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Item 11.1 - Attachment 1 |
Minutes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander
Advisory Committee 25 May 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, 25 MAY 2010 AT 6.16
PM.
__________________________________________________________________________
PRESENT
Bruce Gale in the
Chair, Donna-Lee Astill, Councillor Paul Barber, Phil Bradley, Doug
Desjardines, Marcia Donovan, Shalini Kumari, Lyn Leerson, Linda McDonald, Annie
Nielsen, Jay Palmer, John Robertson, Phil Russo, Anne Stonham, Greg Stonham and Doug
Wilson.
IN ATTENDANCE
Robin Bradfield (Convenor), Grant
Davies (Minute Clerk), Ian Fitzgerald (Manager Human Resources – arrived 6.45
pm and departed 7.08 pm) and
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 APOLOGIES
An apology was received and accepted for the absence of Bruce Astill, Councillor C X Lim and Gilson Saunders.
3 CONFLICT OF
INTERESTS
There were
no conflicts of interest at this meeting.
4 LGAN 2010 PLANNING
John
McInerney stated that organisation of the conference was on schedule and
advised:
· Invites would be forwarded in the
very near future to VIPs, keynote speakers, persons running workshops and
sponsors/shareholders. A verbal agreement had been received from keynote
speakers and this would be formalised shortly.
· A conference brochure was
currently being prepared and would likely be available for perusal at the next
meeting. An associated website would also be available shortly.
· A telephone conference has
recently been held, and another is scheduled for 26 May 2010, with the LGAN
Executive.
· The LGAN Executive has again not
supported a site visit to Prospect Hill on the basis the site does not lay
within the Parramatta LGA.
· Railcorp have offered free travel
tickets for persons attending the conference.
· Marie Wilson had been added to the
workshop list and would be added to the VIP list.
· Contact details were required for
Jack Mahoney and David Gray.
· Uncle Wes and Aunty Edna would be
attending from Parramatta but others were welcome also. Anne Stonham requested
that invitations be extended to Ray Longbottom and Bill O’Rourke from La
Perouse.
Doug
Desjardines advised that Pemulwuy was from this area and noted that no boundaries
existed in his time. He requested that a
member of the Executive approach the Executive of the LGAN to further pursue
the issue of a site visit to Prospect Hill.
Councillor
Barber suggested that an interim site visit to
It was
also noted that contact should be made with Tabitha Timbery (National Trust) to
ensure the all sensitive areas at
5. ELECTION
OF EXECUTIVE
John
McInerney advised that the Council had met on 24 May 2010 and agreed to all
changes to the Committee’s Terms of Reference, as proposed by the Committee, in
respect of the Chairperson/Deputy
Chairperson and Executive with the exception of Clause (x). Adoption of
this clause would be inconsistent with Council’s adopted Code of Conduct.
John
McInerney advised that an election would now need to be held. The Committee
agreed that a verbal election would suffice. Each election subsequently held
was unanimous, with each successful person/s being congratulated by the
Committee.
Election of Chairperson
RECOMMENDATION
(Russo/Desjardines)
That Bruce Gale be elected Chairperson of the
Aboriginal and
Election of Deputy Chairperson
RECOMMENDATION (Stonham/Desjardines)
That John Robertson be elected Deputy Chair of the
Aboriginal and
Executive Committee (Robertson/Desjardines)
That the following persons be elected to the
Executive Committee of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory
Committee; Donna-Lee Astill, Doug Desjardines, Bruce Gale, Linda McDonald, John
Robertson, Anne Stonham and Douglas Wilson.
6. CONFIRMATION
OF MINUTES
A copy of
the minutes of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee
Meeting held on 20 April 2010 had previously been forwarded to each member.
RECOMMENDATION (Bradley/Robertson)
That the minutes of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Advisory Committee Meeting held on 20 April 2010 be taken as a true
record of the meeting subject to the following alterations:-
1. Mr Phillip Bradley had noted that the
TAFE ran a “good 2 day” Cultural Training Awareness Course rather than a
“satisfactory, though basic, awareness course.”
2. Anne Stonham noted that her reference
to training for members and staff related to cross cultural training.
