Respecting Our Traditional Land Owners

By Adam Valvasori - Values Manager





















This blog post was written on the land of the Wurundjeri people.

Something we've started doing is acknowledging and respecting the traditional land owners our offices and stores are located on. It fits in perfectly with our new campaign with ANTaR to foster greater respect between Indigenous and Non-Indigenous Australians.

To tell you the truth it wasn't the easiest thing in the world to find out. There are still some areas which have contested ownership. There's not one magic website to go to or phone number to call. (Please correct me if I'm wrong)

I wish someone *out there* created a website of Indigenous countries (see how many there are by clicking on the map !) that you can find just by inputting your postcode. That would make acknowledging our traditional land owners so much more accessible.

But now it's done and out in stores and actually it wasn't that hard... it would be a simple way for other organisations, schools, businesses or even homes to show their respect to the traditional owners of the land. In a small way it makes me feel more connected to Australia and its long history.

If you'd like help finding out who the traditional owners of your land are, I recommend asking ANTaR for help. They can even make a nice metal plaque for you.

Other resources we used include:

• Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies
• Wikipedia's List of Indigenous Australian Group Names