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GLaWAC NEWS

Issue 23

Merbuck (Winter)

Edition 2017

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Elders’ Council, Board Members and StaffElders’ CouncilAunty Gwen Atkinson –Chair

Aunty Lena Morris- Vice Chair

Aunty Deanna Campbell

Aunty Betty Solomon

Uncle Colin Thomas

Aunty Gwen McGregor

Aunty Rachel Mullett

Uncle Mitchell Booth

Aunty Margaret Donnelly

Aunty Shirley Foster

Aunty Glenis Solomon

Aunty Fay Voss

Aunty Maria Harrison

GLaWAC Board MembersBrian Stevens- Chair

Joanne Brunt

Troy McDonald

Doris Paton

Russell Mullett

Glenys Watts

Independent Directors

Graeme Dear

David Brennan

Administration StaffRoger Fenwick- Chief Executive Officer (CEO)

Daniel Miller- General Manager- On Country Operations

Grattan Mullett- Cultural Hub Manager

Mardi Edwards- Human Resources Manager

Ruth Fitzclarence- Marketing and Communications

Maureen Penwill- Finance

Vikki Eldridge- Senior Administration

Mingara Wandin- Receptionist

Bianca Baxter- Receptionist

RAP Casual Site MonitorsPaul Harrison

Alfie Hudson

Tim Paton

Doug Harrison

Steven Hood

Nicky Moffat

On Country TeamJoint Management Rangers

Robbie Farnham- JM Ranger Supervisor

Bradley Hood

Grattan Mullett Jnr

Patrick Mullett

Dylan Davies-Hood

Shay Terrick

Kobi Cook

Natural Resource Management

Andy Booth- NRM Project Coordinator

Geoff McHugh- NRM Mentor

Malcolm Siely- Team Leader

Nigel Pearce- Team Leader

Mick Farnham

Corey Jack

John Neilson

Bronson Ritchie

Darren Allen

Benjamin Winmar

Paula Martin

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This Issue• GLaWAC Board- Report from the Chair 4-5

• CEO Report 6-7

• Joint Management (JM) Rangers Report 8-9

• Natural Resource Management (NRM) Report 10-11

• Registered Aboriginal Party (RAP) Report 12-13

• Cultural Hub Report 14-15

• Partnerships 16-17

• Community Connections- NAIDOC Week special 18-21

• Whose track is that? 22

• GunaiKurnai Traditional Owners Land Management Board 23

• Disclaimer 24• Photo below- GLaWAC JM Rangers, TOLMB Members and Parks VIC staff on-site at Corringle

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GLaWAC BOARD Report- A message from the chair

“I will do all that I can to ensure that the organisation stays

true to its values. ”- Brian Stevens- Chair

As the recently appointed Chairperson of GLaWAC, I will do all that I can to ensure that the organisation stays true to its values. It gives me great pleasure to lead the newly appointed Board as we develop and set in place a new program to strengthen the organisation and work for the members to ensure that your aspirations are realised.

The Board of Directors look forward to working alongside the Elders Council and to be guided by their deep cultural knowledge and wisdom as we embark on a new partnership.

This new partnership allows us to provide the members with timely and decisive cultural governance, informed economic management and an ability to shape policy and programs so the organisation continues to grow and mature.

As I sit and reflect and think of my own journey and the many exciting opportunities and challenges that helped shape my career - silence takes over and a moment of reflection takes hold. It’s at this juncture that the voices of the past call out and remind me of the work that still lies before us.

We must not forget that we stand on the shoulders of our Elders who paved the way and took up the fight, challenged the authorities of old and sacrificed so much to bring us to this point in time. They left us with a legacy that requires enormous respect and an acknowledgment for what they achieved.

The enormity of the task of managing an organisation like GLaWAC presents many exciting challenges that requires a new level of commitment and to do this, we must work in partnership to lift the weight and lighten the load from the shoulders of the many Elders who have gone before us.

