JAM! Connect
Connection is central to understanding and supporting First Nations cultures and justice. JAM! has put together here some key local and general connections as a starting place. Connect with us and let us know if you have other connections to recommend!
LOCAL CONNECTIONS - Maribyrnong & the West
Aboriginal Resource Guide – Western Metropolitan Melbourne (pdf): Created in 2015 by the Moondani Balluk Indigenous Academic Unit, this guide covers Traditional Owners, Art & Culture, Education, Elders, General & Family, Government, Health, Housing, Legal and Local Councils.
Bonmarart Leewik (Strong Ancestors) Project: This site aims to bring together a range of resources that document places in the Melbourne’s Western region that are of significance to Aboriginal people.
Boon Wurrung Foundation: The Boonwurrung Foundation provides cultural awareness training, leadership training …
Boonwurrung Land and Sea Council: BLSC is available for Cultural Heritage Advice, History Talks & Tours, Traditional Boonwurrung ‘Welcome to Country’ and Cultural Blessings, Academic Lectures–Public Speaking, Native Title & Cultural Heritage Advice and Consultancy, Cultural & Regulatory Compliance Advice Services, Anthropological & Archaeological Services and School & Education Tours.
Bunurong Land Council: The Bunurong Land Council Aboriginal Corporation is a Traditional Owner organisation that represents the Bunurong people of the South-Eastern Kulin Nation. They aim to preserve and protect the sacred lands and waterways of their ancestors, their places, traditional cultural practices and stories.
Cooinda Aboriginal Corporation (FB): Cooinda, an aboriginal word meaning ‘Happy Place’, is the first dedicated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community Centre in Brimbank. Led by members of the local Aboriginal community, the Cooinda Community Group aims to bring communities together.
Deadly Western Connections: A meeting place for the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples living in western metropolitan Naarm (Melbourne). It’s your place to share stories, pay respect to Country and build community.
It’s a place for community groups, organisations and businesses to connect with you about their services, programs, jobs and events.
Footscray Community Arts – Indigenous Advisory Group: The Indigenous Advisory Group is comprised of Elders, community leaders, artists, and cultural workers. They provide guidance on co-curating the Indigenous Cultural Program, cultural protocol, organisational cultural competency, building relationships with Indigenous artists and communities, represents FCAC at Indigenous forums and events nationally and internationally.
Footscray Community Arts – Tarnuk-ut baany: A personal and professional development program facilitating cultural knowledge exchange through creative mentorship.
Footscray Historical Society: Collecting, preserving and making accessible our local history for the community’s benefit.
Kirrup Aboriginal Corporation: Kirrip Aboriginal Corporation is a safe place for community to connect socially and culturally, to celebrate culture, and to promote self-determination and healing. Servicing the local Aboriginal communities in and around Melton.
Koling wada-ngal Aboriginal Corporation: The purpose of the Koling wada-ngal (Walking together) Aboriginal Corporation is to engage in an equal partnership with the Wyndham Aboriginal community and key stakeholders to work towards providing a culturally safe Aboriginal Community Centre.
Living Museum of the West: See p. 23-24 Aboriginal History section from the ‘Pipemakers Park Conservation Analysis and Plan’ 1996.
Maribyrnong City Council – Aboriginal Maribyrnong: A range of historical information about First Nations in Maribyrnong, including the 1999 Maribyrnong Aboriginal Heritage Study.
Maribyrnong City Council – Council Plan 2021 to 2025: Please search for ‘First Nations’ and see Objectives and Council Plan Actions 3.1 and 4.1 re: First Nations engagement.
Maribyrnong City Council – Maribyrnong Social Demographics: Social atlas map for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders in Maribyrnong LGA.
Maribyrnong City Council – MCC Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) 2020-2022 & RAP Advisory Committee (Committee defunct since 2020): The RAP outlines the MCC vision and plans for engagement with Traditional Owners.
Maribyrnong City Council: 1. Motion 16 Mar 21: Engagement with First Nations (pdf); 2. Resolution 6 Dec 21: January 26 a Day of Mourning (pdf); 3. Adoption 12 Sep 23: Citizenship Ceremony moved away from January 26 (pdf).
