|
Item 9.2 - Attachment 1 |
Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Advisory Committee Minutes 23 November 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, 23 NOVEMBER 2010
AT 6.25PM.
______________________________________________________________
PRESENT
Bruce
Gale in the Chair and Donna-Lee Astill, Phillip Bradley, Doug Desjardines, Lyn
Leerson, Annie Nielsen, John Robertson and Phil Russo.
IN ATTENDANCE
Grant
Davies (Minute Clerk) and Maggie Kyle (
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 Burramattagal and paid respect to Elders past and
present.
2 APOLOGIES
An apology was received and
accepted for the absence of Bruce Astill, Councillor
3 CONFLICT OF INTERESTS
There were no conflicts of interest at this meeting.
4 CONFIRMATION OF MINUTES
A copy of the minutes of the Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Advisory Committee Meeting held on 26 October 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 26 October 2010 be taken as a true record of the meeting.
5 BUSINESS
ARISING
Bruce Gale advised that he had not been contacted to
date by Tanya Koeneman from the Department of Planning to advise whether
John Robertson advised that he had spoken to Ms
Koeneman and it was his understanding that the Committee had resolved to seek
the placement of a heritage conservation order for the site but had not moved
to have
Maggie Kyle advised that this particular
recommendation by the Committee had been forwarded to the consultants dealing
with the relevant Plan of Management.
John Robertson commented that as the Committee was
advising Council on matters of an Aboriginal nature, there should be no need to
refer the recommendation to consultants.
In response to a question from Phil Bradley on the
release of the Plan of Management, Ms Kyle responded that it would likely be
available in the near future but would seek further clarity on this issue.
Doug Desjardines noted that he could lodge his own
application via the Lands Council and added that he had also spoken to the Lord
Mayor who was agreeable to meeting with the Committee to discuss this issue.
RESOLVED (Robertson/
Desjardines)
(a) That
the Committee requests that Council consider applying to the Heritage Office
for the placement of
(b) Further,
that the Lord Mayor be requested to advise of his availability to meet with
members of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee, on
site, on 11 December 2010, if possible,
to discuss issues pertaining to Lake Parramatta.
Cross Cultural Training
John Robertson advised that
his group had submitted a tender to provide cross cultural training and noted
that the tender was currently under consideration by Council.
Invitation – “Not Another Statistic”
Mr Gale advised that he had
carried out the Welcome to Country for the welcome lunch for Canadian
Indigenous Artist, KC Adams project held on 4 November 2010 at the Artists
Studio. Bruce reported that KC’s first project, “Not Another Statistic” which focuses on the
impact of diabetes on Aboriginal people, is an excellent exhibition.
Mr Bradley added that he had
also attended and the exhibition had been most successful.
Youth Off The Streets Project
Maggie advised that the
Committee’s request for the placement of Aboriginal workers under the subject project
had been referred to Human Resources for consideration. No response had been
received to date.
Maggie noted that the
Manager Human Resources had recently resigned from Council’s employ.
Parramatta Girls Home
Doug Desjardines requested that the Committee’s
request for a smoking ceremony at the Parramatta Girls Home be pursued as a
matter of urgency.
Positions Vacant within Council
Maggie advised that a list of all positions currently
available within Council would be forwarded to members in the near future.
Darug Language Site
John Robertson noted that he had experienced
difficulties in navigating the Darug Language site.
Upgrading
of Competencies
Doug Desjardines sought an
update on the Aboriginal Council employee who was experiencing difficulties in
obtaining permission to undertake various competency qualifications (tickets).
Maggie Kyle responded that
the issue had been referred to Human Resources who had indicated that persons
holding tickets required for the performance of their duties were automatically
asked to renew the qualifications with the cost being covered by Council.
Where training was sought for
duties outside a specific job, approval must be sought from the respective
manager and if approval was not forthcoming, the opportunity to pursue the
matter through Human Resources was available.
