|
Item 11.2 - Attachment 1 |
Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee minutes 23 February 2010 |
MINUTES OF THE ABORIGINAL
AND TORRES STRAIT ISLANDER ADVISORY COMMITTEE MEETING HELD IN ROOMS 1 AND 2,
GROUND FLOOR, COUNCIL CHAMBERS, PARRAMATTA ON TUESDAY, 23 FEBRUARY 2010 AT 6.10 PM.
__________________________________________________________________________
PRESENT
Bruce
Gale in the Chair, Dianne Astill, Councillor Paul Barber (arrived 6.19 pm), Phillip
Bradley, Marcia Donovan, Shalini Kumari (retired 8.21 pm), Lyn Leerson, Linda
McDonald, Phil Russo, Gilson Saunders and David Williams.
IN ATTENDANCE
Harry
Allie – Indigenous Co-ordination Centre, Robin Bradfield – Convenor, Grant
Davies – Minute Clerk, Shanene Hogg (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Project
Officer – retired 6.58 pm), Debbie Killian – Manager Community, Library and
Social Services, Maggie Kyle - Community Capacity Building Officer and Yvonne
Webb (Housing NSW)
MINUTES
1 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF TRADITIONAL OWNERS THE DHARUG
PEOPLE
Bruce Gale made a Welcome to
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
Robin
Bradfield from Axis People Development welcomed all to the meeting and
introduced himself as the facilitator.
Each
member then introduced themselves and provided a brief background on their
interests.
In
particular, the Committee welcomed Yvonne Webb, ATSI Senior Client Service
Officer Specialist for the Mid Western Sydney Area (Housing NSW). Ms Webb can
be contacted on 9891 8195.
Ms
Webb provided a brief background on her position and welcomed contact from
members, either through her direct line or by contacting the Access and Demand
Team.
3 APOLOGIES
An apology was received and
accepted for the absence of Doug
Desjardines, Councillor G Elmore, Councillor M Lack, Annie Nielsen, John
Robertson, Tony Scholes, Anne Stonham and from representatives of the
Resignation of Anne and
Mr Gale read (and tabled)
correspondence from Anne and Murray Castles submitting their resignation from
the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee and thanking
members for their assistance, particularly in relation to the plaque at Lake
Parramatta in memory of Peter Castles.
4 CONFLICT OF
INTERESTS
There were
no conflicts of interest at this meeting.
5 ELECTION
OF CHAIRPERSON AND DEPUTY CHAIRPERSON
The
Convenor, Robin Bradfield, provided details on Council’s consideration of 22
February 2010 pertaining to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory
Committee Executive Membership. The Council had deferred this decision pending advice
from the Committee as to which members the Committee would like to be part of
the Executive Team, such membership to not be through genetics but by wisdom
and leadership.
The
Convenor suggested that members consider this resolution pending further
discussion and in the meantime, the offices of Chairperson and Deputy
Chairperson remain as is pending the resolution of this issue.
Robin
further advised that Council, in considering the Committee’s minutes of 24
November 2009, had not adopted the Committee’s recommendation to seek the
introduction of a Conservation Order on
The
Council had agreed, however, to seek an urgent WorkCover inspection of the
Parramatta Correctional Facility.
A
timetable for future meetings of the Committee for 2010 was then distributed to
members (copy appended as Attachment 1).
ACTION
That the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Committee maintain its status quo, with Bruce Gale acting as Chairman and
Gilson Saunders acting as Deputy Chair pending resolution of the membership of
the Executive Committee.
6 CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES
A copy
of the minutes of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee
Meeting held on 24 November 2009 had previously been forwarded to each member.
RECOMMENDATION (Russo/Saunders)
That the minutes of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee
Meeting held on 24 November 2009
be taken as a true record of the
meeting with the following alterations:-
1. The capitalisation of
the word “aboriginal” in Item 5.
2. The
word “involvement” pertaining to the Bronze Plaques in Item 9 be changed to
“replacement”.
3. It
be noted, in Item 9, that Gilson Saunders will also be involved in the setting
up of Aboriginal and
7 BUSINESS ARISING
Railcorp
Bruce Gale
advised that no response had been received as yet from Railcorp as to why it would
not display posters advertising local events but had displayed posters
advertising the Teddy Bears Picnic and was now advertising Leggo and the
Chinese New Year.
