Hundreds of TAFE NSW staff from across western NSW, including Mudgee, gathered on Tuesday to celebrate National Reconciliation Week.
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TAFE staff united simultaneously across a video feed to speak about reconciliation and share stories, before holding a barbecue lunch at each of the 20 locations.
The event acknowledged the important occasion and to celebrate TAFE’s commitment to improving educational and employment opportunities for Aboriginal people.
National Reconciliation Week runs from May 27 to June 3 this year, and commemorates two important milestones – the 50th anniversary of the successful 1967 Aboriginal citizenship referendum, and the 25th anniversary of the High Court Mabo decision.
Mudgee College team leader Samantha Cosgrove was pleased that the celebration of Reconciliation Week went so smoothly, and had so many campuses involved.
“We got together and it’s for our staff and students, and while it was a bit ‘low-key’ here in Mudgee we had a lot of people tune in, including places like Coonabarabran and other colleges,” she said.
“With this technology linking up with all the other colleges is great, and getting input from so many people makes it quite good.”
The video feed and meeting is part of a wider movement by TAFE NSW.
“As an organisation, TAFE NSW continues to take giant strides both internally and externally in terms of reconciliation,” TAFE NSW Director of Aboriginal Education and Equity Provision Rod Towney said.
“It was an opportunity to get Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal staff together to acknowledge the significant work that has already been done, but more importantly to focus on what needs to improve for reconciliation moving forward.”
NAIDOC Week will be next on the schedule for the Mudgee community and the TAFE, and the Mudgee staff are looking forward to that at the beginning of next semester.