The newly appointed Board are deeply committed and bring with them a wealth of knowledge, experience and an array of networks to strengthen the foundations of the organisation. We will

endeavour to build on the body of work of past Board members and community who contributed to the early developments of GLaWAC.

The Board will focus its efforts on implementing a strategy that strives toward achieving the goals of the Whole of Country Plan, but to achieve this work it is important that our members voices are front and centre. We must collaborate and work together to ensure that we embrace all the community’s voices, allowing us to remain focused on the task at hand.

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To make sure the foundations remain strong we must stay connected to country through culturally sound land management practices, to maintain cultural practices and stimulate strong economic growth and opportunities.

Strong economic independence will provide opportunities for employment, the establishment of a cultural hub and stimulate innovative thinking to grow and develop business opportunities and provide support for community members who want to start and grow their own enterprises. If properly implemented, this will lead to greater levels of improved health and wellbeing for our communities, families and much more.

The Board and staff of GLaWAC recognise that we have a big job in front of us that requires respectful and inclusive leadership and always working toward creating culturally safe spaces that in turn nurture and encourage a process of healing to take hold.

Over the coming months, GLaWAC will be creating opportunities to bring our clans and communities together where we will seek your input to inform and shape our work activities so they align with the aspirations of GLaWAC’s membership base.

Everything that we do must be guided by the principles of respect and caring for and practicing culture on country, that our language, knowledge and customs are passed to the next generation.

That our Elders are respected and cared for, that the children grow up strong in a safe space and are connected to their culture, are proud, happy and healthy so they can continue the work of the Elders and ancestors of the Gunaikurnai well into the future and beyond.

Yours respectfully,

Brian Stevens

Photo below: The Elders Council, the CEO and some Board members caught up at GLaWAC.

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CEO’s MessageChief Executive Officer Report

The organisations financial situation is sound with a strong balance sheet and a 2016-17 operational budget outcome of $175,769.70 profit. The budget still includes a range of variances that require increased fiscal discipline and ongoing review across the financial year.

Significant activity has occurred across the range of our areas of work and our staff and management are to be complimented on these efforts. GLaWAC was pleased to be able to provide significant support to a range of organisations during NAIDOC week celebrations and we will continue to do soWe were able to support a number of staff recently to attend a forum in Northern Queensland on Aboriginal burning practices. We look forward to working with Forest Fire Management teams to continue to explore opportunities in this area.

We also have a number of our Ranger team attending a Nationwide Aboriginal Rangers conference in the Northern Territory during August.

The consolidation of the organisation is a credit to all involved and everyone should reflect positively on the fact that the reputation of GunaiKurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation is strong but we mustn’t be complacent. We must continue to drive efforts to bring our wider community along with us while also ensuring we focus on our core business areas.

This strong business management allows us to be in a position to support our board’s aspirations of, increased cultural on country events, refocused support of community enterprise and increased employment opportunities.

The board and I are committed to be as inclusive as possible with all of our clan members and communities. It is very important that we all strive for a supportive approach that benefits the community. Importantly we are focused on providing increased support and activity for the central and western parts of your country.

I am committed to supporting the board in continuing to build this reputation and influence.

It is very important that our efforts are focused so we can see the benefits of all the effort and activity translating to meaningful outcomes as measured by our community. I will continue to support our staff who must continue to grow in relation to their spiritual, cultural and professional leadership while representing GLaWAC and the Gunaikurnai community. I also am driving a workplace culture that ensures all staff feel safe and professionally supported in all aspects of their work. I am continuing to drive appropriately paced workplace standards and respect for line management and the importance of everyone meeting agreed standards of delivery and behaviour.

We look forward to running employment information and training days in the near future for community members interested in working for GLaWAC or partner agencies.

The importance of the guidance and skills based support our Board and Elders can provide me and my management team, must not be underestimated. We must all strive to commence and enhance our board sub committees and links to the Elders in order to provide coherent and appropriately paced support.

I also wish to support our Board and Chair in building a sense of trust and comfort from within the wider Aboriginal and GK communities in Gippsland that the many Aboriginal organisations across Gippsland can appropriately support and cross reference each other while respecting the different roles assigned to them.

