VIC Premier
Aboriginal leaders and Government officials will meet in Gippsland today, to discuss ways of giving Aboriginal people better access to economic and employment opportunities.
Minister for Employment Jaala Pulford will meet with Koori leaders as part of the third meeting of the Victorian Aboriginal Employment and Economic Council (VAEEC), to examine employment opportunities and challenges for the Aboriginal community.
The discussions are being hosted on Gunaikurnai land in Lakes Entrance by the Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation (GLaWAC).
The Council will continue working on the new Victorian Aboriginal Employment and Economic Strategy (VAEES), which will empower Aboriginal businesses and identify job opportunities for Indigenous Victorians.
VIC Premier
The new offices of the Yorta Yorta Nations Aboriginal Corporation in Northern Victoria are now open, providing a modern, expanded headquarters for the organisation to continue its vital work.
Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Gabrielle Williams this week officially opened the new building, which was Aboriginal-led in its conception and delivery, and designed by local Echuca architects.
The new building sits in the bend of the Murray River within the Barmah community, and draws on the natural surrounds to sit sympathetically within the lightly treed area.
The offices will allow the organisation to expand its programs and provide a safe space for Aboriginal residents to connect to culture.
The government is seeking expressions of interest for the inquiryâs five commissioners â at least three of whom would be Aboriginal. Hearings are expected to start in July, with an interim report to be handed down in the middle of next year and the hearings to conclude in 2024.
Aboriginal Affairs Minister Gabrielle Williams said: âWe cannot ask Aboriginal Victorians or our community as a whole to move forward until we have acknowledged and reconciled with a painful past and the impacts of that past to this very day.â
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The commission â to be modelled on the panel set up by Nelson Mandela in post-apartheid South Africa as well as those that have been held in New Zealand and Canada â will host public hearings about social, economic and health disadvantage, and the role colonisation and discriminatory government policy have played in fostering that disadvantage.
VIC Premier
The Andrews Labor Government is putting more shovels in the ground and building the infrastructure that will keep Aboriginal communities strong.
Minister for Aboriginal Affairs Gabrielle Williams was in Heywood today to announce $8.3 million to be shared by 14 Aboriginal organisations, helping them build their dream infrastructure projects and improve the lives of their communities.
Among the successful projects, Winda-Mara Aboriginal Corporation has secured $1.5 million to build a new health centre at Heywood, providing standalone health services, dental, allied health and clinical services to address significant shortages in Aboriginal health care in the area.
Gunditjmara Aboriginal Cooperative will get $1.5 million to redevelop the front of its main headquarters in Warrnambool.