National Reconciliation Week Breakfast

Across the College, students have been engaging with Reconciliation Week in a number of ways, including events and assemblies on-campus, the APS Reconciliation round of sport and having discussions on what it means to stand opposed to racism, inequality and injustice.

In addition to these activities on campus, Wesley students from both the St Kilda Road and Glen Waverley campuses attended Reconciliation Victoria’s inaugural ‘National Reconciliation Week Breakfast’, held on Wurundjeri Country at The Centre, Ivanhoe.

Students met Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Elder, Uncle Andrew Gardiner, who spoke about the First People’s Assembly, the path to constitutional change and the challenge of obtaining a double majority in a referendum. He also discussed his work at the Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation Inc (VACCHO) and the problems of the Northern Territory Intervention.

Reflecting on the Reconciliation Week theme, he asked everyone a simple question: ‘What are you going to do?’

Wesmob Prefect Jennifer attended the Breakfast and said, 'The National Reconciliation Week Breakfast was a brilliant event that we were fortunate enough to attend thanks to Mr Chiu and Mr Adams. As Wesmob Prefect I have had the privilege of meeting and speaking with a number of Indigenous Elders from across Melbourne and the Northwest of Australia, but the inaugural NRW breakfast left me in awe of the passion and pride on display by some of the state’s most inspirational leaders.

'The words spoken by Uncle Andrew and Aunty Jill were so raw and heartfelt. I think everyone in the room was holding back tears at the resilience that they continue to carry. As a young Australian it was inspiring to see the devotion of leaders in our community to Reconciliation and I was extremely honoured to witness this firsthand.'

Leila, Year 11, said, 'I'm really grateful to have been able to go along to the Reconciliation Breakfast. What stuck with me was when Aunty Jill spoke about Australia having one of the oldest living cultures, a rich history that should be a source of great pride, but instead is too often left unacknowledged and disregarded.'

Leila was inspired and moved by the content shared at the Breakfast. 'A video of a little boy was especially moving. The connection drawn between the boy's beaming pride and his culture was undeniable, and it made the battles to reclaim Australian history that Aunty Jill spoke about, that much more devastating. From what I gathered from the Minister and Uncle Albert at the Breakfast, it sounds like having a First Nations voice is far from a perfect solution, but it is long overdue and a very important first step.'