About Us

NIRTG works in partnership with the Sandon Point Aboriginal Tent Embassy (SPATE), the Local Aboriginal Land Council, and the Stop the Intervention Collective Sydney (STICS).

Recently the group has secured funding to employ five local people in a Caring for Country Project that involves native plant identification and dune restoration.

NIRTG has also been working with STICS and spokespeople like Richard Downs, Harry Nelson and Barbra Shaw to raise awareness about the NT Intervention.

The Convenors for this group are Roy (Dootch) Kennedy and Karen Gough

For more information please contact NSWRC.

What We've Been Up To

NAIDOC 2010 in the Northern Illawarra

The North Illawarra Reconciliation & Treaty Group (NIRTG) hosted a very successful NAIDOC Week Social Evening at the Headlands Hotel in Austinmer on Friday 9th July.
Around 100 people were entertained by the Wadi Wadi Mixed Tribe Dancers and live music from Peter James Button, Nikky Stone, Bud Walker and the Leisure Coasters.

The program for the evening included a tribute to the late Waratah (Rosemarie) Gillespie, a NIRTG member and well-known human rights activist and Sandon Point Aboriginal Tent Embassy (SPATE) supporter, who passed away on June 21st. There was a screening of Waratah’s short film “Witness to Invasion” (filmed in 2003 while she was acting as a human shield and eyewitness to the war in Iraq) for which Waratah won an award for emerging film-makers in the Sydney Peace Prize 2007.

NIRTG presented “Un-sung Heroes” Elders Awards to four people in recognition of their important roles in community leadership and/or their contribution to improving relationships between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities and for assisting the on-going reconciliation process within the northern Illawarra.

The NAIDOC 2010 Elders Awards were given to:

1)  Aboriginal male - Uncle Richard Archibald - President of Wollongong Northern Districts Aboriginal Community Group (WNDAC).

2)  Aboriginal female- Sharralyn Robinson (CEO of  the Illawarra Local Aboriginal Land Council (ILALC).

3)  Non-Aboriginal male- Bruce Reyburn

4)  Non-Aboriginal female- Jill Walker.

A raffle was run to raise money for the Kuradji Sandon Point Foundation, a community legal fund used to support cases brought by the local community against the proposed further residential development of Sandon Point.

NIRTG’s NAIDOC 2010 Event was supported by Wollongong City Council.

For more information contact:  Karen Gough (Treasurer of NIRTG).

Local Reconciliation Groups