This NAIDOC Week, we’re celebrating the history, culture and excellence of the Eastern Maar and Wadawurrung Peoples who are the custodians of the lands and waters encompassed by the Great Ocean Road region and have been for millennia.
We acknowledge their ancestors who cared for the lands, rivers and sea, and all living creatures for thousands of generations.
We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and future who continue this path.
This year’s NAIDOC week theme ‘For Our Elders’ celebrates and pays respect to all Elders, honouring the important role they play as cultural knowledge holders and leaders in the wider community.
Across every generation, our Elders have played, and continue to play, an important role and hold a prominent place in our communities and families.
We recognise there is much to learn from Traditional Owners and work respectfully with both groups to ensure we engage on the terms that they choose, realising their rights (including to self-determination) and respecting their cultures and knowledges.
We are committed to a genuine partnership that embodies self-determination and to walk with them, as shared custodians of the Great Ocean Road land and seascapes.
Hear more from our Chief Executive Officer Joe Sizer, who is a proud Djab Wurrung, Gunditjmara woman and one of Australia’s foremost Indigenous leaders.