The Premier has announced this year’s 2020 Queensland Reconciliation Awards winners and congratulated the 16 awards finalists for their dedication and commitment to reconciliation across Queensland.
The awards are held as part of National Reconciliation Week (27 May – 3 June).
Indigenous Wellbeing Centre Ltd was named the winner of the Premier’s Reconciliation Award for its initiative Screens share Aboriginal history to support reconciliation.
“This wonderful initiative showcases the benefits of approaching reconciliation as a community. It focused on the First Nations Peoples and the trauma experienced in their lifetime, a platform for true reconciliation and a healing process for the community,” the Premier said.
“The Indigenous Wellbeing Centre has acknowledged the importance and sensitivities of the past through a piece of art, and also opened a platform for discussion, not just within the Bundaberg community, but across Queensland.
“I want to congratulate the centre for its commitment to engaging the local community, acknowledging our history and valuing the knowledge of Aboriginal peoples and Torres Strait Islander peoples,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
IWC said they were delighted to be recognised at the Queensland Reconciliation Awards.
“True reconciliation requires truth,” said IWC CEO Ara Harathunian.
“By working with Traditional Owners and Elders in this region to capture the oral histories of the Ancestors and share this information with the community, the truth has been put out there for all to see – and to understand.
“We should like to thank the Traditional Owners and Elders who worked with us on this project, which we believe is an Australian first.
“We are honouring the past while looking to a brighter future together, as one community, that has respect of our Aboriginal history.”
IWC General Manager Wayne Mulvany said the process had been long and harrowing for the Elders involved.
“Over the many months of the process, many tears were shed and old wounds revealed,” he said.
“We worked with a local artist, Jacky Poulter, to create a mainstream interpretation of the oral histories, which were then turned into the 11 3m-high screens now wrapping the streetscape of the IWC Complex.
“We also captured the stories, and these are on plaques which sit under the original artworks on permanent display in the Complex.”
The Queensland Reconciliation Awards is an initiative of the Queensland Government through the Department of the Premier and Cabinet and the Department of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships.
For further information, visit the website.
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