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Kind regards

Roger Fenwick

Chief Executive Officer

Please note that this newsletter also includes;

1. an update regarding the Boundary agreement with Taungurung,

2. commentary and update from the GK Traditional Owners Land Management Board on how the Joint Management Plan development is going.

I am looking forward to GLaWAC running future community events on country and also taking opportunities to continue to profile the organisation through media, partnerships and events such as the PV state-wide Aboriginal employee forum in late August, Gippsland lakes program events and the State-wide Registered Aboriginal Parties in November.

I look forward to the 2017-18 year.

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On country Team Update-JM RangersRobbie Farnham-

JM Ranger Supervisor

Sperm Whale Head (Point Wilson) site- Grattan Junior and I are still catching up with Jennifer Coles every Monday to go over the project. The JM Ranger team have completed painting the BBQ shelter and we have installed the directional signage

and the walking path has been finished. We are in the process of working on the interpretation panels for the 5 posts. The map for the BBQ shelter is ready to be installed and we are still working on the signage for the bush tucker / medicine trail. We are hoping to have the project completed by the end of August. ->

Our JM Rangers met with Parks VIC staff and the TOLMB members on-site at Corringle. This on-site meeting will be the first of many and provides an opportunity for our JM Rangers to share their knowledge of the 10 JM Parks. See photo next page ->

Matt Holland has completed the project brief, the rangers are working with him on each project. Lake Tyers State Park camping & access strategy, Cultural Site Mapping, New Guinea Cave Management Plan, Interpretation strategy for 10 parks.

Buchan Caves Reserve- Bradley and Dylan have are catching up with Tim Davidson, Parks Victoria’s Team Leader, at Buchan Caves Reserve to finalise project plan and designs for the cultural trail from the main office to royals cave.

The GunaiKurnai Joint Managed Rangers are still working closely with Parks Victoria’s rangers on different jobs within each park. We are also working with the land care group at Raymond Island. Brad Hood,Cameron Fleet (PV) & Rob Wright looking at the revegetation work that we have all worked together on. We have completed GPS training with Matt Renshaw to identify weeds within the Moomung State Forest and transfer that information onto a map.Katherine Mullet from Parks Vic led the Cultural heritage act training and Brian Doolan assisting us with the plans for GLCP.

Tarra Bulga National Park- We have finally finish the track restoration on the Tarra Valley walking track.It has been a big job and we are happy to play a big part in the restoration of the track. Below is some good feedback from local ranger Craig Campbell.

“Hi Robbie, Once again a big thank-you to you and the Gunai-kurnai rangers for the great job that you’ve done resurfacing

the walking tracks at Tarra Valley. This project, now completed, will provide a clean all-weather surface for visitors to be able to enjoy visiting the beautiful rainforest at that site. The surfaced track is now safe from slips and will encourage visitors to come

throughout the year despite the wet conditions. My records show that the project began on 23 November 2016 and that a total of 11 days were spent moving 5 loads of 9 meters cubed

for a total of 45 cubic meters of crushed rock spread over a length of about 1,200 meters. Congratulations and I look for-

ward to working with you again on future projects in the Tarra Bulga National Park.Regards, Craig”

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Two of our JM rangers Dylan Davies- Hood & Kobi Cook and one of our NRM team, Mick Farnham, attended the Traditional Burns Conference in Cape York.

This is what Dylan had to say about the trip “Seeing the different fires set up by the different communities made me understand the importance of communication. Yarning circles and song-

lines, the meaning of them, it really made sense to me when I was moving around the other fires yarning with the other Traditional Owners. I saw the difference between hot and cool burns and

the need for reconnection to culture, spirit and belief.”

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Natural Resource Management (NRM)NRM Interesting facts

• Employed 5 new NRM casuals and 1 new casual NRM Mentor and 2 positions for Team Leader

• To date we have planted 25,000 trees in the past two month.