Maggie
Kyle added that Council’s Manager Events also had received no reply to correspondence
forwarded on this issue.
RECOMMENDATION (Russo/Saunders)
That Council forward correspondence to the relevant
Minister highlighting the fact that Railcorp will display commercial posters
(ie Leggo) but, despite requests spanning over 5 years, and at considerable
expense to the Committee, Railcorp will not display posters advertising NAIDOC
Week. Accordingly, Railcorp’s support for the future display of such posters is
sought.
Phillip
Bradley sought information on the WorkCover inspection of the Parramatta
Correctional Facility.
Maggie
Kyle advised that a copy of the response received to the Lord Mayor’s
correspondence had previously been circulated but noted Council had only
yesterday resolved to seek a WorkCover inspection. Arrangements to implement
the decision would be made in due course.
Mr Bradley
added that he had held discussions with a Senior Education Officer in relation
to excessive temperatures in prisons and it was indicated that similar problems
were being experienced at
Fighting for
Bruce Gale
asked if any further information was available on this issue.
Maggie
indicated that Council had not adopted the Committee’s recommendation to seek
the introduction of a Conservation Order on
Councillor
Barber added he had voted in accordance with the Committee’s recommendation and
that the voting had been tight on this issue.
Maggie further
added that Gary Carter would be invited to attend a future meeting and asked if
any member could provide a contact.
8. COUNCIL’S NATURAL HERITAGE DOCUMENT
A copy of
the Natural Resource Officer’s Memorandum dated 8 February 2010 regarding the
Natural Areas Restoration Aboriginal Cultural Heritage Remediation Works
Program for 2010 had previously been circulated to members.
The
memorandum noted that funding for the proposed works was only available until
June 2010 and as such, projects could only be considered up until the end of
February 2010.
Robin
Bradfield noted that any member that wished to discuss any of the projects could
contact Sally Williams on 9806 5256.
Debbie
Killian added that discussions would be held with Ms Williams with a view to
further information on the Program being provided to members.
A brief
discussion ensued on the survival of the bush tucker garden and whether, the
garden, if truly an Aboriginal site, should require maintenance.
Councillor
Barber noted that certain proposed works were simply a restoration of the works
already in existence at
RECOMMENDATION (Russo/Donovan)
That projects 8, 9 and 10 relating to Bush Foods
Garden 1, Bush Foods Garden 2 and Sorry Day Planting be undertaken as a matter
of priority under the Natural Areas Restoration Aboriginal Cultural Heritage
Remedial Works Program for 2010.
9. PROJECT REPORT
Shanene
Hogg provided details on works recently undertaken in her role as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Project
Officer. Such works included:-
· An update on the Koori Interagency
including advice that the Interagency was now being run by members;
· Koori swim partnership being
undertaken in conjunction with Holroyd City Council at Wentworthville Pool;
· Discussions being held with Wenty
Sports in relation to a Koori Dance Group;
· The successful Apology Luncheon held
on Friday, 19 February at Lake Parramatta;
· The Aboriginal Employment Strategy
is progressing but delays have been experienced due to recent changes in Human
Resources Management;
· Preparation of the Draft
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Island Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of
Country Policy. Invitations had been issued to Committee, Interagency and
community members to have input into the document. The document is quite
generic (copies distributed at meeting and available by contacting Ms Hogg) and
its purpose is to assist Council officers when organising a Welcome to Country.
It is proposed that an appendix will be attached where relevant community
members will be able to nominate themselves as a contact. The document will be
reviewed on a regular basis due to changes likely to occur for Councils and
Aboriginal communities. Any further input is welcome by emailing shogg@parracity.nsw.gov.au
Gilson
Saunders expressed his disappointment that the Chair or Deputy Chair of the
Committee had not been invited to participate in the recent HMAS Celebration.
Note
Yvonne
Webb (6.53 pm) and Shanene Hogg (6.58 pm) retired from the meeting.
10. LGAN CONFERENCE 2010 - UPDATE
Councillor
P B Barber spoke in relation to the meeting held with LGAN Executive Members on
4 February 2010. A copy of the notes taken at that meeting is appended as Attachment 2.
Issues
discussed and or raised included:-
· The possibility of the proposed
Theme involving older persons. It was
subsequently agreed that the Theme be amended to read “Supporting Strong Young
Leaders”.