3. Linda McDonald noted that the photos of
the dancers in the NAIDOC flyers were Donna-Lee Astill’s children.
4. Mr Robertson advised that the request
by Mr Desjardines to approach David Gray for a presentation on Aboriginal
Employment was for inclusion in the LGAN Conference.
7. BUSINESS
ARISING
John
McInerney advised that Council’s Open Space Unit had engaged consultants to
undertake an updated Plan of Management for
Note
Ian Fitzgerald arrived at the meeting at this time.
Human Resource Issues
Mr
Fitzgerald advised that progress had been made in the following areas as
follows:-
Cultural Awareness Training
· The CEO was on board with the
concept of cultural awareness training. Such training would also have an impact
on the employment strategy and with customer interaction.
· Council was currently looking at
the National Organisation known as Arilla but input and/or any suggestions from
the Committee were welcome.
· Possible suggestions included
Granville TAFE, Linda Louis and an Aboriginal Group (to be advised by John
Robertson). Any training should also involve the Committee.
Aboriginal Employment
Mr
Fitzgerald advised that contact with Council’s recruitment provider had
indicated that specific requests in advertisements for Aboriginals to apply did
not generally occur anymore. He added that he could not locate any
advertisements which contained such clauses.
Phillip
Bradley advised that the clause was generally covered in the organisation’s EEO
policy, however, certain organisations utilised a clause encouraging
Aboriginals to apply. He added that the placement of advertisements in the Koori
Mail would also be beneficial.
Mr
Fitzgerald further added that contact had been made with Aboriginal Employment
Strategy Limited but welcomed advice on any other Aboriginal specific
employment agencies.
In
addition, contact had been made with Reconciliation Australia to seek broader
advice across a range of issues.
Anne
Stonham requested that a standing item be placed on future agendas where all
vacant jobs currently being advertised by Council were listed.
John
McInerney noted that all jobs were available on Council’s website and stated
that he would be happy to print out a list and bring along to each meeting.
Shalini
Kumari added that Council also needed to consider a programme to support
Aboriginal Workers once employed by Council. Anne Stonham agreed and suggesting
that a mentoring programme should be considered (Marie Wilson may be able to
assist).
Ian
Fitzgerald advised that a strategy was currently being developed which may be
linked to a necessary diversity strategy.
John
McInerney noted that Council had also undertaken to advertise more widely the
existence of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Advisory Committee and
accordingly notifications had been placed in current and future internal
newsletters (Parramatters and Forefront) and on Council’s large plasma ‘notice
board’.
Mr
Fitzgerald expressed his desire to attend future meetings of the Committee and
the Committee welcomed his attendance.
Note
Mr Ian Fitzgerald retired from the meeting at 7.08
pm.
Railcorp
A letter
would be forwarded to the relevant Minister for Transport, within the next
week, seeking support for the advertising of flyers for NAIDOC Week.
Phil Russo
requested that a copy of the response from the Minister be provided to the
Committee once received.
John
McInerney noted that Rob Mason from RailCorp was on the VIP list for attendance
at the NAIDOC Conference.
Communication between Committee and Council
John
McInerney noted that concern had been expressed at the previous meeting in
relation to the subject matter and proposed that a future standing item be
included on agendas addressing Council’s decisions made in relation to the
Committee’s minutes together with any action subsequently taken.
The Committee agreed to include an appropriate
standing item.
8. NAIDOC
PLANNING COMMITTEE
A further
meeting of the Planning Committee had not been held though Mr Geoff Miller had
provided an update on further action taken in relation this issue. A copy of
his comments is appended as Attachment 1.
The
following general comments were made during discussions:-
· Doug Desjardines and John
Robertson would arrange the conference shirts.
· The Committee was not in favour of
the Cumberland’s Women Health Centre being a stallholder.
· Mr Gale to raise the committee
views in relation to possible performers.
ACTION
Bruce Gale contact Mr Geoff Miller and arrange an
urgent meeting of the NAIDOC Planning Committee, preferably within the next 2
weeks. Sub Committee members be advised accordingly.
9. GENERAL
BUSINESS AND INFORMATION SHARING
Sorry Day
Lyn
Leerson suggested that participants in Sorry Day, on the completion of all
events and as individuals, walk down to the
The Committee unanimously agreed.
