Reconciliation
Our vision
The City of Vincent’s reconciliation vision is one where Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people walk alongside each other in respectful and meaningful partnership, celebrating Noongar culture and tradition. We strive for a caring and empathetic community where people support one another in achieving greater equality and opportunities for all members of our society. We envision our City to be a vibrant, inclusive place that features Noongar culture and history in our open spaces, facilities and at our events. Our hope is that all members of our community will join us on our journey towards reconciliation.
About our vision
The City’s vision for reconciliation will be driven by community engagement practices, innovative projects, policy practices, organisational reflection, improvement and positive promotion of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories and cultural understandings.
We are committed to understanding the impacts of our colonial past, the injustices it has created for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and our need to address the complex underlying issues with a strong focus on change and improving our relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, in particular, the Whadjuk Noongar people.
We aim to generate positive impacts by taking into account the diverse needs of the local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community in decision making. We will strongly advocate the interests of this community and foster community cohesion by encouraging active participation in culturally appropriate projects and events. We aim to advocate and influence organisational awareness to strengthen our capacity, governance and practices to ensure responsiveness to emerging issues that impact the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. We aim to be a leader in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employment and engagement.
We have a vision to be recognised as a culturally sensitive local government that works closely with key partners to address local issues including homelessness and community safety among the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
In December 2020, Council resolved unanimously to support the Uluru Statement from the Heart. A key part of the Uluru Statement is a First Nations Voice to Parliament, protected by the Constitution. Ahead of the referendum on 14 October 2023, we heard from Vincent locals about their support for a Voice to Parliament. See the videos.
Our Reconciliation Action Plans (RAP)
RAPs provide a framework for organisations to realise their vision for reconciliation. RAPs are practical plans of action built on relationships, respect and opportunities. They create social change and economic opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.
There are four types of RAP, determined by Reconciliation Australia, to reflect the stages of reconciliation progress, being Reflect, Innovate, Stretch and Elevate.
The City of Vincent began its reconciliation journey in 2017 with a Reflect RAP, completing its first Innovate RAP in September 2022 and second Innovate RAP in December 2024. The City is now implementing its Stretch RAP.
Throughout our previous RAPs, the City has strengthened its relationship with the local Noongar Elders, community and celebrated Noongar culture and tradition through numerous events, activities and workshops. We have created a more empathetic and culturally sensitive workplace and increased our procurement from Aboriginal businesses.
Stretch Reconciliation Action Plan 2025-2027
This is the City of Vincent's latest RAP. Vincent worked with its Boordiya (Boss) Reference Group and Internal RAP Working Group to form this plan. The plan includes a wide range of actions that will make a real positive impact within the community. Some of the key actions include establishing more partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations, increasing the number of businesses engaged for supplies and services and raise awareness about First Nations histories and cultures amongst staff and the wider community.
Reconciliation Action Plan 2025 - 2027 | Stretch
Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan 2022-2024
The City's second Innovate RAP was adopted at the Ordinary Council Meeting on 23 August 2022. This RAP was designed in partnership with the City's Reconciliation Action Plan Working Group, internal staff, stakeholder groups and most importantly, our Aboriginal Elders. There are 80 actions in the second Innovate RAP that the City has committed to achieving within a two-year time period. Whilst the sharing of Noongar history, tradition and culture remains important, this RAP has some high-level deliverables including meeting an employment target of three per cent of staff who identify as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, developing a strategy to achieve three per cent procurement from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses along with exploring Aboriginal names for unnamed places or laneways and reviving traditional names of parks and reserves.
Reconciliation Action Plan 2022 - 2024 | Innovate
First Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan 2019-2021
The City's second RAP, the Innovate RAP, was adopted at the Ordinary Meeting of Council on 30 April 2019. This RAP aimed to continue to build on the meaningful relationships we developed during the implementation of our Reflect RAP and continue to grow our community’s awareness and appreciation of Noongar culture, as well as our sense of pride in our diversity and rich Noongar history and tradition. The City continued to provide staff and Council with opportunities to immerse themselves in Noongar culture and ensured that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander staff have the opportunity to celebrate and share their history, tradition and culture.
Reconciliation Action Plan 2019 - 2021 | Innovate
Reflect Reconciliation Action Plan 2017-2018
At the Ordinary Council Meeting on 4 April 2017, Council adopted the City's first RAP. The Reflect RAP was launched with a community event on Saturday 27 May 2017 in conjunction with the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the 1967 Referendum during Reconciliation Week. Throughout this RAP, the City strengthened its relationship with the local Noongar community and celebrated Noongar culture and tradition through a number of events, activities and workshops. Internally, we strived to create a more empathetic and culturally sensitive workplace which resulted an update of our Welcome to Country Policy to include Noongar language, as well as mandating a Welcome to Country at major City funded events.
Reconciliation Action Plan 2017 - 2018 | Reflect
RAP reports
Organisations
We also have many Aboriginal-run organisations that aim to connect with Aboriginal people within the City of Vincent, servicing their various needs and requirements.
