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Item 11.3 - Attachment 1 |
Minutes Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Advisory Committee Meeting 26 October 2010 |
MINUTES OF THE ABORIGINAL
AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING HELD IN GROUND FLOOR
MEETING ROOMS 1 AND 2, COUNCIL CHAMBER, PARRAMATTA ON TUESDAY, 26 OCTOBER 2010
AT 6.26 PM.
______________________________________________________________
PRESENT
John
Robertson in the Chair, Bruce Astill, Donna-Lee Astill, Councillor Paul Barber
(departed 7.37pm), Phil Bradley, Doug Desjardines, Marcia Donovan, Lyn Leerson
(arrived 6.48 pm), Annie Nielsen and Phil Russo.
IN ATTENDANCE
Grant
Davies (Minute Clerk) and Maggie Kyle (
1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
OF TRADITIONAL OWNERS THE DHARUG PEOPLE
John
Robertson made a Welcome to Country, recognising that the land upon which the
meeting was being held is Burramatugal and paid respect to Elders past and
present.
2 WELCOME AND
INTRODUCTIONS
The
Committee welcomed Tracy Appel and Tanya Koeneman
from the Department of Planning, Heritage Branch.
3 APOLOGIES
An apology was received and
accepted for the absence of Bruce Gale, Shalini Kumari, Anne Stonham, Greg
Stonham and Doug Wilson and it was noted that Lyn Leerson would be a late
arrival.
4 CONFLICT OF INTERESTS
There were no conflicts of interest at this meeting.
5 WELCOME
The Committee welcomed Tracy
Appel and Tanya Koeneman from the Department of Planning (Heritage Branch) to
provide a presentation on the proposal to list the Sand Platform on the State
Heritage Register.
6 PRESENTATION – LISTING OF THE SAND PLATFORM
ON THE STATE HERITAGE REGISTER
Tanya
acknowledged that the land on which the Committee was meeting is Burramatugal
and paid respect to Elders past and present.
Tanya
further noted that Council had acknowledged the Committee as the ‘knowledge
holders’ on the subject of the presentation.
Tanya
outlined her works at the Heritage Branch and indicated:-
· Her role included investigation of State Heritage Items that had
potential and significance;
· There appeared to be a lack of Aboriginal items of significance on the
heritage register;
· There is a need to raise awareness of the heritage register with
Aboriginal communities throughout NSW.
· The main aim of tonight’s presentation was to talk on the Parramatta
Sand Body Conservation, which is a large natural expanse that sits primarily
under the Parramatta CBD.
· A
definition of the Sand Body which is a previously unrecognised soil landscape
that runs along the Parramatta River and through the Parramatta CBD;
· Maps
of its location in Parramatta;
· An
archaeological investigation of the Sand Body had been carried out at the
Meriton’s site and at the RTA site in George Street with some 6500 artefacts
being recovered from the Meriton site alone;
· Pictures
of artefacts discovered.
Tanya outlined reasons for
listing a portion of the Sand Body and advised:-
· There
has been a cumulative loss of the Sand Body through the various developments in
the area;
· The
Sand Body is finite and the community has raised concerns;
· The
Sand Body has great conservation potential and is unique;
· The
Sand Body reveals Aboriginal lifestyle and also indicates how changeable the
environment is:
· The listing
will provide an opportunity for greater education and awareness of Aboriginal
occupation in Parramatta and a tangible link to Aboriginal ancestors;
· The
Sand Body has cultural significance;
· The listing
will assist the Council with strategic land use planning;
· A nomination must initially be prepared and
potential sites are Robin Thomas Reserve, part of James Ruse Reserve and the
front garden and adjacent parkland of Hambledon Cottage;
· Initial
discussions with Council as landowner are quite positive;
· Nominations
can come from the owner, general community or government departments and must include
such information as description, historical information and significance of the
site;
· After
nomination, Auger hole testing will be carried out to determine the extent of
the Sand Body across the proposed listing sites;
· The
views on listing will also be sought from local Aboriginal communities together
with the owners of the site;
· Interested
members can be provided with a draft copy of the Aboriginal Cultural Assessment
Report that is to accompany the Aboriginal Heritage Permit (in this regard it
was noted that a copy of the report would be compressed and centred on the
methodology and would be provided to Maggie Kyle for distribution to members);
· Any
comments on the distributed document should be provided asap but in any event
prior to 22 November 2010.
Note
Lyn Leerson arrived at the meeting at 6.48pm during
the presentation.
Phil Russo sought advice on
the chances of listing
Tanya felt that the chances
were quite good and noted that a colleague was already working on a project
related to this site. Tanya further noted that the Heritage Branch considered
Maggie commented that the
Committee at its previous meeting had recommended to Council that
It was then agreed that Tanya
would advise the Chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Advisory Committee whether
Tanya and Tracy were thanked
for their comprehensive presentation to the Committee.
