The yarning circle was conducted on Bunurong, Boon Wurrung Country and attended by the likes of VIS CEO, Nicole Livingstone OAM, Olympic gold medallist and World Champion cyclist, Grace Brown OAM, Alister Thorpe, elected member of the First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria and Ricky Baldwin, CEO & Founder of Koorie Academy Basketball.
The yarning circle was an intimate, open and free-flowing discussion about reconciliation and how the theme of ‘Bridging Now to Next’ resonates with the people in the circle and the roles they play in their communities.
The theme calls on all of us to learn from the past, take action in the present, and build a more inclusive future.
Ricky Baldwin, proud Gunai Kunai man from Lake Tyers Mission (Bung Yarnda) said that the morning felt like the start of the VIS’ journey, coming together with community members to learn and better understand the obstacles and barriers that First Nations children face.
“When we walk together and learn together, we’re going to have some very good outcomes,” Baldwin said.
“Hopefully you see within the next, you know, five to ten years, the next Cathy Freeman and the next Kyle Vander-Kuyp, because that’s what I’m all about. I want our young ones representing Australia at the Olympics long term.”
Baldwin kindly gifted the VIS a handmade wooden coolamon, an Australian Aboriginal carrying vessel. The gift symbolised putting our thoughts and actions into the vessel and carrying it forward - carrying our commitment to reconciliation from now to next.
Eight-time Paralympian and Flagbearer at the 2020 Tokyo Paralympics, Danni Di Toro said that it was a privilege to be in the yarning circle surrounded by people who are making great change and providing incredible resources and learnings.
“I’m mindful that I’m in a great position of privilege as a person with disability but also in the Paralympics Athlete Commission and now the VIS Athlete Advisory. I think we’ve got great opportunities to start carving out areas for our First Nations athletes to be able to sit on those committees and commissions, so that we’re bringing forth the voices of our athletes,” Di Toro said.
“Certainly, any First Nations person with a disability has the extra layers of barriers in front of them, so however we can provide opportunities that make it better for them and the next generation coming through is the most important thing.”
As an elected member for the Metropolitan region for the First Persons’ Assembly for Victoria, Alister Thorpe, proud Gunai, Yorta Yorta, Gunditjmara and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung nations man is passionate about increasing participation in sport among First Nations communities.
“Sport is one of the things that we really want to have more access to,” Thorpe said.
“We have a lot of kids that participate in different sports but they might not have the same knowledge of what kind of pathways there are, or how to get to a higher level. This is opening up that opportunity on how to connect those communities into these elite institutions.”
“The Treaty space is an opportunity on how to broach this. But we have to start with how we reconcile, and Reconciliation Week is a really important process in this country,” he said.
Reconciliation is about walking together, creating equal opportunities and closing gaps.
The yarning circle provided an opportunity to connect First Nations perspectives to sport and the VIS and help the high-performance community on our journey of reconciliation.
The event was hosted by the VIS Our Connection to Country Officer and proud Wadawurrung man, Jamie McPherson.
“The respect that we show each other in the yarning circle is that everyone has a voice and everyone listens with intent, not to respond. This is an important thing to take away and implement into our organisation and daily lives,” McPherson said.
“For our first yarning circle, it’s great to see that we’ve had some tangible outcomes with connections between our First Nations and Allies in other organisations who will continue the yarning together past Reconciliation Week.”
“At the VIS, we have an open heart and open ears. It’s very encouraging as the Connection to Country Officer, to come in everyday and know that any ideas or thoughts that I want to initiate are going to be listened to, actioned and supported.”
McPherson’s appointment at the VIS earlier this year is part of the HP2032+ High Performance Sport Strategy partnering with the Australian Sports Commission to foster a culturally-safe, connected and inclusive high-performance sport environment in Victoria.
Thank you to all who joined the VIS yarning circle:
- Jamie McPherson - Proud Wadawurrung man, VIS Our Connection to Country Officer
- Nicole Livingstone OAM - VIS CEO
- Rebekah Webster - VIS Director High Performance
- Alice Neill - VIS Executive & Projects Officer
- Vanessa Bof - VIS Endurance Cycling Coach
- Grace Brown OAM – VIS athlete alumni, Olympic gold medallist and World Champion (cycling)
- Jeremy Synot - VIS Wheelchair Basketball coach
- Danni Di Toro – VIS athlete and eight-time Paralympian and Tokyo 2020 Paralympics flagbearer (Para-table tennis)
- Rhydian Cowley – VIS athlete and Paris 2024 Bronze medallist (Athletics, racewalking)
- Laura Hingston - VIS athlete and Australian diver
- Emily Hamilton Smith - VIS athlete alumni and Performance Coordinator
- Alister Thorpe - Proud Gunai, Yorta Yorta, Gunditjmara and Wurundjeri Woi Wurrung nations man, elected member of the First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria
- Ricky Baldwin - Proud Gunai Kunai man from Lake Tyers Mission (Bung Yarnda), CEO & Founder of Koorie Academy Basketball
- Matthew Simpson - National Participation Manager representing Swimming Australia
- Alison McColl – Proud Yorta Yorta, Boon Wurrung, Barapa Barapa and Wamba Wamba woman, Director, Academy of Sport, Health and Education, The University of Melbourne
- Tanya Hosch - Proud Indigenous women, Executive General Manager Inclusion & Social Policy AFL AND Director of the Goodes O'Loughlin Foundation
- Chris Brophy – Athletics Australia’s General Manager Finance