Aranmore Catholic College Aboriginal Student Support Program
Central Institute of Technology’s Koolark Centre
Gurlongga Njininj Day Care Centre
Derbal Yerrigan Health Service Inc.
Aboriginal Health Council of WA
Indigenous Community Volunteers
Noongar Radio
Nyoongar Outreach
Kuditj
Advisory & working groups
The primary function of our working groups is to identify issues and topics of importance along with providing culturally appropriate advice.
The City of Vincent has three working groups:
Boordiya (Bosses) Reference Group
The City of Vincent Elders Reference Group, the Vincent Boordiya, was formed in 2021 as one of the actions of the Reconciliation Action Plan 2019 – 2021. The Innovate Reconciliation Action Plan 2022 – 2024 reaffirms the City’s commitment to continuing to work with the Vincent Boordiya together with the Whadjuk Noongar community towards genuine reconciliation and truth-telling. We acknowledge their contribution to our City:
- Uncle Ben Taylor
- Uncle Albert McNamara
- Aunty Irene McNamara
- Aunty Muriel Bowie
- Rose Walley
- Cheryl Martin
- Cyril Yarran
- Rodney Cox
Internal Reconciliation Action Plan Working Group (IRAPWG)
Our IRAPWG's purpose is to assist in the implementation of the RAP, with the aim to help the organisation achieve its commitment to greater reconciliation between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people. The group ensure RAP actions within each directorate are undertaken and completed.
Partnerships
Alongside our working groups, we have strengthened our relationships with local Aboriginal organisations including Noongar Radio, the Aboriginal Health Council of WA, Nyoongar Outreach Services as well as Aranmore Catholic College.
Policies
Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country
Recognition of Noongar Boodjar culture and history starts with Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country.
The establishment of a policy shows respect to Noongar culture and tradition and encourages the use of Noongar language within our organisation and wider community.
The process of Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country recognises the unique position of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australian culture and history as the Traditional Owners of the land. It is important that this policy is incorporated as part of official protocols and events to enable the wider community to share in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and heritage.
This policy reaffirms that the Whadjuk people from the Noongar nation are and always will be the Traditional Owners of the land upon which the City of Vincent is located and ensures that the correct protocols are used by the City of Vincent for Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country.
Guidelines and protocols
The guidelines and protocols for external stakeholders has been designed to provide guidance and direction to groups and organisations when planning and facilitating a Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country in the City of Vincent.
Guidelines and Protocols for External Stakeholders
Reconciliation stories
At Vincent, reconciliation is strengthened when community members are given meaningful opportunities to come together, learn and connect.
This National Reconciliation Week, Vincent is creating space for residents to engage with Aboriginal culture, stories and truth telling through a series of community workshops and events designed to encourage reflection, understanding and conversation.
From Noongar storytelling sessions and language sharing, to documentary screenings that confront difficult truths and workshops that explore healing, wellbeing and connection to Country, each event offers a different pathway into reconciliation.
These experiences are important because reconciliation is not built through words alone. It grows when people take the time to listen, to learn from Aboriginal voices and to better understand the histories, cultures and perspectives that continue to shape this place.
Working on Whadjuk Noongar Boodjar (Noongar land), the City recognises that reconciliation must be active, visible and ongoing. Providing opportunities for the community to participate in National Reconciliation Week helps turn awareness into action and encourages residents to be part of a shared journey toward respect and understanding.
Whether it is sitting with a Dreamtime story, engaging with the truth of Western Australia’s past, or exploring Aboriginal knowledge systems through hands on workshops, these moments create stronger connections between people and deepen appreciation for the oldest continuing culture in the world.
Importantly, they also remind us that reconciliation happens in community.
It happens when people gather with open minds. It happens when difficult histories are acknowledged. It happens when Aboriginal stories are centred and when local residents feel invited to take part in building a more informed and respectful future.
National Reconciliation Week provides an opportunity to pause and reflect, but it also reinforces that reconciliation extends far beyond one week on the calendar.
For Vincent, it is a commitment that continues through partnership, education, celebration and shared learning.
By creating local spaces for conversation, truth telling and cultural connection, the City is helping ensure reconciliation is something our community not only talks about, but experiences together.
Registered Aboriginal Sites
Before European settlers arrived, the land that encompasses Vincent was a rich network of waterways, wetlands, swamps, and lakes that had spiritual and social importance to the Noongar people. This land was used for meeting places, trading, hunting, gathering and ceremonies.
A chain of seasonal wetlands that stretched between the coast and north of the Derbarl Yerrigan (Swan River) was crucial to Noongar life and culture. Much of the wetlands in Vincent were built upon and were infilled or drained from the 1850s. Many of the parks and reserves are located on or around former swamps.
For Noongar people, these nine significant sites serve as a direct link between their past and present culture. Aboriginal sites have immense cultural, scientific, educational, historical, and often, personal interest. These links are part of what creates such a deep spiritual connection to Noongar Boodjar culture.
Vincent has nine places of significance to Aboriginal people that are registered through the Aboriginal Heritage Inquiry System at the Department of Planning, Lands and Heritage.
Lake Monger
Located at the northwest corner of Britannia Reserve, on the east side of Lake Monger.