· Sponsorship be sought from both
commercial and governmental sources including Shell, Parramatta Leagues Club, Chamber
of Commerce (ie an EOI to its membership database), Department of Education and
Workplace Relations, Sydney Water, Land Council (David Williams to undertake in
conjunction with Chair and Deputy Chair) and surrounding Councils (David
Williams to undertake). It was noted that such sponsorship should be on the
basis of “support” rather than a “partnership”, with Parramatta leading the
Conference.
Maggie
noted that any suggestions for sponsorship would have to be approved by LGAN in
the first instance.
· Epic has been appointed as the
conference/event organiser.
· The University of Western Sydney
had offered to provide IT support although this was dependent on the venue
utilised as in house IT support may be mandatory.
· Possible dinner and conference
venues including Sebel, Parramatta Riverside Theatres Parramatta Leagues Club
and Rosehill Gardens Function Centre. It was considered that the latter
suggestion may be too costly and could involve extra transportation costs
(although possible usage of The Loop was a consideration). It was agreed that a cost analysis of each possible location be
undertaken.
· Possible attendance numbers. There
was an expectation that attendee numbers would increase now that the conference
was being held in Parramatta.
· The need for a variety of
workshops with a plenary to enable final outcomes of each workshop to be
discussed.
· The key note speaker should be in
line with the Conference theme.
· Any performers and the Welcome to
Country should be by Darug people.
· David Williams provided relevant
details together with maps and suggested that any conference tour should
include a trip to the Prospect Hill at the Pemulwuy Estate, an awe inspiring
and historically significant site.
· Future discussions on the LGAN
Conference be held at the commencement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Advisory Committee Meetings and comprise half of the meeting, as previously
resolved.
ACTION
That the conference organisers,
Epic, be invited to attend the next meeting of the Aboriginal and
Note
Shalini Kumari retired from the
meeting at 8.21 pm.
11. GENERAL
BUSINESS AND INFORMATION SHARING
Link Up Family Services
Mr Bradley
advised that Link Up Family Services were calling for carers for young
Aboriginal children. Training will be provided for interested persons. Link Up
can be contacted on 9837 2200 or 0407 667 243.
Phil Russo
tabled correspondence received by Ms Julie Owens MP from The Hon Jenny Macklin
MP, Minister for Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs,
providing information on the Northern Territory Emergency Response (NTER)
income management of welfare recipients and Indigenous housing. A copy of the
letter is appended as Attachment 3.
David
Williams noted that a delegation was attending the United Nations on this
issue.
Domestic Violence Against Kids Campaign
Gilson
Saunders advised that he had held discussions with the Parramatta Leagues Club
and players Nathan Hindmarsh (and family), Jarryd Hayne and Daniel Mortimer
with a view to setting up, in conjunction with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Advisory Committee, a Domestic Violence Against Kids Campaign.
Gilson
added that the campaign would consist mainly of a television commercial.
RECOMMENDATION (Saunders/Russo)
That a letter of support for the Campaign be
forwarded to
Attendance at National Indigenous Education
Conference
Linda
McDonald advised of her attendance at the subject conference held in
The
Conference had proven to be enjoyable with interesting speakers and a pleasant
venue. A Conference booklet was available for viewing by interested Members.
Senate Enquiry on Indigenous Education Plan
Phillip
Bradley advised that Public Hearings are currently being held around
Appointment of Manager Human Resources
Councillor
Russo enquired whether Council had appointed a new Manager Human Resources.
Maggie
advised that an appointment had been made but unfortunately the incumbent had
resigned after 6 weeks due to personal reasons.
A new Manager had now been appointed and will
be invited to attend the April meeting.
Thank You
Harry Allie
and David Williams were thanked for their attendance.
Harry
invited members to contact him in relation to the Indigenous Program available
at his day job at the Indigenous Co-ordination Centre – Harry.allie@icc.gov.au.
The
meeting concluded at 8.35 pm.
Next Meeting
Tuesday 20 April 2010
6:00 - 8:00 pm
Meeting Room 1, Council Chambers