The Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation (DJAARA) and the City of Greater Bendigo have signed a new partnership agreement that is the first of its kind in Australia.
The 12-month Local Area Agreement, Yilingga Marna (shake hands), builds on DJAARA's Recognition and Settlement Agreement with the State of Victoria.
Under the agreement, DJAARA's board and City councillors will meet regularly in discussions of important issues that will make a difference in the daily lives of Dja Dja Wurrung people.
The agreement includes the creation of a new role, Partnership Builder, to facilitate its implementations and maximise opportunities that come from it.
DJAARA chief executive Rodney Carter described the agreement as a "turbocharge" to the relationship with the City, which takes "agreement-making between our organisations to a new level".
"The agreement recognises the unique status and rights of Dja Dja Wurrung People as Traditional Owners and acknowledges the past, when our People were forcibly removed from their homelands and Country was turned upside down in the frenzied grab for gold and grazing land," he said.
Mr Carter said the agreement will improve outcomes for both the Dja Dja Wurrung people and the City.
"It will streamline procedures, which will enable the City to continue delivering benefits for the community, while supporting the healing of Dja Dja Wurrung Country and Dja Dja Wurrung People," he said.
"We congratulate the City of Greater Bendigo on its commitment and leadership in developing this initiative."
The chief executive said the agreement would lift the relationship "out of the 19th century and to something that is respectable in the 21st century".
The 12-month agreement allows for renegotiation as needed.
Mr Carter said he hoped the new partnership model could be replicated in other jurisdictions and described Yilingga Marna as "a milestone agreement in peace making".
City of Bendigo chief executive Craig Niemann said he was proud of the agreement.
"As we continue to invest in this relationship, we learn more about the priorities of each organisation and, in turn, are supporting each other to deliver great outcomes," he said.
"(The) agreement could be a model for local government across Australia to support reconciliation with, and self-determination of, Traditional Owners.
"The agreement also delivers on a number of commitments in the City's Barpangu Reconciliation Plan to help Dja Dja Wurrung people deliver on their priorities to heal Country."
At the agreement signing ceremony DJAARA board chair Trent Nelson said the agreement "has come about through negotiation over several years in the spirit of goodwill and a mutually beneficial outcome".
"Significantly, it's the first agreement of its kind in Australia," he said.
"It provides a clear and very tangible path for us all to move forward in the process of reconciliation and towards self-determination for Dja Dja Wurrung People.
"Our two organisations are committed to working towards a Treaty-like agreement. We recognise the step that the City of Greater Bendigo is taking today. It's a significant step for reconciliation, and a recognition of the healing power of partnership."
