Institute aims for reconciliation

BENDIGO TAFE has launched its new Reconciliation Action Plan.

Chief executive Sally Curtain said the RAP outlines the institute’s work towards a “reconciled, just and equitable Australia.”

“Educational organisations such as Bendigo TAFE have an obligation to be informed and involved in reconciliation,” she said.

“But it is more than an obligation, it is the right thing to do.

“Reconciliation is an essential process in the healing of our national soul.

“I have high ambitions for this Reconciliation Action Plan. It will drive meaningful and lasting change and, I hope, will become an example for other educational organisations.”

The RAP includes Bendigo TAFE’s commitments to restoring First Nations people to a place of equity, working towards “ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures be fully valued by all”, “restoring broken relationships” and “eradicating social inequalities.”

The artwork in the RAP was designed by Dja Dja Wurrung artist Jida Gulpill and represents the “rainbow serpent in all our waterways, land features and language groups across Victoria.”

“I have high ambitions for this Reconciliation Action Plan,” Ms Curtain said.

“It will drive meaningful and lasting change and, I hope, will become an example for other educational organisations.”

In addition to the reconciliation plan, Bendigo TAFE’s revitalisation project is almost complete.

That has seen several Aboriginal artworks, including a large Waa the crow, designed in part by the Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation, installed on one of the instruction’s newest buildings,

In 2020, the the TAFE employed over 1300 staff with 11 staff identifying as being of Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander origin.

The institution has about 14,000 students across over 30 areas of study.