The Western Suburbs Indigenous Gathering Place: cultural programs and partnerships
Colleen Marion led the team that established the Western Suburbs Indigenous Gathering Place in 2002. The Association aims to bring Indigenous people together to celebrate the community's culture and identity, enhance self determination and well being and give western suburbs Indigenous Australians a sense of belonging and ownership. Colleen’s presentation will describe the Gathering Place’s initiatives and partnerships, with local councils, schools, police and community and service organisations, in which Indigenous arts and culture have contributed to successful outcomes. Colleen will recommend ways that councils can engage with Indigenous communities in the process of Reconciliation.
Colleen Marion was raised in the small outback town of Augathella, in southwest Queensland. Colleen moved to Melbourne in 1971, a single mother raising five children. During the 1980s, Colleen worked in various State and Commonwealth departments including several years at Baltara Detention Centre as a youth worker. Her passion for children and young people's rights and wellbeing has continued to grow over the years. Colleen once said, 'Having been brought up in a large family in remote Queensland, living in a tin hut, I loved the fact that our family spoke our language, hunted our own food and lived traditionally. All aboriginal kids should experience that lifestyle'. Colleen's ongoing passion for her people is exceptional and is the force behind the success of The Gathering Place. Her determination to see improved outcomes for the Indigenous Community, particularly the young people, has been the catalyst for significant improvements, all of which can be attributed to Colleen's involvement. Colleen's work with and achievements in the Victorian Aboriginal Community have recently been acknowledged by Save the Children Victoria's White Flame Award (2005) and NAIDOC Victorian Recognition Award (2006)