As usual, the NRM teams have been very busy undertaking site preparation for planting and planting trees. These works are for East Gippsland CMA, Greening Australia, GPCMN ,EGRCMN and Landcare. We continue with our regular baiting for foxes around Corringle and Dream Island (West Gippsland) , undertaking our regular works around Corner Inlet with the West Gippsland CMA, ground maintenance at Buchan Caves and the Sale RAAF base .

Due to the lack of rain, many of our planting jobs have been postponed and rescheduled for the coming months. If trees aren’t planted under the optimum conditions you are behind the 8 ball from the start as the success of planting are jeopardised. Hopefully, we will get nice rain soon.

Some very exciting projects are to occur along the Outer Barrier and Boole Poole area of the Gippsland Lakes. This project will be done under funding received through the Gippsland Lakes Coordinating Committee. There will be Pig trapping, Fox baiting and invasive plant control. On a recent trip to the area there are many opportunities to support the past pest plant and animal programs to preserve this unique environment. Our main partners for these projects will be Parks Victoria and DELWP.

On the training front four members of the NRM team undertook a pest animal training module through Federation Training. The course covered subjects such as Trapping of Wild dogs and Pigs, Animal ethics, Rabbit control methods, tracks and scats identification. The NRM teams do a large amount of baiting and this course will certainly help their knowledge and skills when they are out and about on country.

As a big thankyou to the team we organised a team building event on Friday 30th of June. The first activity was paintballing in Rawson (On the road to Mt Baw Baw) Here ,the team divided into two and embarked on activities defending their base or trying to storm their opponent’s base. Many laughs were had. I’ve never seen some of them run so fast and they thought NRM work was hard work!. After the Paintballing, we had a lovely meal at the Cowwarr Hotel. It was so good it stopped them from grumbling about their aches and pains from the morning activities.

We have just employed four new casual NRM employees and an NRM Mentor for our influx of work coming up. We welcome Benjamin Winmar, Darren Allen, Paula Martin and Max Solomon to the NRM team. We have employed Nigel Pearce and Malcom Seily as NRM Team Leaders. In addition to these roles we have Matt Kennedy working alongside Geoff Mc Hugh as a casual Mentor role. We welcome you all to GLaWAC and to our NRM family.

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North East Catchment Management Authority (NECMA) are proud as an organisation be in a position to support GLaWAC. This is a quote from NECMA staff member Luke Brock “The quality

of the NRM Team’s work is of an exceptional standard and it’s a reflection of what “working on country” truly means to Aboriginal people. NECMA are looking for a long and meaningful

association with GLaWAC. Future plans are; On Country works, advising and supporting NECMA with planning, Cultural Heritage Guidance, Training and partners in new ventures.

Andy Booth- NRM Project Coordinator

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Registered Aboriginal Party (RAP) Report

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GLaWAC Senior Administration officer, Vikki Eldridge, has been working very hard to ensure that we are not only meeting all our obligations as a RAP to continuously improve our processes and procedures in this area. This has often included working very closely with Kate Morton and Russell Mullet from Aboriginal Victoria and other relevant professionals.

This continues to be a focus area within the On Country Team as we strive to effectively deliver RAP services over coming months.

Kate Morton from Aboriginal Victoria delivered a half day training session with all the RAP Team.

Below is a summary of the works conducted over the past two months

Sponsor Location CHMP Type of Work

VicRoads Traralgon 12947 Salvage

AGL Loy Yang Pty Ltd Flynn 14973 Complex Assessment, Salvage and Survey

Kalbar Resources Bairnsdale 14969 Survey & Standard Assessment

East Gippsland Water Lakes Entrance 14313 Induction

West Gippsland CMA Bairnsdale 14929 Close Out Meeting

Vic Properties Forestec 15014 Inception Meeting, Standard Assessment

Benchmark Heritage Forestec 14856 Close Out Meeting

Benchmark Heritage Forestec 14823 Close Out Meeting

East Gippsland Water Bairnsdale 15069 Inception Meeting, Standard Assessment

JS Builders Bairnsdale 14975 Close Out Meeting

Woody Group Bairnsdale 14705 Close Out Meeting

Parks Victoria Buchan 13742 Induction

Benchmark Heritage Sale 14683 Salvage

Latrobe City Council Traralgon 15048 Inception, Standard Assess-ment & Survey

RAP Team member- Paul Harrison

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The CEO has recently negotiated the signing of an amended RAP funding agreement with Aboriginal Affairs. This has resulted in the direct support from AV.

