A planned new Aboriginal Cultural Centre in Western Australia will provide "a sense of place" for Aboriginal people according to a member of the Aboriginal reference group associated with the project.
The centre, in the Perth suburb of Cockburn is expected to be operational sometime next year.
The $12.5m Aboriginal Cultural and Visitors Centre is being built by the City of Cockburn and construction is scheduled to begin within months.
Reference group member and Noongar woman Gail Beck said "everyone has got a sense of place except for Aboriginal folk and to some extent we know our Country is our sense of place but quite often we're locked out of that, generally speaking our special sites were taken and fenced off, such as waterways, or private land."
Planned for completion in 2023, the centre will include cultural education, meeting spaces, art and performance spaces, a visitors information centre and cafe.
It will be built alongside the Walliabup-Bibra Lake and its design has been inspired by the area's native Southwestern snake-necked turtle.
Ms Beck said the steady increase in the number of Aboriginal cultural centres across WA over the past decade is reflective of changes in society and how communities are working through a new period.
"Post the reconciliation decade we have actually grown to have a voice and now it is strengthening even more because we have a voice and now we are going to have a sense of place," she said.
Among the centres that now exist in WA are the Walyalup Aboriginal Cultural Centre in Fremantle, the Bilya Koort Boodja Centre for Nyoongar Culture and Environmental Knowledge in Northam and the recently opened Mowanjum Aboriginal Art and Cultural Centre in Derby.
"Our culture and language didn't die, it was sleeping, so it's an awakening," Ms Beck said
"It's an opportunity now to be front and centre because we weren't allowed to be before."
She was part of a group who started pushing for an Aboriginal cultural centre in Cockburn about two decades ago.
"I'm just very sad that a lot of them that came on this journey initially are no longer with us but we do have a plan to recognise them," she said.
The Cockburn centre is expected to provide employment and small business opportunities for Aboriginal people through the creation of dedicated Aboriginal positions.
Ms Beck pointed out that while acknowledgement of country and other formalities would be done in Noongar the centre itself would be inclusive for all Aboriginal people.
"This is not about Native Title, this is about having a space that we feel safe in and also share other cultures in there as well. Because our population not only in Cockburn but other local shires nearby we have all sorts of mob and we want them to feel comfortable about coming down as well," she said.
"We need people to recognise our diversity in regard to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, we're diverse but the one glue that holds us is the 129 Acts that were imposed upon us."
The City of Cockburn estimates the centre will welcome about 20,000 visitors a year.
Ms Beck said while there was potential to attract a tourism market to the centre, that was not the main focus of the centre.
"We haven't put all our eggs in the tourist basket," she said.
Ms Beck said there was huge potential for schools and community groups to get involved at the centre.
"It's a great time to celebrate, not only for First Nations people but also for the other people, it's time we celebrate our First Nations people and cultures."
City of Cockburn Head of Community Development and Services, Karoline Jamieson said a working party had been formed to continue providing cultural advice as the project progressed.
It is expected to be backed by a variety of funding sources.
By Aleisha Orr
