Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should be aware that this website may contain images, voices and names of deceased persons.

Council is commited(PDF, 92KB) to listening deeply to and collaborating with First Peoples in our work. We respect the rights of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people residing in the City to pursue their own values and culture. Our Aboriginal Community Plan 'bayikulinan' (to act in the future)(PDF, 3MB) highlights the needs and priority issues of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community and organisations within Lake Macquarie City.

Lake Macquarie City Council acknowledges that Aboriginal people, in this area, the Awabakal, were the first people of this land, and are the proud survivors of more than two hundred years of continuing dispossession. Council recognises that European occupation brought massive changes to the land and its people. As a vital step towards building a just and common future, Council recognises the sense of loss and the grief held by all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people for the alienation from their traditional land, the loss of their freedom, their lives, their languages, their health and the disruption of their cultural practices. Council respects the rights of all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to pursue their own values and culture. We pay respect to knowledge holders and community members of the land and waters and pays respect to Elders past, present and future.