Evidence suggests that this site was used both before and after colonists arrived. The site was originally located on a dune on the east side of Lake Monger, which was much larger and included much of Britannia Reserve. A dense scatter of stone artefacts was discovered here, including several large sets of artefacts that are now part of the Western Australia Museum collection.
The area surrounding the lake is known as ‘Galup’, meaning ‘place of campfires. Local Aboriginal people used the area for gathering food, camping, meetings, and ceremonies. Artefacts have been discovered at various sites around the lake.
Swan River - Derbarl Yerrigan
The entire Derbarl Yerrigan is included in this significant site and makes up the eastern border of Vincent.
The Derbarl Yerrigan was a reliable source of fresh water for Noongar people that provided fish, birds, frogs, turtles and other plants and animals for food. It was an important bidi (track) for transportation and moving from place to place.
The Derbarl Yerrigan has a strong mythical connection with the Waugal rainbow serpent, who created all the landscape and waterways during the nyitting (cold times). This creative ancestral being served as the foundation for many ceremonial practices. Many Whadjuk Noongar people recognise the river as the home of the Waugal and Dreaming Stories. The Waugal is believed to be the giver of life protecting all fresh water.
The Derbarl Yerrigan (Swan River) is registered as having connections to creation and dreaming narrative.
Warndoolier - Banks Reserve
On the banks of the Derbarl Yerrigan in East Perth near the East Perth Power Station and the Windan Bridge.
Warndoolier is noted for its cultural significance as a ‘meeting place’ and a ‘camp’. It is considered by Noongar people to be of great heritage significance for its spiritual, mythological, and historical connections. due to its proximity to the Derbarl Yerrigan (Swan River).
The name Warndoolier appears as the Noongar name for Banks Reserve on historic maps that date from the 1900’s to the 1940’s. The Noongar names on these historic maps were provided by land activist and local Noongar woman, Fanny Balbuk Yooreel (1840 – 1907) whose knowledge of Noongar Boodjar (country), informed the Noongar Native Title claim of 2006.
Stones Lake
The north side of Birdwood Square on the corner of Bulwer Street and Beaufort Street.
Before the area was developed, this area was a large lake.
This was a place of camping, hunting and ceremony and there is evidence the Noongar name for the lake is Yoordgoorading. It is registered as a camping and hunting place as well as having connections to Creation and Dreaming Narratives. It is a mythical place associated with the Waugal.
Weld Square
Weld Square is located on the corner of Newcastle and Beaufort Streets, Perth.
The site is registered as an important camping and gathering place.
Before infilling and draining of the wetlands across Perth, Weld Square was part of a lake called Yoordoorading. Yoordoorading was part of the interconnected wetland system that was central to Noongar life and culture. This was a gathering place for Noongar people.
Dog Swamp
Goobabilup is the northeast corner of the Vincent boundary and includes the northernmost part of North Perth, near Kyilla Primary School.
The site is registered as a camp, water source, quarry and connections to creation and dreaming narratives.
The site has significance as a mythological site relating to the Waugal, the water snake Noongar people recognise as responsible for the creation of the landscape during the nyitting (cold times). It was also a place to quarry wilgie (red ochre), which was an important trading commodity for Noongar people. Dog Swamp was a reliable water source. The freshwater pools at Dog Swamp were used as a place to camp and water source for Noongar people traveling to and from the meeting place of Yanchep or hunting and foraging in the waterways along present day Wanneroo Road.
Hyde Park
Hyde Park is bounded by Vincent, Glendower, Throssell and William Streets.
Hyde Park, known as Boodjamooling, or ‘Third Swamp’ is registered as a camping, hunting, and meeting place. This was a key wetland campsite where turtle and fish were hunted, and the large paper bark trees were used to make shelters.
This site was particularly important to Noongar people during summer and early autumn as a camping spot as food could readily be found in the swamps as they dried in the warming weather.
There is evidence the area was also an important ceremonial site where Noongar people from throughout the southwest would gather to perform ‘law businesses'. This included trading, resolving conflicts, planning relationships, sharing knowledge between generations, and negotiating deals.
Robertson Park / Lake Henderson
The site is at the southwestern corner of Robertson Park, Fitzgerald Street. Before infilling, this was the site of Henderson’s Lake.
It is believed that Noongar people spent time here to take part in ceremonies educating young Noongar people. It was a part of the wide freshwater system made up of swamps, lakes and the Derbarl Yerrigan (Swan River). As with other waterways, Noongar people spent time here in the warm summer months as food and shelter were plentiful.
Camping and ceremonial grounds were located just to the north of the oval near the corner of Wright and Lincoln Street.
Robertson Park is registered as a burial site as skeletal remains were discovered. It also has connection to creation and dreaming narratives and is registered as a plant resource.
This may have been a place associated with seeing important things. It was also noted that that during early colonial times a group of over 300 Noongar met here for ceremony, song and dance making it likely that the place is associated with carrying out important business. It is possible that this camping area was associated with young men’s law ceremony, where families could camp a distance away from other activities taking place, watch and see from a distance.
Carr Street Burial
This is a registered burial site where skeletal remains were discovered.