“I have thoroughly enjoyed connecting with you from the start, and want to appreciate your agility and flexibility to create a unique session for our organisation’s needs. We walked away with a deeper understanding of honouring Country, and what it means to Acknowledge Country in an authentic way.”
Love and Acknowledge Country with Authenticity and Confidence
Bring your team or entire organisation together for an inspiring and interactive acknowledgment of country learning experience with Aboriginal Elder, Aunty Munya Andrews and experienced Ally, Carla Rogers.
In this 60-minute live webinar, you and your team will:
- Learn the difference between a Welcome to Country and an Acknowledgement of Country
- Understand the significance of Country and why these protocols matter to First Nations people
- Discover your own connection to Country (we are all family)
- Workshop your own Authentic Acknowledgement that you can deliver with confidence
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Inspire Allyship, Demonstrate Leadership, & Support Reconciliation to Make a Difference
More than just housekeeping at the start of your meetings or events, an authentic Acknowledgement of Country is a powerful and inspiring act of leadership, Allyship, and Reconciliation. Equally, it can be a daily practice in the workplace and at home, supporting your personal love for and connection to Country.
This acknowledgement of country training will:
- Support Reconciliation in your workplace
- Inspire Allyship, inclusivity, and belonging
- Increase cultural awareness throughout your organisation
- Create cultural safety for your Torres Strait Islander and Aboriginal employees
- Bring your team closer to Country and each other through respect and understanding
Designed to be fun and interactive, you’ll get insights during the acknowledgement of country training from an Aboriginal Elder and experienced Ally with plenty of time to ask any questions.
Who Are We?
Aunty Munya Andrews is an Aboriginal Elder, barrister, author and sought after speaker on topics relating to Indigenous culture, language, and Aboriginal Dreamtime.
Carla Rogers is a Churchill Fellow, award-winning learning designer, and Ally with decades of experience working with Indigenous communities and people on Country.
Together they model Allyship, wrote the highly regarded book, Practical Reconciliation and are co-Directors of Cultural Awareness Training business, Evolve Communities. They created their cultural awareness training programs to share their love of Indigenous culture and to facilitate Reconciliation and Allyship.
They are often asked how non-Indigenous people can best support Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Their advice is to start by Acknowledging Country. Why? Find out in this training.
Testimonials
What Others Say About Us
“Beyond the content itself being accessible, friendly, clear and empowering. The way you’ve used technology, really lovely videos throughout the process, makes me feel connected to you both and confident in my learning and experience. We’ve applied some of this to how we engage with our clients already!”
“Aunty Munya is very engaging and easy to listen to. The key take-away for me was to keep a check on my unconscious bias and to listen and reflect with an open mind. I would tell anyone considering this program that they will absolutely learn something new from this training!”
“Many of our staff tell us it is the best cultural competency training they have ever experienced and has transformed their approach to working with Aboriginal health organisations. I encourage others to partner with Evolve because of their strategic, thorough and holistic approach.”
“With Evolve we created a resource to support our people to be more culturally aware in delivering health and care in Australia and provide guidance on showing respect to our Traditional Owners. Working together was very much a partnership and a unique learning experience that supported our commitment to Reconciliation.”
Bring your team together to love and Acknowledge Country with Aunty Munya and Carla. All people are welcome.
Evolve Communities acknowledges the Traditional Owners and their continuing connection to land, sea and community and pay our respects to Elders, past and present. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples should be aware that this website may contain images or names of people who have since passed away.
Following is Aunty Munya and Carla’s practical guide for Acknowledging Country which you can also download here
An Acknowledgement of Country is an opportunity to show respect to Traditional Owners and recognise their continuing connection to land and Country.
A Welcome to Country can only be provided by a Traditional Owner from that Country. It is a way of welcoming visitors onto their ancestral lands.
An Acknowledgement of Country is provided by the visitor. It is a way of showing respect to the Traditional Owners and thanking them for being able to live and work on their ancestral land.
Yes. An Acknowledgement of Country is a wonderful way for non-Indigenous people to participate in Indigenous culture and to demonstrate their Allyship and respect. Indigenous people will also do an Acknowledgement of Country when they are visiting outside of their ancestral land.
Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander people have experienced a long history of being excluded; from history books, public forums, and even the constitution. When you Acknowledge Country, you recognise the Traditional Owners and show your respect for First Nations people and culture. It helps create a more welcome and inclusive space, supports Reconciliation, and is deeply appreciated by Indigenous people.
Publicly, an Acknowledgement of Country should be done at the start of any type of gathering, meeting, or event, whether in-person or online. It can also be included in your email signature and on your website.
You can also Acknowledge Country privately; in your home, while you are out walking, when you are traveling through Australia, and anytime you feel inspired.
While there is no set script to do an Acknowledgement of Country, there are a few things to remember:
- Wherever possible you should find out the names of the Traditional Owners of the local aboriginal land you are on. Learn the correct way to pronounce their name and acknowledge them specifically. If it’s not clear or is disputed, you can do a general acknowledgment of the Traditional Owners.
- Also acknowledge any Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people present.
- Pay your respects to Elders, past and present, but do not state names of the dead. Some people acknowledge emerging Elders too – this is optional.
- Be sincere in your Acknowledgment. Take a breath and speak from the heart.
- The AIATSIS Indigenous map of Australia can help you find out who the Traditional Owners are.
- Aboriginal Elder, Aunty Munya Andrews and experienced Ally, Carla Rogers provide further inspiration and advice in this Ask An Ally video:
- Acknowledgement of Country Cards: Always have the right words to hand with these wallet sized cards.
- Download our guide to Acknowledging Country.