Reconciliation

GeelongPort acknowledges the Wadawurrung People as the Traditional Owners of the land and waters where we operate. We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.

GeelongPort’s vision of reconciliation is a unified community that deeply understands, values and appreciates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and connection to Country.

GeelongPort is committed to meaningfully contributing to advancing reconciliation in Australia. As such, we have partnered with the Wadawurrung Traditional Owner Aboriginal Corporation to better understand, appreciate and respect the Traditional Owner history and cultural heritage values of our port land and waters, and to ensure we are taking a Caring for Country approach to everything we do.

We all have a role to play when it comes to reconciliation, and in playing our part we collectively build relationships, workplaces and communities that value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories and cultures.

In December 2023, GeelongPort proudly took an important step in its reconciliation journey, launching its Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) which will guide the organisation’s reconciliation activity through to December 2025.

This RAP will build on the foundations that GeelongPort’s inaugural Reflect Reconciliation Plan built, which involved gaining a deeper understanding of First Nations cultures and the connection to our Traditional Owners, the Wadawurrung People, and the land and waters we work on.

CLICK HERE TO VIEW INNOVATE RAP

About the Innovate RAP artwork

GeelongPort commissioned Nikki McKenzie, emerging artist and Wadawurrung woman, to create an artwork to represent our Innovate RAP.

“The coastline cannot be mistaken for any other with an overlaying outline and the You Yangs in the background anchoring you to home. The dark blue sea and the sun kissed shallows in the aqua. Our Traditional/original fishing methods are represented by the woven net and spears, an Acknowledgement of and paying respect to our old people, the first caretakers of Wadawurrung lands and waterways, rivers and sea Country. The link between our past and present, the bay was used as a trade location by our people as the first traders and today the trade continues via GeelongPort.” – Nikki McKenzie

Reconciliation at GeelongPort to date

Check out the video below to hear from GeelongPort Reconciliation Working Group members and the Wadawurrung Traditional Owner, Corrina Eccles about our reconciliation journey to date.

https://vimeo.com/656822945