Local students help to fly the flag for National Reconciliation Week

Published on 19 May 2023

Mildura Rural City Council is flying flags along Deakin Avenue and the Langtree Mall designed by local school students to mark National Reconciliation Week, which starts later this month.

National Reconciliation Week runs from 27 May until 3 June and is bookended by two significant events in our country’s reconciliation journey - the anniversary of the successful 1967 referendum (27 May) and the historic Mabo decision in 1992 (3 June).

To acknowledge the annual event, Council earlier this year invited local schools to design flags based on the theme of ‘reconciliation’, resulting in successful submissions from the Merbein P10 School, Mildura Primary School and Red Cliffs Primary School.

Submissions were reviewed by members of Council’s Ngiwa Yarna (Aboriginal Action) Committee and SuniTAFE Art and Design students.

As part of their learning and assessment, SuniTAFE students selected submissions which were then developed into seven unique flag designs.

The designs were then converted digitally into the format required to be printed and flown as flags, providing students with a unique experience to add to their graphic design portfolio.

The students’ work was officially acknowledged at a celebration event today ahead of being erected along Deakin Avenue and the Langtree Mall in coming days.

Deputy Mayor Helen Healy, who holds the Community Development and Gender Equity portfolios, congratulated students on both their designs and their contribution to National Reconciliation Week.

“National Reconciliation Week is an important event for our entire community as it promotes and generates greater understanding of our shared histories, cultures and achievements, particularly our region’s rich Aboriginal culture and history,” Cr Healy said.

“Involving our community’s younger residents is a great way to ensure this understanding is achieved early so that it can be shared throughout their lives.

“It was good to see the way schools and students embraced this year’s event, which our community will soon be able to see once students’ flags are erected along Deakin Avenue and in the Langtree Mall.”

In addition to students’ flags, Council is also marking National Reconciliation Week by partnering with local community groups to develop a series of children’s books in both English and other languages active in our community as part of a story book project.

The community is invited to contribute to the project by attending two workshops at the Mildura Library in coming weeks.

The workshops will be held on Thursday 25 May and Thursday 1 June, running from 6.30pm to 8.30pm.  Residents can register by emailing claire.galvin@mildura.vic.gov.au or calling 03 5018 8100.

The resulting stories will be launched publicly at an event on Indigenous Literacy Day on 6 September.

ENDS