The Journey Begins

The Opening Retreat was an opportunity for the participants to come together and get to know each other, it was the first of many days that they would spend together during their Leadership Great South Coast experience.

The Facilitator, the wonderfully energetic, vibrant and dynamic Corrinne Armour led the group on a journey of self reflection, discovery and growth as each participant was pushed to the edge of discomfort allowing them to extend on their self awareness and explore new opportunities for growth and development. Conversations were honest, upfront and fearless, and each participant was left with a mix of emotions… energised, aware, knowledgeable, connected and excited to name a few.

This was the beginning of an exciting, fulfilling and challenging year during which the participants will focus on self discovery, awareness and community, they develop networks and add to their leadership toolkit. The Program supports partcipants to challenge their perspective, beliefs, vision and hopes for the future…….we can’t wait to see what lies ahead for each of the 2020 participants.

Congratulations to our 2019 Graduates

Please join us in welcoming our 2019 Alumni:

Adam Kent, Returned Services League, Sponsor: Warrnambool City Council

Jason Eats, Yambuk and Codrington Wind Farms

Ben Fraser, Portland Observer Sponsor: Committee for Portland

Andrew Povey, Wannon Water

Brendan Donahoo, Emmanuel College Sponsor: Hugh Williamson Foundation

Anthony Dufty, Corangamite Shire

Kate Roache, Beyond the Bell

Kelly Barnes, Western Ag Sponsor: Agriculture Victoria

Ashlee Scott, Warrnambool Racing Club

Bradley Collins, Self Employed Dairy Farmer, Sponsor: Gardiner Foundation

Jan Mackenzie, Lyndoch Living

Tafadzwa Chitava, Gunditjmara Aboriginal Cooperative Sponsor: Wannon Water

Jason Cay, Southern Grampians Shire

Nikki Edwards, Portland District Health Sponsor: South West Community Foundation

Juan Donis, Warrnambool City Council

Amy Silvester, South West TAFE

Rachael James, Westpac Bank, Sponsor: Gardiner Foundation

Sophie Baulch, Wannon Water

Actively Contributing to Our Community

11,000 families. 62,000 people. 24,000 hampers. 217,000 meals. These figures are huge. This is the impact and reach Warrnambool & District Foodshare has had over the past 6 years in our region supporting our community through a dedicated team of volunteers led by the charismatic Dedy Friebe. The story of Foodshare is one of many we were privileged to be a small part of recently in a day exploring the true value of volunteerism in our region.

Volunteerism is strong in our region. This should come as no surprise when you dig a little into the opportunities available in the Great South Coast to be a part of the community by giving your time, skills, knowledge or just lending a hand to one of the many groups listed on the Volunteer Connect website. The value volunteers bring to our region is significant.

The value in volunteering is personal too. To be part of a group, build a network, extend your skills, knowledge and leadership, make social connections and test a new career are some of the many benefits volunteering can bring. Having a personal volunteerism strategy can be an effective way to find a meaningful pathway to contribute in the community while extending your professional experience at the same time.

Witnessing the dedicated SES team of volunteers in training as they extricated a passenger from a vehicle cutting it open like a tin can was a great example of the opportunities volunteering offers to build skills and knowledge. I’m grateful we have this crack team of emergency service volunteers on hand in our region after seeing their ability to work as a team and troubleshoot on the fly and under pressure.

Hearing several personal stories on this program day of journeys and adventures through volunteerism gives the 2019 LGSC participants great food for thought in considering where to next? In a year of significant personal and professional growth it’s fitting that our last program day of the 2019 program leaves us to consider how we can continue to contribute the best of ourselves as community leaders into the future.

Brendan Donahoo, 2019 Participant

A Day on Country – Budj Bim

What better way to learn about local Indigenous culture and history than a tour of the newly crowned World Heritage listed site of Budj Bim! And all the more perfect to have Tyson Lovett-Murray as our guide and tell us HIS people’s history; the good, the bad and the ugly.

There were some fascinating facts shared with us by Tyson:
Eels have been tracked migrating as far as 3000km to New Caledonia!
There are lots of different ways to catch eels, including placing wattle foliage in eel trap water which then releases something that knocks the eels out.
Totems are given to children when they’re born, Aboriginal people don’t eat their family’s animal or their totem animal. They are responsible for looking after this species. Other mobs may eat it but they/their family don’t.
Importantly we should note how harmonious the Aboriginal people were with the environment and their sustainable farming practices.

An interesting discussion arose about the changing of those local streets named after people or families we now know were responsible for persecuting local Indigenous people. One line of thought was if we did, would we run the chance of the history being lessened or forgotten? With decisions like this the most important thing to remember is to include the local indigenous people in these conversations, so we are not making the same mistake again of assuming we know what they want or what is best for them.

This could also help in the Aboriginal people’s need for self-determination. This is starting to happen; Koori Court and the push for spent convictions in Victoria are both helping Aboriginal people move towards self-determination. Aboriginal people should be responsible for deciding what is best for their people and their communities.

The massacres, genocide, poisoning, lies and mis-truths, missions, stolen generations, lack of any human rights (just to name a few), all tell of a very ugly, and not so distant, past. We regularly hear about WW1/WW2 veterans and victims (white man’s story [absolutely no disrespect intended, just trying to make a point]) and the atrocities they lived through, but very rarely do we hear the stories about the takeover of Aboriginal lands, which are just as atrocious. And for these story telling people who relive it every time the story is told there is no closing the book and picking it up again when they’re ready, they hold this in their heads and hearts forever. We should never underestimate the pain that is relived every time they tell the stories of the takeover of their land and the removal of their human rights.

Australian Indigenous history is very confronting, but for reconciliation to occur we must continue to acknowledge the injustices that occurred. This is essential for several reasons: so this ugly history is not forgotten and history doesn’t repeat itself; and to keep pushing for self-determination for Aboriginal people. They identified this is a priority need for them and it is our role as leaders to support them to achieve this.

It is encouraging to see that racism is decreasing with each generation and can only hope that this continues to be the case with each passing generation having more respect, understanding and acceptance than the last.

After all, we’re all only human doing the best we can with what we have available to us at the time.

Amy Sylvester, 2019 Participant