John
Robertson circulated flyers advertising a Sorry Day event to be held at
Phillip
Bradley added that entertainment was also proposed at
Nomination of New Members
John
Robertson requested that he be provided with the appropriate nomination forms
(per the Committee’s Terms of Reference) to enable the nomination of possible new
members Jay Palmer and Gilson Saunders.
Burramatta Brochure
Mr
Bradfield indicated that Ms Michelle Desailly had previously sought advice on
the Burramatta Brochure and limited feedback had apparently been received.
Accordingly, the brochure had been sent to print today.
Bruce Gale
advised that he had only just received the updated draft and stated that he was
still not happy with the Maria Locke content.
Lyn
Leerson advised that a previous response had been sent to Ms Desailly
indicating that the brochure should be placed on the agenda for the Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee and added that a 7 day turnaround
for comment was not appropriate. Ms Leerson added that the tone of the brochure
was also unacceptable as it read as if Aboriginal persons no longer existed and
failed to show what Aboriginals were doing in this day and age.
Mr
Robertson agreed that the timeframe for comment was insufficient and added that
individuals should not be commenting on behalf of the Committee in any event.
He questioned the differing use of the terms ‘Burramatta’ and
“Burramattagal”.
Mr Gale
advised that he would send an immediate email to Ms Desailly tonight to stop
the distribution of the brochure pending consideration of the brochure’s
content by the Committee. He would follow up the email with a telephone
conversation.
RECOMMMENDATION (Gale/Leerson)
(a) That the printing of the Burramatta
brochure be stopped immediately pending its consideration by the Aboriginal and
(b) That a sub committee be formed consisting
of Phil Bradley, Bruce Gale, Lyn Leerson, Linda McDonald, Phil Russo, John
Robertson and Anne Stonham to discuss the content of the brochure in
association with Ms Desailly.
Redevelopment
of Advertiser Site
Doug
Desjardines advised that he had received an email from Maggie Kyle forwarding
to all Committee members a letter from Comber Consultants in relation to the
redevelopment of the Advertiser site and their intention to undertake
archaeological text excavations. He had sought further information from the
Consultants on this issue as he was keen to become involved, however, no
further information had been provided.
Amendment to National Parks and Wildlife Act
Phillip
Bradley tabled a leaflet which provided information on discussions being held
around the subject Act. The discussions may have some effect on Aboriginal
Heritage sites.
ANTaR NSW Newsletter
Phillip
Bradley tabled the May 2010 issue of the ANTaR NSW Newsletter which contained a
number of interesting articles including one on Indigenous Juvenile Justice. He
requested that a copy be provided to the Central Library.
It was
also noted that Phillip was now Vice President of the ANTaR NSW Management
Committee.
Community Grant – Wentworthville Sports Group Inc
Lyn
Leerson was delighted to report that Wentworthville Sports Group Inc had
received a $5,000 community grant over the next 5 years for a program to engage
youth (16 and up) utilising Oz Tag, hip hop and personal development.
Aboriginal Camp
Donna-Lee
Astill advised that she had recently spoken to Roger Bolt, an Aboriginal Worker
with the Department of Education, who had provided details on a camp to be held
for 50 Aboriginal students to learn about Aboriginal Culture. The camp would
also encourage attendees to stay at school. At present, 10 acceptances had been
received for the camp. Further details would be provided when obtained.
Building Bridges
Anne
Neilson advised that the Building Bridges course was nearly completed and any
recommendations should be made as soon as possible.
Phillip
Bradley reported that construction was almost complete on the Richmond Hill Dharug
Project which overlooked the
Acknowledgement to Country at The Hills Shire Council
Meetings
Lyn
Leerson advised that the rescission motion seeking to overturn the Council’s
decision to carry out an Acknowledgement to Country had been lost.
Lyn noted
that the majority of letters in the local press were supportive of the Acknowledgement
and expressed disappointment that a campaign had been conducted to seek
objection to the decision.
Congratulations to Phillip Bradley
The
Committee extended congratulations to Phillip Bradley as he will be standing as
a Greens Candidate at the next Federal Election.
The
meeting terminated at 8.06 pm.