Council & Business
17 June, 2025
Council wins LGPro award
The ‘Truth Telling, Healing and Creating for Community on Djaara Country’ project has been awarded the 2025 LGPro Award for Excellence in the First Nations Community Partnership category.
The Central Goldfields Shire Council and Djaara partnership took the prize out from other very worthy nominees, including Greater Bendigo City Council and Ballarat City Council at an awards ceremony in Melbourne on Thursday, June 5.
The award acknowledges the significant partnership between Central Goldfields Shire Council and Djaara for their collaborative work on the Indigenous Interpretive Garden garingalang gatjin wii at the Central Goldfields Art Gallery and the Welcome Stranger Digital Animation at the Central Goldfields Visitor Centre.
Central Goldfields Shire mayor Grace La Vella said she was feeling extremely proud.
“It’s an honour for council to be acknowledged as an award winner in the Victorian local government’s premier awards,” she said.
“This award comes as the finale to National Reconciliation Week and recognises the strong partnership that has been built over the past three years between council and Djaara.
We are very proud to work closely with our First Nations partners and delighted to share with the community and visitors such valuable cultural assets as a result of these collaborative projects. The award just tops it off.”
The Welcome Stranger digital animation film has been recognised as an outstanding example of truth telling, revealing the devastation to country as a result of the gold rush, while also sharing the famous story of the discovery of the Welcome Stranger gold nugget in our shire. The Indigenous interpretive garden garingalang gatjin wii brings a healing presence to the middle of town, right opposite the newly redeveloped Maryborough Hospital.
The Welcome Stranger digital animation film is automatically activated when entering the theatrette in the historic Maryborough Railway Station.
The film follows the discovery of gold in the region, the economic boom to follow and the impact it had on the lives of the Dja Dja Wurrung people, the traditional owners of the area.
The film also shares the positive message of how the people in Central Goldfields are working together with the Traditional Owners of the Dja Dja Wurrung to restore country and to recognise and celebrate the value of Djaara culture and knowledge.
Designed by Dja Dja Wurrung Elders and artists, garingalang gatjin wii is a public garden space next to the Central Goldfields Art Gallery welcoming the whole community to understand and celebrate Dja Dja Wurrung culture.
The garden and animation were jointly funded developments in partnership with Central Goldfields Shire Council and the Victorian Government over the past two years.