From Assistant Principals
27 March By Andrew Robertson, Assistant Principal - Student Wellbeing
Wednesday the 28th of March signified a significant when the Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander flag were flown on the College Ground for the first time.
Below is an excerpt from my speech delivered to the Damascus College community.
‘This flag-raising ceremony, although recently arranged, has been very long in the making. At least 55 years when St Martin’s in the Pines opened on this site that we now know as Damascus College
But really, so very much longer.
Damascus College stands on land that was nurtured and cared for by the Wadawurrung people of the Kulin Nation across many millennia. It is not hard to imagine the hurt and chaos caused when Europeans arrived.
As a community, we have struggled to find the ways to overcome it and to begin to heal generation harm
Today, on behalf of the Damascus College Community, we are here attempting to take just one of the many steps needed on that pathway. It is a symbolic step, but an important one. The raising of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flag is our community’s visible commitment to reconciliation. Borne out of the Damascus College Reconciliation Action Plan the flag acknowledges our welcoming community committed to reconciliation and further actions as indicated in the plan.
From today, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flag will be flown on a permanent basis. They will sit side by side with the Australian national flag on these flagpoles, newly installed for this purpose.
It is a clear visual statement that Aboriginal and Torres St Islanders are indeed valued, respected and at the heart of who we are as a Damascus Community.
We recognise that a flag is just one gesture. And that there is so much more hurt to be undone than any one of us alone can undo, or that any one symbolic gesture can repair.
But when I look at the faces of our Indigenous Community today from today – your children…. our children – I know that these symbols matters.
As these new flags fly in the breeze, they will welcome every visitor to this important site.
They will give instant recognition to the history of the land and the importance of country’.
Following this address the flags were passed over to the Indigenous Members of our RAP Committee, paraded through the students body, exposed to a smoking ceremony and, guided by our Flag Marshal raised for the first time.
Congratulations to all members of the RAP Committee, including past Assistant Principal of Catholic Culture, who were all able to provide wonderful context on the flying of these flags.