community and family

First Nations Communities

East Gippsland First Nations organisations and resources and Council's Reconciliation Action Plans
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Our vision for reconciliation is a future where Traditional Custodians connection to Country is upheld in every decision we make—where cultural authority is respected, relationships are genuine and enduring, and we use our sphere of influence to support justice, healing, and shared responsibility for a thriving region. 

We also encourage organisations to Acknowledge our Traditional Custodians at meetings and events.

Our Vision for Reconciliation

East Gippsland is a place where First Nations cultures, stories and knowledge are honoured as the foundation of our shared future. We walk alongside Traditional Owners and First Nation communities in genuine partnership, guided by truth-telling, respect, and a deep commitment to self-determination.

Cultural safety is at the heart of who we are. Ourpeople listen with intention, act with humility and lead with courage. Everyservice we deliver, every space we create, and every decision we make reflectsour recognition of First Peoples’ enduring connection to Country and theirrights, voices and aspirations.

Through our Reconciliation Action Plan, we havestrengthened relationships, built trust, and created an organisation ready toengage meaningfully in Treaty. We understand our role as local government insupporting local First Nations communities in Treaty processes, aspirations andpriorities. Our journey has helped shape a more connected, compassionate andinclusive East Gippsland one where all cultures are celebrated and where wemove forward together with pride and purpose

Aboriginal Best Start
What is Aboriginal Best Start?

The Aboriginal Best Start Program works to ensure that local Aboriginal communities and organisations are given every possible opportunity to support positive outcomes for their children and families.

Best Start is a prevention and early intervention program that aims to improve the health, development, learning and wellbeing of all Victorian children from conception through to the transition to school.

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Why is Aboriginal Best Start important?

Children do best when they are connected to family and community, have caring relationships, and access to good quality early childhood education and care services. Children who have a strong start in life are more likely to enjoy better health, do well at school and have more opportunities as they grow older.

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How does Aboriginal Best Start work?

The long-term goal of Aboriginal Best Start is to increase early childhood education and maternal child health participation rates and outcomes in East Gippsland.

The facilitator's role is to consult the community and bring together local Aboriginal representatives and lead agencies to form a partnership. The partnerships role is to identify strengths, barriers and opportunities to focus on and work together to address the challenges faced by families and communities.  

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Data Dashboard

Each Best Start site has a data dashboard that members of their partnership can access. This data is primarily collected to inform improvement (rather then being collected for judgment or research purposes).

Partnerships use the dashboard data to reflect on their progress and to determine if strategies and ideas should be abandoned, adopted or adapted. This gives them a continuous feedback loop between the strategies and actions they have in place and the data reported through the dashboard.  

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Should my organisation be involved in Aboriginal Best Start?

There are many benefits of being involved with the partnership such as:

  • Aligned planning and intervention across organisations for collective impact
  • Support of Best Start resources and facilitator to help your organisation implement improvement strategies
  • Data dashboard- customisable to display local and systematic data
  • Networking and collaboration across communities and services providers.
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What's in it for my community?
  • Improved health, development, learning and wellbeing outcomes for children from conception to 8 years
  • Strengthening early childhood services and systems across East Gippsland
  • Improved early years service participation and engagement for vulnerable children and families.
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