. Councillor Mark Lack retired from the
meeting at 6.27 pm during consideration of this matter.
Status of ABORIGINAL
AND
Maggie advised that the Ms Shanene Hogg’s contract
had been extended.
Appointment
of Members to ABORIGINAL AND
Maggie
indicated that letters had been forwarded to all applicants advising of their
appointment and informing of compulsory training to be held on 2 dates in
November. Maggie added that quarterly training will also be held for any new
members or for those members not able to attend the November dates.
It was
noted that Linda McDonald, Annie Nielsen, Phil Russo and Gilson Saunders were
yet to receive their appointment letters.
Dharug Corroborree
Lyn
Leerson had attended and whilst unfortunately the weather had been poor, the
culture expressed had been tremendous. Lyn referred to a wonderful computer
program that had been displayed on the day on the Darug language.
Lyn also
noted that it was interesting to hear Richard Downs speak on the Walk Off and also
to his reference to the need for all persons to think in terms of the country
as a whole.
8. LGAN CONFERENCE 2009 – FEEDBACK
Bruce Gale
and Linda McDonald tabled a report from their attendance at the 2009 LGAN
Conference. Mr Gale’s report is appended
as attachment 1 and Linda McDonald’s report will be circulated in the near
future.
Ms Stonham thanked Bruce and Linda for their informative
reports.
Linda
spoke to her report and advised that her highlight of the conference was Linda
Burney but added that the workshops had also been enjoyable.
Bruce
agreed that the workshops had been excellent and had been timed to enable
attendance at each workshop.
Bruce
added that the Conference had discussed the bicycle helmet phobia in existence
amongst children and he had suggested that the AFL and NRL be encouraged to
provide helmets in club colours.
9. GENERAL
BUSINESS AND INFORMATION SHARING
Campaign Against Domestic Violence
Gilson
Saunders advised that a number of Parramatta NRL players, including Daniel
Mortimer and Nathan Hindmarsh had been recruited to assist in a campaign
against domestic violence.
Aboriginal and
Gilson
Saunders advised that he had been involved in the setting up of a number of Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander Committees throughout the area.
Draft Aboriginal Heritage Impact Assessment for the
Former Channel 7 Site,
Gilson
Saunders tabled correspondence from AHMS (Archaeological and Heritage
Management Solutions) dated 15 June 2009 seeking comment on the subject draft assessment.
A copy of the assessment will be provided to all members under separate cover.
Gilson
added that he had requested students from
Flying of Koori Flag outside
Phil Russo
noted that the Koori flag was not being flown outside the
RECOMMENDATION (Russo/Saunders)
That the Koori flag once again be flown outside the
International Women’s Day
Lyn
Leerson advised that the
Gilson
Saunders noted that the original initiation site is located in Narooma.
RECOMMENDATION (Leerson/Saunders)
That the proposed event be endorsed and supported by
the Aboriginal and
LGAN Conference 2010
Maggie
advised that a 2 year budget bid for the amount of $150,000 had been submitted
to Council and $30,000 had subsequently been allocated. The internal working
group are therefore in the process of inviting submissions from three event /
conference consultants to ascertain what we would be able to provide. On
receipt of the 3rd submission, the matter will be brought to the
Committee.
John
Robertson commented that much of the cost could be covered by registration
fees.
Bruce Gale
replied that conference attendance and LGAN registration numbers had reduced
over the last few years but it was expected than any conference held in
Bruce
added that discussions would also need to be held with Rod Towney and other
LGAN Executive members.
Maggie
noted that the reported experience of other Councils organising LGAN
Conferences was that the limited meeting dates of the LGAN Executive could hold
up the promotion of the Conference and necessary decision making. However, as
we were aware of potential problems, we could work to minimise them. It was
suggested that any concerns on this front be forwarded to David Williams.
Phil Russo
added that it was imperative that the end result of the conference be
distributed widely.
Note
Phillip Bradley arrived at the meeting at 7.02 pm
during consideration of this matter.
Welcome Acknowledgement
Linda
McDonald was pleased to announce that the recently appointed Principal of
Quakers Hill High School had undertaken the Welcome Acknowledgement at her
first assembly.
Gilson
Saunders suggested that the children undertake the Welcome.
Attendance at National Indigenous Education Conference
Linda
McDonald advised of her desire to attend the National Indigenous Education
Conference being held in
Gilson
Saunders suggested that an application for funding also be made to the Department
of Aboriginal Affairs, Redfern.
Acknowledgement to Country
The
Committee discussed obtaining details on those schools in the LGA who carried
out the Acknowledgement to Country.
RECOMMENDATION (Bradley/Russo)
That as it is important for Aboriginal communities
within the LGA to be proud and supportive of their Aboriginal identity, and in
accordance with the aims and objectives of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Advisory Committee, Council write to the Department of Education and
Training and request that the Department undertake a survey of schools to
identify those who undertake the Acknowledgement or Welcome to Country at
assemblies or other events together with details of other support given to
Aboriginal students.
Geoff McMullen DVD
Annie
Nielsen advised that copies of the subject DVD had been distributed to
Councillors Barber and Lim and other copies were available for interested
members. The Councillors had been requested to provide advice on the best
method to disseminate this information to the community.
It was
noted that a copy of the DVD should also be provided to Councillor McDermott.
Phillip
Bradley added that he had a copy of the ‘Kanyini” DVD if anyone was interested.
Gilson
Saunders expressed an interest in receiving copies and added that copies should
also be provided to Senator Marissa Payne.
Next Meeting
Bruce
advised that a date would need to be set for the next ABORIGINAL AND TORRES
STRAIT ISLANDER Meeting at which a new Chairperson and Executive would need to
be elected. This matter was left in the hands of Maggie Kyle.
Maggie
Kylie indicated that the new Terms of Reference did not provide for an
Executive.
It was
noted that this matter would need to be the subject of further discussion.
The
meeting concluded at 7.43 pm
Next Meeting (First meeting of the
new Committee)
Tuesday 24th November
2009
6:00-8:00 pm
Meeting Room 1, Council Chambers