The outcomes for our RAP team are built around four key pillars.

1. Ensuring that GLaWAC meets the legislative requirements of the Aboriginal Heritage Act for the GunaiKurnai country.

2. GLaWAC possess the required technical skills to review, monitor and ensure compliance for all activities related to the RAP in a timely and professional manner.

3. Provide opportunities for community members and staff interested in cultural heritage management to be employed and trained appropriately.

4. That existing employees in GLaWAC are provided opportunities to be involved in Cultural Heritage Management.

Photos below: RAP Team members Nicky Moffat and Max Solomon on-site with VisionStream

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I recently delivered a cultural presentation to SMEC Engineering Company based in Traralgon. They are a national company with offices across Australia working on large infrastructure projects and are currently working with VicRoads to complete the Traralgon to Sale highway duplication project.

A number of cultural awareness sessions will be delivered to staff from East Gippsland Water and DELWP local and regional teams. The sessions will be held at Forestec and conclude with a field visit to sites of significance.

I conducted a cultural induction and presentation to staff at Southern Rural Water based in Maffra. This session was targeted to program managers and site field officers working on current and future water treatment plants in the MacAlister water districts.

Performed a welcome to country at the recent announcement of funding of the Gippsland Lakes Coordinating Committee (GLCC) at the Paynesville Yacht Club. The funding allocations were given to local Landcare groups and agencies working on projects around the Gippsland Lakes. GLaWAC NRM Team will be partnering with these groups to deliver the on-ground projects.

GLaWAC recently hosted a visit to the Knob Recreation Reserve with Councillors from the Wellington Shire Council. The visit was to inform them on the development of the Joint Management Plan and the cultural significance of the reserve. It was also an opportunity to discuss the new Committee of Management’s role and the future plans and development for the reserve.

Continue to meet and plan for the 2018 Gippsland Lakes Art Show with the Rotary Club of Lakes Entrance. The show aims to support and promote local Aboriginal artists and their work through the Aboriginal category which has been supported by GLaWAC in recent years.

GLaWAC recently hosted a Smith Family NAIDOC event with seven schools in the local area consisting of around two hundred and forty students with a high proportion of Aboriginal kids. The day saw students engage with a music workshop and performance and storytelling workshop.

The Knob Reserve Committee of Management meetings are held on a monthly basis with representatives from GLaWAC, GKTOLMB and DELWP. The committee are currently working on some of the Strategic Plan actions that will help to inform the annual works plan that will be delivered by the JM Rangers and NRM Teams.

The data loggers that were provided by the Melbourne Museum were returned back to the museum last month. The data will allow the museum to capture the heating and cooling temperature in the cultural hub space and provide a profile report on how we progress the development of this space.

A whole of staff meeting will be held in the coming weeks in one of the joint managed parks to gain a broader staff awareness of joint management / native title and the core functions of GLaWAC. This will support staff to become more familiar with our assets (aboriginal title lands) and our ongoing connections to country.

We celebrated NAIDOC Week through a variety of community events that were held across our local communities.

Cultural Hub Report

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Arranged a Buchan Caves tour with Parks Victoria staff for Clinton Pryor and his support team in partnership with GEGAC. The tour was part of an on country visit for Clinton whilst he was staying in the East Gippsland area. Clintons Walk for Justice – he will be participating in local

NAIDOC events and the annual GEGAC street march and community day.

Kind regards,

Grattan Mullett Snr

Photo above- Buchan Caves tour with Clinton Pryor. Photo below- One of the NAIDOC Week events held at GLaWAC in partnership with the Smith Family.

