Women’s Health Grampians acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as Australia’s First peoples and the Traditional Owners of the lands, waterways and skies where we live, work and play.
26th January is a day that marks the invasion of Australia, which involved genocide and the dispossession of land and culture from Australia’s First peoples.
We stand in solidarity with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We reflect on how the privileges and benefits non-Indigenous people enjoy in Australia are underpinned by the suffering and ongoing injustices perpetrated against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples through colonial systems, practices and institutions. We recognise and value the voices, strength and resilience of Aboriginal women across the Grampians Gariwerd region.
This is a day of mourning, pain and sorrow. But it is also a day to celebrate survival. Despite everything, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are still here: strong, proud, and deeply connected to culture and country. It is a day to educate ourselves about the harms of the past, and recommit to dismantling those systems of oppression still in place today. In 2024 more than ever Women’s Health Grampians supports truth telling about our shared history; as well as understanding, respect and reconciliation.
Sovereignty was never ceded. This always was and always will be Aboriginal land.