Appointment of new members to the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council

I am pleased to announce the successful appointment of four new Council members and the reappointment of an existing member to the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council. I welcome Liz Allen, Dr Doris Paton and Dan Turnbull, welcome back Mick Harding and am pleased at the reappointment of Aunty Jennifer Beer.

With a full Council of eleven Traditional Owners from across this Country now known as Victoria, the Council is strong and speaks with one voice for the protection of our Peoples’ Cultural Heritage and wellbeing.

I applaud all every Council member’s ongoing commitment to the management, protection and promotion of Aboriginal Cultural Heritage. The knowledge and expertise of our new members are an asset to our collective and I am confident they will make a valuable contribution to the work the Council undertakes in further moving the Victorian community towards a place of understanding and respect for Victoria’s Aboriginal Cultural Heritage.

Our work at Council is informed not just through our representation but in the quality we bring to a discussion. In and of ourselves, we challenge the presentation of an exclusionist, Coloniser perspective. I ask our members to connect heart with mind and bring to our discussions what you believe as a Traditional Owner and living embodiment of the oldest living Culture on earth.

I put my hand up over a decade ago to become a member of the Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council. I thought then, and now, that I can positively contribute to the governance of my Peoples’ Culture and our Cultural Heritage, through the imposed legislation of the Act. As we seek to review the Act, to strengthen it for Our People, we look to create the best First Peoples’ Cultural Heritage protections in the world.

Rodney Carter

Chairperson

Meet Council's new and returning members