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Partnerships...Representatives from Gippsland and East Gippsland Aboriginal Cooperative (GEGAC), Lake Tyers Aboriginal Trust (LTAT) and Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation (GLaWAC) are now meeting regularly.

The purpose of the meetings is to explore opportunities to work together, so that the whole GunaiKurnai community may benefit. The group has had their second meeting, held at the GLaWAC offices. We look forward to keeping you updated on future proposals stemming from these meetings.

Photo below L-R: Roger Fenwick-CEO GLaWAC, Rebecca Hayes-GEGAC, Christine Hayes-LTAT, Katrina Harrison, Glenda Thorpe-LTAT and Daniel Miller- GLaWAC

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Partnerships... Postcards Travel TV Show

Channel 9- Now

On Sunday 18 June at 5:30pm the Tarra Bulga National Park was the chosen destination of this popular travel show. Because this park is one of the 10 joint managed parks between Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation (GLaWAC) and Parks VIC, rangers from both organisations featured as guests. Mr Grattan Mullett Jnr made GLaWAC proud as he spoke confidently about the cultural connection to the area and Luke Marcius from Parks VIC added complimentary comments about the landscape. The partnership between GLaWAC and Parks VIC continues to strengthen and we encourage opportunities to showcase the partnership through visual mediums like television.

The show is available to view via www.9now.com.au/postcards/2017 then search for the episode Sunday 18 June 2017.

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Community connections- NAIDOC Week 2017NAIDOC Week 2017 was a big celebration across GunaiKurnai country and the state of Victoria.GLaWAC co-hosted two events at the Forestec office. The first event celebrated the theme of NAIDOC Week 2017 which was ‘Our Languages Matter’. This event was conducted in partnership with the Smith Family and seven local primary schools; Bruthen,Metung, St Brendans, Nungurner, Swan Reach, Lakes Primary and Toorloo Arm. The event was held one week prior to NAIDOC Week, due to NAIDOC Week being held on the school holidays. Grattan Mullett Snr gave a welcome to country and also an introduction to what GLaWAC is and what services we provide. Wayne Thorpe educated the children with local GunaiKurnai stories. Local musicians Joel Wiggins and Deon Baxter performed some of their own music and had the crowd singing along with their song ‘Reconcile’. The event was a great success and we hope that this will be the beginning of a strong partnership with the primary schools and the Smith Family.

Lakes Entrance Aboriginal Health Association (LEAHA) held a community family fun day in partnership with GLaWAC to celebrate the commencement of NAIDOC Week. The day was all about fun and family. The activities included a storytelling session with Wayne Thorpe, traditional food tasting, jumping castle and face painting and live music from Joel Wiggins, Deon Baxter and Uncle Tom Perry.

A flag raising and morning tea was held at the East Gippsland Shire Council. The GLaWAC CEO, Roger Fenwick, spoke at the event, which celebrated the commencement of NAIDOC Week. Aboriginal activist Clinton Pryor, who is walking from Perth to Canberra, was also at the event and enthralled the crowd with the story of his journey.

Mr and Miss NAIDOC 2017- Was held by LEAHA and the Local Aboriginal Network at the Lakes Entrance Mechanics Hall. This event showcased the inspirational young Aboriginal people who are making a difference in the community. The winners were Lakeycha Farnham and Robbie Coates-Mongta, the runners up were John Baxter and Paula Harrison. It was a very hard job for the judges as all of the entrants had strong applications and interviewed well. We look forward to next year!

The annual Gippsland and East Gippsland Aboriginal Cooperative (GEGAC) Street Parade and celebration was held at GEGAC, Dalmahoy Street Bairnsdale. A street parade around the Bairnsdale CBD was followed by a BBQ and entertainment. GLaWAC had a strong presence at this event with the GLaWAC CEO, majority of Management staff and JM Rangers attending in uniform.

