ECU hosts the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples
Thursday, 24 March 2011
Colleen Hayward with members of the Congress
Head of Kurongkurl Katitjin Professor Colleen Hayward, along with Acting Vice-Chancellor Mr Warren Snell and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Engagement, Equity and Indigenous) Professor Brenda Cherednichenko, was pleased to welcome the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples to the Mount Lawley Campus last weekend.
The culmination of years of hard work to re-create a national Indigenous representative body, the Congress aims to be a national leader and advocate for recognising the status of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as First Nation peoples.
A member of the Congress National Executive Committee, Professor Hayward was instrumental in inviting the Congress to ECU. This is the first official Congress meeting conducted outside of Sydney.
“This was a wonderful opportunity for ECU to welcome influential members of the Aboriginal community to the Mount Lawley Campus,” said Professor Hayward.
“ECU’s vision and support of Indigenous affairs was obvious throughout the weekend as we discussed important issues relating to Indigenous affairs.”
The Congress was officially welcomed to the campus by Mr Snell and Professor Cherednichenko, following a Welcome to Country, performed by Dr Noel Nannup from Kurongkurl Katitjin.
“It was a great privilege to host the Congress at our Mount Lawley Campus, and I thank Colleen for all her hard work in organising the event over the weekend,” said Mr Snell.
The meeting was considered a great success, with the group utilising the Kurongkurl Katitjin space throughout the weekend.