New Message Tree Alliance: The Alliance encourages non-Indigenous Australians to work for reconciliation with Indigenous Australians by a) developing respectful relationships with the original peoples of this country, especially those in the Hobsons Bay, Victoria local area, b) unearthing the hidden history and culture of the original peoples, as well as our shared history since settlement, c) supporting community and Government efforts to close the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous outcomes such as health, education, employment, housing and justice.
Still Here by Uncle Larry Walsh: This 1996 exhibition catalogue produced by the Living Museum of The West, includes a Maribyrnong and Western Region Koorie heritage history. For other relevant publications, please see the Living Museum of the West.
Towards a Footscray Curriculum (pdf): Produced by the Public Pedagogies Institute this is a documenting of community knowledge in Footscray 2017 and revealing a wide range of specialised and expert knowledges.
Underfoot: A series of virtual audio tours by Liz Crash and Jinghua Qian uncovering the secret histories of Footscray.
Victoria University – First Nations Fund: Your gift to the Darrabarruk Turt-Barram (First Nations Stars) grant in Victoria University’s First Nations Fund will encourage more students in years 8-12 to think about tertiary study before they leave school.
Victoria University – Indigenous Partnerships: This site outlines Victoria University’s indigenous partnerships and community involvement.
Victoria University – Moondani Balluk: Indigenous Academic Unit: Moondani Balluk means ’embrace people’. This Unit provides a range of services and support for indigenous students at Victoria University.
Executive Director, Moondani Balluk Indigenous Academic Unit
Victoria University
Westen Bulldogs – RAP (pdf): The Western Bulldogs football club’s Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan 2018-2020.
Western Bulldogs – Nallei Jerring Koori Leadership Project: The Western Bulldogs’ Nallei-Jerring (join and unite) Koori Youth Leadership Project aims to support Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait islander young people, by providing opportunities through the Western Bulldogs as a way of encouraging leadership within the local Aboriginal community.
Western Metro Local Aboriginal Networks (LINs & LANs): A Facebook network providing information to community in the west of Naarm about projects and program’s for the mob!
Wurundjeri: This is the website of the Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation and includes services, history, community events, partnerships and tour information.
VICTORIAN CONNECTIONS
Aboriginal Housing Victoria: Aboriginal Housing Victoria (AHV) is an Aboriginal community organisation responsible for managing over 1,500 rental properties for Aboriginal and /or Torres Strait Islander people living in Victoria.
Birrarung Wilam (River Camp) Walk & Scar Tree Walk: Two unique cultural experiences that blend traditional and contemporary aspects of Aboriginal cultures and histories of the Kulin Peoples.
Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre: Bunjilaka presents the Koorie experience with immense power, depth and respect in a major permanent exhibition entirely co-created with Aboriginal people.
Cooee Bunji: A grass roots organisation where culture is respected and celebrated. They deliver practical support to Aboriginal people from all walks of life. They are attuned to the Stolen Generation survivors and their descendants and we stand with you.
Djirra: Djirra is a culturally safe place where culture is celebrated and practical support is available, including family violence legal services and workshops.
First Nations Legal & Research Services: First Nations Legal & Research Services is the Native Title Service Provider for Victoria. This is a role established by the Native Title Act to provide assistance in relation to native title matters. We are funded by the Commonwealth Government to perform these functions.
Federation of Victorian Traditional Owner Corporations: The Federation is the Victorian state-wide body that convenes and advocates for the rights and interests of Traditional Owners while progressing wider social, economic, environmental and cultural objectives.
First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria: The First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria is the independent and democratically elected body to represent Traditional Owners of Country and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Victoria.
First Peoples – State Relations: Responsible for the Victorian Government’s work in the areas of cultural rights, self-determination, treaty and truth telling.
Grandmothers Against Removals Victoria (FB): GMAR Victoria are a Grassroots group of Grandmother’s around Victoria working to stop the Removal of Our Children by advocating & providing support to the family as a whole.
Indigenous Social Justice Association (Melbourne): ISJA Melbourne is a grassroots, multi-racial activist group — open to both Indigenous and non-Indigenous people — which works collaboratively with others around the country campaigning to stop Indigenous deaths in custody.
Koorie Heritage Trust: The KHT is a unique space rich in culture, heritage and history that welcomes and encourages all people to come together in the spirit of learning and reconciliation.
Koorie Teaching Resources (Vic Gov’t): Resource site for teachers including protocols, acknowledgements and languages.
Koorie Youth Council: KYC facilitates and amplifies the voices, aspirations, and experiences of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people residing in Victoria.
