Our path to reconciliation

CN acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we live and work.

We understand the importance and significance of embracing reconciliation, fostering mutual respect, knowledge and understanding, and strengthening and maintaining relationships with the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. CN is committed to reconciliation; we know our community is thriving where reconciliation is embraced, diversity is valued, and everyone can contribute and belong.

With the guidance of the internal Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) Working Group, CN has delivered many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander events and programs. Programs, projects and events included:

WARWAR: The Art of Torres Strait exhibition at the Art Gallery

The Art of Torres Strait was the most significant First Nations exhibition project in Newcastle Art Gallery’s 64-year history, curated by First Nations artist/curator Brian Robinson and featuring 64 First Nations artists. The Art of Torres Strait won multiple categories at the Museums Australasia Multimedia and Publication Design Awards (Australian Museums and Galleries Association) and IMAGine awards (Museums and Galleries NSW). Despite the impact of the pandemic, during its 64-day run, 14,959 people visited WARWAR, and the exhibition’s videos and virtual walkthrough had over 48,000 views on social media.

Instrumental Cause (online video)

Receiving 11,690 visitors, Instrumental Cause was curated by First Nations curator Donna Biles Fernando from the Newcastle Art Gallery collection as a response to the Kilgour Prize 2021.

Living Labels Museum Program

Living Labels linked our unique natural environment with one of the diverse collections of Newcastle Museum. In Museum Park people discovered living examples of trees and plants that have shaped and defined the place where we live. Inside the Museum, visitors traced how these trees weave their way through the objects and exhibitions.

Ngarrama Australia Day Eve Vigil

CN supported Awabakal Corporation and the University of Newcastle to host Ngarrama, a free public event at King Edward Park to engage the community in meaningful reconciliation through truth-telling and historical acceptance. Inspired by Sydney’s Vigil at Barangaroo, Ngarrama celebrated the rich culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Ngarrama translates to ‘to sit, listen and know’.

Cooee Project

Locally based Yolngu artists and industry professionals, The ILLUME Girls, partnered with CN to deliver the Cooee Project. The program provided an intensive musical and cultural mentoring opportunity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women, culminating in a performance at the Awabakal NAIDOC Community Fun Day.

Wayapa Toddler Time, Civic Park

This Newcastle Libraries program enabled toddlers to enjoy familiar games with an Indigenous twist. Each week the games linked to different areas of physical and social development. The program was presented by Sarah Corrigan, a proud Darkinjung woman and Aboriginal Health Practitioner.

Reconciliation Week

• CN employees participated in the RAPs in the Region Learning

Circle. Community businesses and organisations came together to learn about RAPs and how they can be used to drive meaningful social and economic change for Aboriginal and

Torres Strait Islander people.

• CN employees also attended the Looking Ahead Towards

Reconciliation lecture at the University of Newcastle. The discussion explored how we can make meaningful change in our workplaces and our communities, with a particular focus on the role of non-Aboriginal people in the reconciliation process.

• For the first time, CN had a table at the University Reconciliation

Ball for Aboriginal employees and members of the Guraki

Aboriginal Advisory Committee. The event was a celebration of

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and culture.

• Reconciliation Week was acknowledged and celebrated with a Reconciliation Morning Tea with the RAP Core Working Group.

NAIDOC Week

• CN held its Inaugural NAIDOC Week Morning Tea competition, where employees participated in a morning tea to acknowledge and celebrate NAIDOC Week.

• Civic Theatre offered free tickets to the screening of Biraban and Threlkeld: Finding the Third Space.

Biraban and Threlkeld is the 17th film in the Stories of Our Town project, produced and made by local filmmaker Chit Chat von Loopin Stab along with Tony Whittaker of Carnivore Films. This was the first time this film was shown. A Q&A was hosted by Ward 2 Councillor Carol Duncan with some stars of the film after the screening.

• Civic Theatre offered free tickets to the NAIDOC Week screening of Wash My Soul in the River’s Flow,

Archie Roach and Ruby Hunter’s profoundly moving story about being stolen as children, finding each other and returning to Country.

• CN participated in the NAIDOC Week Awabakal Community Fun Day and held 'Have a Cuppa with

Council' in the main tent. CN employees ran the tent throughout the day, and over 2,000 people attended the event. CN was a major sponsor of this event and also sat on the Steering Committee.

• Libraries held a NAIDOC Week workshop, Torres Strait Islander Storytelling & Art, where local Torres Strait

Islander artist Toby Cedar led an interactive storytelling and art workshop for children and families.

• CN hosted Wayapa Wuurrk in Civic Park. Sarah, a Darkinjung woman, introduced families to Wayapa

Wuurrk, an Aboriginal wellness practice, through little yarns linking each Wayapa element to Aboriginal culture, sustainability and Country.

• Our libraries hosted Uncle Perry Sharing Culture, where people joined Uncle Perry, a proud Kamilaroi man, as he shared his knowledge of Aboriginal life and culture through yidaki (didgeridoo) playing and storytelling.

• Our libraries also ran the NAIDOC All Ages Beanstack Challenge, where children were encouraged to read books by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander authors and illustrators.

• CN created a NAIDOC Week video with employees from the RAP Core Working Group and councillors from the Guraki Aboriginal Advisory Committee discussing NAIDOC Week, its importance and what it means to them.

More events

CN provided 3 Hunter TAFE Foundation Scholarships for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.

CN hosted over 30 Aboriginal employee events, ranging from fortnightly Teams catch-ups to formal events such as the Reconciliation Ball.

CN provided cultural information sessions on cultural protocols and practices to over 100 employees.

CN increased its membership to the RAP Working Group from 19 members to 35 members. CN created the RAP Core Working Group, a committee of 12, to support and direct the broader RAP Working Group.

CN contracted Aboriginal artists to create artworks for various strategies and reports.

CN created a video Acknowledgement of Country that is shown prior to Museum movie nights. An Acknowledgement of Country has recently been introduced as the default on staff email signatures.

CN was granted the first Aboriginal Declared Place within the LGA at Rocky Knob.

The Art Gallery delivered 5 in-person and digital events that celebrated First Nations artists.

The Art Gallery acquired 10 new works by First Nations artists, including Jonathan Jones, Kyra Mancktelow, Janet Fieldhouse and Leon Puruntatameri.

In collaboration with the Awabakal Local Aboriginal Land Council, CN named 6 roads within the Newcastle LGA using traditional Aboriginal language: Koteliko Crescent, Pilapai Way, Tiraal Drive and Wollotuka Circuit (Fletcher); Porowei Way and Minyan Way (Kooragang).

Featured artwork by Rod Smith

Rod Smith is a Newcastle-born-and-bred Aboriginal man. His family moved from Anaiwan country of New England in the late 1950s and worked on the railway, creating Smith General Contractors. He has a long cultural connection with music, dance and the arts.