6 LGAN 2010
Debrief 2
A further debrief of LGAN
2010 was held where the following comments were made:-
· Bruce
Gale advised that he had spoken to Rod Towney who had indicated that the
Executive had been most impressed with the conference and workshops;
· The
Executive had considered, however, that the conference may have been too ‘busy’
with too many speakers;
· The
conference speakers had been excellent;
· It
was apparent that invitations to attend the conference had not been received by
all councils. It may be beneficial for invitations to be forwarded to
Councillors in future;
· The
administration of the conference was slowed due to the need for the Executive
to approve each aspect. The time required to approved the Holroyd Day Tour was
particularly disappointing;
· Next
year’s conference would be held in Dubbo and Council had funded 2 members to
attend previous conferences. Other members could attend at their own cost;
· Tours
should not be held on the first day of the conference and should not conflict
with the Council staff meeting;
· Council
had not been out of pocket in the funding of the conference;
· Uncle
Wes had been paid for the smoking ceremony;
· The
flags printed on the conference bags were in the wrong order. It was noted that
the printing was approved by the Executive;
· A
breakdown in leadership for the Lake Parramatta Tour had occurred.
RECOMMENDATION (Russo/Bradley)
That Council be thanked for its sponsorship and
support of the LGAN 2010 Conference.
7 GENERAL
BUSINESS AND INFORMATION SHARING
Freedom of the City March – HMAS
The Committee noted the
Freedom of the City March held in
Aboriginal Heritage Operation Branch – Possible
Boundary Changes
Annie Nielsen tabled
correspondence indicating that discussions were taking place on proposed
boundary changes for the Aboriginal Heritage Operations Branch, possibly
resulting in the Central region being disbanded and absorbed into the Southern
and Northern Regions.
Annie further noted that
Phil Bradley and herself had forwarded letters of concern on the issue and
suggested that the Committee keep a watching brief on this proposal.
John Robertson advised that
he would liaise with the relevant staff and report to a future meeting of the
Committee.
Next Meeting
Maggie suggested that 2
meetings should be held in February 2011, one dealing with NAIDOC and the usual
monthly meeting.
The Committee agreed that
this was an appropriate course of action.
Christmas Party
Doug Desjardines advised
that he would discuss the possible holding of a Christmas Party for the
Committee with Anne Stonham.
Annual General Meeting – NSW Reconciliation
Phil Bradley advised that he
had recently attended the Annual General Meeting of NSW Reconciliation where,
he was pleased to announce, Sue Pinckham had been elected Sydney Regional
Representative and Kerrie McKenzie from Lane Cove Reconciliation elected as the
non indigenous representative.
Phil Bradley provided
details on the recently held commemoration event held in respect of the
Funding in the amount of
$40,000 had been received including $5,000 obtained from The Hon. Nathan Rees
MP through representations by Reconciliation for
Joint Meeting of Aboriginal and
RECOMMENDATION
(Gale/Desjardines)
(a) That this Committee host a joint meeting
of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committees from surrounding
areas including Blacktown, Holroyd and Penrith with a view to an exchange of
ideas occurring.
(b) Further, that the meeting preferably be
held on Tuesday, 2 March 2011 with the proposed agenda and invitation to be
approved by the Chair or Deputy Chair of this Committee.
Archeological Works –
Doug Desjardines advised
that an invitation had been extended to Committee Members by Jillian Comber to
attend the archaeological dig being undertaken at
Apparently there was an
issue with acidic soil on site; however, attempts to arrange an alternative
visit with Ms Comber had been unsuccessful.
Maggie Kyle advised that the
matter would be followed up.
Annie Nielsen asked whether
the Committee could receive a stall at Council’s Australia Day event.
Maggie advised that any
questions on this issue should be directed to Council’s Events Manager, Mr
George Mannix.
Bruce Gale added that he had
previously carried out the Welcome to Country at this event but had not
undertaken the Welcome in recent years. He asked whether the Welcome to Country
still occurred.
Maggie advised that this
issue would be followed up.
Burramatta Walk Leaflet
Mr Bradley asked when the
official launch of the Burramatta Walking Tour Leaflet would occur.
Maggie advised that the
issue would be pursued with Ms Michelle Desailly.
President of the Local Government and Shires
Association
John Robertson advised that
the Mayor of Coffs Harbour, Mr Keith Rhodes, who had proven to be a fine
supporter of Aboriginal issues, had been elected as the President of the Local
Government and Shires Association.
RESOLVED (Robertson/Russo)
That a letter of congratulations be forwarded to
Councillor Keith Rhodes on his appointment as the President of the Local
Government and Shires Association.
The meeting terminated at
7.40pm