The State Government held a NAIDOC Week event at Parliament House Melbourne. The GLaWAC CEO and Board member Joanne Brunt attended this event and reported that it was a great opportunity to network and promote the great progress that GLaWAC is making.

Southern Rural Water (SRW) officially opened the newly named meeting rooms and the GLaWAC CEO attended the official opening. The rooms have been named after Gunaikurnai waterways.

NAIDOC Ball 2017- The GLaWAC staff that attended the annual NAIDOC Ball held in Bairnsdale reported that it was a great night. A two-course dinner and band ensured that everyone was in high spirits. Great feedback has been received about the ball and we look forward to 2018.

It is great to see so many people enjoying the variety of events and a big thank you to all of the event organisers who make it possible!

Please enjoy some of the photos from the events over the next three pages ->

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Community Connections...

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Whose track is that?

The suggestion to print photos of the tracks of animals came from one of the GKTOLMB members, Marianne Atkinson. Given the fact the GLaWAC JM Rangers and NRM Team are working in places where tracks are easy to see, it makes it an interesting topic of conversation.

The tracks pictured were taken on the beach at Corringle. Can you guess what animal made the tracks? Have a think about how this animal

fits in your country...The answer will be in the next edition of the newsletter.

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Traditional Owner Land Management Board (TOLMB) Report

Grattan MullettChairpersonGKTOLM Board

Joint management plan development updateThe Gunaikurnai Traditional Owner Land Management Board (GKTOLMB) has been working closely with GLaWAC and our Victorian Government partners to develop the first Gunaikurnai & Victorian Government Joint Management Plan for about two years now.

During this time, we’ve heard from many Gunaikurnai community members—along with other interested groups and people who use the parks and reserves—about what they would like to see in the plan. All of this information has been carefully considered and wherever possible included, and we are now close to finalising a draft for approval and release to the community for comment.

The joint management plan will help guide the way the Gunaikurnai people work together with the Victori-an Government to achieve agreed joint management goals, over an initial five-year period. It will be made up of two parts; the first being a strategic plan to describe what we hope to achieve from joint manage-ment, the second being a series of individual management plans for each park or reserve.

The final plan is expected to be completed towards the middle of 2018.

We need your help

Over the coming months, our partners at GLaWAC will be inviting all Gunaikurnai people to help us on the joint management planning process by asking for your feedback on the draft, to make sure we’re headed down the right track before we ask the broader community for their feedback.

Many of you have previously been consulted regarding this matter through either development of the Whole of Country Plan or other consultation activities arranged by the GKTOLMB over the last three years. We know it is only one step in a longer journey of self-determination for the Gunaikurnai people.

We understand that GLaWAC has been through a challenging time, having heard from its members about what they expect from the organisation in the future, and we are fully supportive of them as they continue to work hard to respect and meet your expectations. We also know that GLaWAC is reaching out to and beyond its membership, to welcome the views and input of all Gunaikurnai people.

Stay tuned for further updates and information about the draft Joint Management Plan during the coming months.

Stay up to date

In the meantime, you can stay up to date with the Joint Management Plan development process in any of the following ways:

• Visit our website: www.gunaikurnai.com.au

• Follow us on Facebook @gunaikurnaitolmb

• Follow us on Twitter @gktolmb

• Call us on (03) 5150 3573

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Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation

(GLaWAC) News contentDisclaimer

Opinions expressed in this publication are not necessarily those of Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation. We do not guarantee the accuracy or accept any responsibility for the statements or comments made by the contributors in articles submitted. GLaWAC reserves the right to amend, alter or delete any items, statements or articles which it feels is not in the best interest of Gunaikurnai Land

and Waters Aboriginal Corporation or its members.

Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation

Forestec, 27 Scriveners Road, Kalimna West, Victoria 3909Ph: 03 5152 5100 Fax: 03 51521666Email: reception@glawac.com.au

www.gunaikurnai.org

Gunaikurnai Land and Waters Aboriginal Corporation supports the preservation of land, water and environment.

This newsletter has been printed on recycled paper, using non toxic inks and solar power.