RECOMMENDATION (Robertson/Russo)
That the presentation be received and it be noted
that the Committee registers its interest in receiving the draft copy of the
Aboriginal Cultural Assessment Report when available.
Note
Councillor P Barber, Tracy and Tanya retired from the
meeting at 7.37pm following consideration of the above matter.
7 CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES
A copy of the minutes of the Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Advisory Committee Meeting held on 28 September 2010 had
previously been forwarded to each member.
RECOMMENDATION (Russo/Leerson)
That the
minutes of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee Meeting
held on 28 September 2010 be taken as a true record of the meeting.
8 BUSINESS
ARISING
Corrective Services
Maggie advised that a letter
had been drafted and will be forwarded to the CEO for signature regarding the
incarceration of a local Aboriginal person at Muswellbrook Correctional
Facility.
Youth off the Streets Project
Maggie advised that the
Committee’s recent request for Council to give consideration to the placement
of Aboriginal Workers under Father Chris Riley’s Youth off the Street Project
had been forwarded to Human Resources.
No response had been
received to date.
Doug Desjardines noted that
regeneration works were being undertaken by contractors at Lake Parramatta
Reserve near Lake and Gloucester Streets,
Annie Nielsen noted that
appropriate training would need to be provided.
Mr Desjardines further
requested that arrangements be made for him to meet with Council’s Natural
Resource Officer, Ms Sally Williams.
Maggie noted that Sally
Williams was also to meet with John Robertson and suggested that both meetings
be held simultaneously.
RECOMMENDATION (Desjardines/Russo)
That Council consider the employment of Aboriginal
youth from Father Chris Riley’s Youth off the Street Project as trainees on the
Lake and
9 LGAN 2010
Debrief 2
The Committee agreed to hold
over this matter pending the attendance of the Chairman of the Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee.
10 GENERAL
BUSINESS AND INFORMATION SHARING
Cross Cultural Training
Mr Robertson advised that
his group had now submitted an application to provide cross cultural training
and sought advice on the present position with regard to this issue.
Maggie suggested that Mr
Robertson contact Council’s Manager Human Resources, Mr Ian Fitzgerald, and
seek comment on the proposed timeline for this project.
Invitation – “Not Another Statistic”
Maggie invited members to
attend the Artist’s Studio on 4 November 2010 at 2pm for lunch to welcome the
new Canadian Indigenous Artist who is currently working on the “Not Another
Statistic” art project which is a collection of real Aboriginal stories
regarding diabetes.
Upgrading of Competencies
Mr Desjardines advised that
he had been contacted by an outdoor Aboriginal Council employee who was having difficulty in
gaining permission to undertake training for various competency qualifications
(tickets).
Mr Desjardines sought advice
on how such employees go about upgrading their tickets and also what support
was available when their attempts to increase their competencies were refused.
Parramatta Girls Home
Marcia Donovan referred to
the LGAN Conference site visit to Parramatta Girls Home which was run as a NSW State controlled child welfare institution for girls
from 1887 until 1974: it
was effectively a place of punishment, a prison
for thousands of Aboriginal and non Aboriginal girls. The visit which had
proved to be extremely significant, powerful and moving with some attendees
having seen spirits in the window of the premises.
Marcia noted that this had
been very upsetting for some attendees and requested that Council organise a
smoking ceremony to cleanse the area and put the spirits at rest.
RECOMMENDATION (Donovan/Desjardines)
That arrangements for a smoking ceremony at the Parramatta
Girls Home be left in the hands of the Community Capacity Team who will work in
consultation with the Aboriginal women who attended the LGAN site visit and
Bonnie Duric of Parragirls.
Availability of Preschools adjacent to Primary
Schools
Donna-Lee Astill noted that
certain Aboriginal families were experiencing difficulty in placing their
children in affordable preschools.
Donna-Lee noted that certain
public schools such as Rosehill Public and Granville Public Schools have pre
schools located adjacent to the main schools which cater cost effectively for
Aboriginal children and questioned why such facilities were not available at
all schools in Parramatta, especially Parramatta East Public School.
Maggie advised that further
information would be sought on this issue including who is responsible for the
pre schools, how they are accessed and how more of the facilities can be made
available.
Mr Bradley noted that
funding may still be available for the construction of such facilities from the
government.
Reconciliation in Parliament Session
Mr Bradley noted that a
Reconciliation in Parliament Session would be held on Wednesday 27 October 2010
dealing with juvenile justice. The session was open to the public.
Aboriginal Employment
Mr Bradley advised that on
Thursday, 28 October 2010 between 7pm and 9pm, Mr Mark Fordham would be
speaking in the Charles Byrne room in relation to Aboriginal Employment under
the Community Development Employment Program in the
Darug Language Project
Mr Robertson advised that
the Darug Language Project had been launched 2 weeks ago with information being
available at the following website www.dharug.dalang.com
The meeting terminated at
8.17pm