Aboriginal Gathering Place

The City of Whittlesea is committed to reconciliation and supporting opportunities for improved cultural, social and health outcomes for local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities.

There are currently about 14 Aboriginal Gathering Places in Victoria. This space will be the first of its kind in the City of Whittlesea.

Aboriginal Gathering Place will be on Wurundjeri-willam Country within the Quarry Hills regional parkland in South Morang. It will create an invaluable connection with the landscape local flora and fauna. The site features picturesque views east towards the Yarra Ranges.

The location and design of the gathering place is a result of collaboration and consultation with the Aboriginal Gathering Place advisory group.

Aboriginal Gathering Place has been co-designed with the Aboriginal Gathering Place Advisory Group to:

• improve the health and wellbeing of Aboriginal communities
• provide a safe and inclusive space to connect
• support the sharing of knowledge
• empower people through social and cultural activities
• foster reconciliation and healing
• improve access, equity and opportunity.

In November 2023, City of Whittlesea administrators joined local Aboriginal leaders to turn the first sod on the Aboriginal Gathering Place.

Establishing a place to promote cultural practices and knowledge-sharing has been a policy priority for Council, the Whittlesea Reconciliation Group and the Aboriginal Gathering Place Advisory Group for many years.

Read about this important milestone

In partnership with NBN Co, we are embracing our broadband infrastructure in cultural, beautiful and creative ways.

The partnership is supporting a public art series showcasing works from four First Nations artists. The art pieces, done in connection with Aboriginal Gathering Place, will be located across NBN node sites in the municipality.

While the artworks brighten and visually enhance their surroundings, they also serve to raise awareness of the gathering place being created at Quarry Hills regional parkland.

About the artworks and artists

Louise Moore’s Food Sources of the River, is a beautiful representation of the landscapes, waterways and rivers that were an integral part of her life.

See this work opposite Mernda Village Community Centre (opposite 70 Mernda Village Drive, Mernda).

Ray Thomas’ Batatluk and Floating Spheres, shows bataluk, which means lizard in Gunnai language from Gippsland.

See this work near the Lakes Primary School in South Morang (151, The Great Eastern Way South Morang).

Marleen Scerri’s award-winning Freedom artwork depicts the dancing lady, who is as free as the butterflies.

See this work in Mill Park (near 21 Oleander Drive).

Ky-ya Nicholson Ward’s Protection, is a poignant representation of Wurundjeri culture, healing and protection incorporating a beautiful image of Bunjil the wedge-tail eagle.

See this work near the Stables Shopping Centre in Mill Park (at the intersection of Betula Ave and Childs Road, Mill Park).

Learn more about the NBN node artwork project and other participating councils 

Project timeline

Concept/detailed design: early 2024

Design available for community to view: early 2024

Construction to begin: mid 2024

Facility opens: 2025 

An Aboriginal Gathering Place provides a culturally safe and inclusive space for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to come together. It is a place to feel socially and culturally connected to community.

Gathering places support and facilitate cultural activities and programs that incorporate art, music, language and storytelling to strengthen culture and enhance wellbeing.

The Aboriginal Gathering Place will cater for all ages and all abilities.

It will be a space designed to incorporate reconciliation, truth telling, community healing and educational services for the wider community.

The Aboriginal Gathering Place will be located on Wurundjeri Country within the Quarry Hills regional parkland in South Morang.

The hills and ridges are rich in Aboriginal cultural heritage, with the parkland used as an east-west and north-south movement corridor.

The site's relative remoteness offers open views east towards the Yarra Ranges, while the local flora and fauna help connect this place with Country.

Plans for the gathering place will ensure minimal disturbance to the soil and existing native flora.

The City of Whittlesea's Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander population is the third largest within Melbourne and its surrounding suburbs. This figure has grown 38% since the 2016 census.

Aboriginal peoples living in the City of Whittlesea have limited local access to culturally appropriate services that respond to their immediate and long-term cultural needs.

While about 14 Aboriginal Gathering Places exist across Victoria, there is no stand-alone, Aboriginal-led gathering place in the northern metropolitan region.

Aboriginal peoples are 2.7 times more likely to feel high or very high levels of psychological distress.

Life expectancy is also about 10 years less, and hospitalisation rates for circulatory disease are almost twice as high than for non-Indigenous people.*

An Aboriginal Gathering Place in the City of Whittlesea is critical to improving health and wellbeing outcomes for local Aboriginal communities. Aboriginal Gathering Places can increase:

• sense of belonging and connection to culture
• self-determination
• health and wellbeing outcomes
• mainstream awareness and valuing of Aboriginal cultures
• opportunities for reconciliation activities between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples.

*Source: Australian Institute of Health and Welfare

The Gathering Place will offer a combination of regular, structured and planned activities, as well as unplanned activities. These may include:

• cultural strengthening and knowledge through arts, language, dancing, woodwork and other crafts, healing programs and storytelling
• Aboriginal cultural events and observance of days of cultural significance, including Sorry Day and National NAIDOC Week
• men, women and Elder-specific programs
• sports and recreation programs and activities for people of all ages
• youth programs such as homework clubs, afterschool programs and life skills workshops
• meetings of Aboriginal groups such as the Whittlesea reconciliation group.

We consulted with more than 67 community members and the Whittlesea Reconciliation Group in compiling its 2018 feasibility study.

The Aboriginal Gathering Place Advisory Group (formerly the Aboriginal Gathering Place Governance Group) has met more than a dozen times since 2021 to workshop project needs and refine the community vision, operating model and governance model.

Discussions with subject matter experts from government departments, First Peoples Relations (formerly Aboriginal Victoria) and the Whittlesea Reconciliation Group established relationships and provided advice on partnership and funding opportunities as well as planning requirements.

We also worked to ensure the project aligns with the Victorian Government's policy commitment to gathering places and self-determination, including:

• Korin Korin Balit-Djak policy
• Treaty process
• Truth and Reconciliation Commission for Aboriginal Australians (established as the Yoorook Justice Commission).

We will continue to consult with the local Aboriginal community and the broader community throughout project's design and delivery phases.

The Quarry Hills regional parkland has been identified as the ideal location to establish the Aboriginal Gathering Place.

In April 2023, Council endorsed the Quarry Hills Regional Parkland Future Directions Plan which was developed in partnership with the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation outlining a long-term vision for the area.

This vision includes the Aboriginal Gathering Place and plans for the Granite Hills Major Community Park.

The expected capital cost of the Aboriginal Gathering Place is estimated at $10 million.

In September 2023, Council resolved to award a contract for construction of the project. The first sod was ceremoniously turned in November 2023 and construction work is expected to begin in July 2024.

Construction is expected to begin mid 2024 with the facility due to open in 2025.