Acknowledgement of Country

COORDINARE acknowledges that Aboriginal people are the First People of this country and pay respect to their Elders past, present and emerging and acknowledge their continuing connections to their ancestral lands.

COORDINARE is not qualified to determine nor define the Aboriginal Countries and understands the sophisticated and complex relationships with Aboriginal people and the land. However, it is our current understanding that within the organisation’s 50,000+ km geographic footprint are large areas of the Traditional Lands of:

• Yuin Nation – from Kiama down to Eden and out to Braidwood, including the townships of Nowra and Moruya
• Dharawal Nation – the area across southern Sydney down to the Illawarra Shoalhaven region and west to Moss Vale, encompassing Bass Point, Helensburgh and Wollongong
• Ngunnawal/Ngambri Nations – excluding the ACT and including Queanbeyan, Yass and Bungendore areas
• Ngarigo Nation – the Monaro Snowy Mountains region down to the Victorian border, including the NSW towns of Cooma and Delegate

Of note, Goulburn was a common ground and meeting place for many of the neighbouring Nations.

A note about language

Language carries history and creates meaning.

At COORDINARE, the term ‘Aboriginal’ is generally used in preference to ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander,’ in recognition that Aboriginal peoples are the original inhabitants of South Eastern NSW.