Local Reconciliation Groups: Reconciliation Victoria & ANTaR Victoria Independent networks of Local Reconciliation Groups, throughout both metropolitan and regional Victoria who promote cultural awareness, understanding and education in their local communities.
Maggolee – Key Aboriginal Organisations: The Maggolee website, developed by Reconciliation Victoria, supports engagement and partnerships between local government and Aboriginal communities. The site includes information on policy and programs, protocols and cultural awareness, key contacts, relevant local data, news and events. It contains information about each of the 79 Victorian local government areas, and about actions councils can take across key function areas to build closer relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and to progress reconciliation.
Mapping Aboriginal Melbourne: This interactive map reveals something of Aboriginal peoples’ deep connection to this Country, the City of Melbourne, and significant events and experiences since colonisation.
Melbourne School of Discontent (Facebook page): The Melbourne School of Discontent is a small, loose collective of Aboriginal academics, artists, poets, writers, thinkers and activists. The purpose of our existence is to offer an alternative historical and political narrative on Aboriginal affairs to that accepted by the mainstream of Australian society. We exist to challenge the deeply embedded racist perceptions that run riot through the veins of Australian society, as well as countering the conservative streak that has appears to have developed in Aboriginal leadership today. Our weapons are simply words and thoughts that might disrupt the status quo.
Merri-bek Allyship Network (ex Moreland Reconciliation Network): A community network committed to anti-racism action that centres First Nations voices and perspectives, and that we are always working towards allyship.
Port Phillip Citizens for Reconciliation: A voluntary not-for-profit community group focusing on reconciliation – promoting unity and respect between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and the wider community.
Racism Not Welcome Street Sign Campaign: This campaign by Sydney’s Inner West Council was partly funded by West Multicultural Network.
Reconciliation Victoria: The state-wide body promoting reconciliation across Victoria. This means that we promote deeper understanding, respect and justice for and with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.
Victorian Aboriginal Corporation for Languages: The peak body for Aboriginal Languages revitalization in the state of Victoria, leaders in the field of Language Revitalization, Resources Development, Research, and the archival, development, Aboriginal Language Library and Aboriginal languages digital information.
Victorian Aboriginal Education Association: The peak Koorie community organisation for education and training in Victoria. We work for our community to build success in education and training.
Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council: Helping the community respect and understand Aboriginal Cultural Heritage and Traditional Owner responsibilities.
Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service: VALS’ legal services include Family, Civil, and Criminal law. Our Wirraway Police and Prison Accountability practice advocates for the rights of people in prison or in custody. Wirraway also advocates for improved policing and corrections accountability. Balit Ngulu are our team specialising in work with young people.
Victorian Aboriginal News: Proudly Victorian and proudly independent of external editorial influences, Victorian Aboriginal News is committed to covering Victorian Aboriginal matters about which other media outlets either don’t care or are unable to cover.
Victorian Government – Anti-Racism Taskforce: The Anti-Racism Taskforce provides strategic advice to the Victorian Government on effective approaches to preventing and combatting racism and discrimination in Victoria.
Victoria’s Registered Aboriginal Parties (including online map): Here you can find a RAP for areas of Victoria. For a more detailed map see the Traditional Owners Map of Victoria in ACHRIS.
Yalinguth App: The Yalinguth app is an augmented audio experience reflecting the oral storytelling tradition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Yoorrook Justice Commission: The first formal truth-telling process into historical and ongoing injustices experienced by First Peoples in Victoria. The Resources tab includes info and factsheets about how the process.
GENERAL CONNECTIONS
13 YARN (9276): The first national crisis support line for mob who are feeling overwhelmed or having difficulty coping. We offer a confidential one-on-one yarning opportunity with a Lifeline-trained Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Crisis Supporter who can provide crisis support 24 hours a day, 7 days a week.
ABC Indigenous: The ABC Indigenous portal aggregates Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander stories from around the ABC & around Australia. Access the latest Indigenous stories and features from ABC Radio, News & Current Affairs, TV and iview.
Aboriginal Advancement League: Administers and initiates programs which aim to improve the social, economic and cultural advancement of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people of Victoria. Promotes self determination, self-sufficiency and self- management throughout the Aboriginal community of Victoria. Determines and comments upon State and Federal Governments policy in Aboriginal Affairs.
ANTaR: A national advocacy organisation dedicated to achieving rights, justice and respect for the First Nations Peoples of Australia.
Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS): Our vision is a world in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ knowledge and cultures are recognised, respected, celebrated and valued. We offer a range of opportunities for people who would like to be part of our vision.
Coalition of Peaks: The Coalition of Peaks is made up of more than 80 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled peak and member organisations across Australia, that represent some 800 organisations. We came together as an act of self-determination to work in partnership with Australian governments on Closing the Gap.
Colonial Frontier Massacre Map: Identifies and records sites of frontier massacres of Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous people across Australia from 1788 to 1930.
Common Ground: Common Ground builds on existing community power to strengthen the stories we tell ourselves and others, so we can reimagine stronger futures. Futures that are grounded in reciprocity, justice and truth-telling.
Dhadjowa Foundation: The Dhadjowa Foundation is being established to provide strategic, coordinated and culturally appropriate support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families whose loved ones have died in custody.
First Languages Australia: First Languages Australia is the national peak body working to ensure the strength of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages. We support a network of language centres, community programs and industry partners covering the whole of Australia.
Gambay – First Languages Map: First Languages Australia is working with regional language centres nationally to develop a map of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages that reflects the names and groupings favoured by community.
IndigenousX: IndigenousX is a 100% Indigenous owned and operated media, consultancy, and training organisation. IndigenousX believes in the principles of self-determination and works to effect change by upholding Indigenous knowledges, voices and ways of being.
Justice Reform Initiative – Jailing is Failing: We are an alliance of Australians committed to reforming the criminal justice system.
Koori History Website: Information on Black Australia’s 240 year struggle for justice hosted by Professor Gary Foley.
Murray Lower Darling Rivers Indigenous Nations: A confederation of Indigenous Nations or Traditional Owners in the southern part of the Murray Darling Basin. The group currently includes representatives from over 20 Nations.
National Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Housing Association (NATSIHA): As the national peak body, our role is clear: we champion community-controlled housing solutions to ensure that every First Nations individual and family has access to safe, secure, and culturally fitting housing across Australia.
National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA): The National Indigenous Australians Agency (NIAA) works in genuine partnership to enable the self-determination and aspirations of First Nations communities. We implement the Australian Governments’ priorities and support the Minister for Indigenous Australians.
National Native Title Council (NNTC): The National Native Title Council (NNTC) is the peak body for the native title sector and Traditional Owners. The NNTC works to advance the rights and interests of Traditional Owners through strong advocacy, targeted networking and by providing opportunities to members to develop their professional skills to engage across the native title sector. Our approach is rights-based and is underpinned by best practice standards such as UNDRIP’s Free, Prior and Informed Consent (FPIC).
Ngurra: The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Precinct: The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Precinct will be nationally significant in speaking to the central place that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples hold in Australia’s story.
Pay The Rent: This program is organised by First Nations and non-First Nations people working together, as the Pay The Rent Grassroots Collective. It enables funds to be contributed by individuals directly to grassroots causes and campaigns with a focus on protecting First Nations rights, including practical support such as sustaining a Funeral Fund.
SEED Mob: We are building a movement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander young people for climate justice. Our vision is for a just and sustainable future with strong cultures and communities, powered by renewable energy.
Sisters Inside: Established in 1992, Sisters Inside is an independent community organisation based in Queensland, which advocates for the collective human rights of women and girls in prison, and their families, and provides services to address their individual needs.
SNAICC – National Voice for our Children: The National Voice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. We work to see Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children grow up healthy, happy and safe, connected to culture and Community.
The Healing Foundation: The Healing Foundation is a national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisation that provides a platform to amplify the voices and lived experience of Stolen Generations survivors and their families. We work with communities to create a place of safety, providing an environment for Stolen Generations survivors and their families to speak for themselves, tell their own stories, and be in charge of their own healing.
Towards Truth: Towards Truth maps laws and policies that have impacted the lives of First Nations people since 1788.
Uluru Dialogue & Statement from the Heart: The Uluru Dialogue represents the cultural authority of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and leads community education on the Uluru Statement’s reforms of Voice, Treaty and Truth. The Uluru Dialogue is based at the Indigenous Law Centre, UNSW Sydney.
Warriors of the Aboriginal Resistance – WAR (FB): A collective of young Aboriginal people committed to the cause of decolonisation and the philosophy of Aboriginal nationalism – resistance and revival.
