Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country
There is often some confusion about the difference between a Welcome to Country and an Acknowledgement of Country.
What is the difference between a Welcome to Country and an Acknowledgement of Country?
A Welcome to Country is a formal welcome onto Aboriginal Land given by an elder or person of that land.
An Acknowledgement of Country is a statement of recognition of the traditional owners of the land. An Acknowledgement of Country can be given by any person, Indigenous Australian or non-Indigenous.
Welcome to Country -
The Main Campus of the University of Sydney is situated on Cadigal Land (part of the Eora Nation of the Sydney Basin). There are no Cadigal peoples working in the Koori Centre so you will need to contact your local Aboriginal Land Council to organise this option. A list of contact details are available from the NSW Aboriginal Land Council: (http://www.alc.org.au/resources/LALCS/contacts/LALC_Addresses.pdf)
Acknowledgement of Country -
If you would like to request a member of the Koori Centre to open an event you will need to download and fill in a Request for Acknowledgement of Country form. Given the high volume of requests received by the Centre we are now charging a call-out fee for this service of $300. In some instances this fee may be waived, this will be considered on a case-by-case basis upon receipt of your request.
If you would like to give an Acknowledgement to Country yourself the wording is available below –
Before we begin the proceedings, I would like to acknowledge and pay respect to the traditional owners of the land on which we meet – (the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation). It is upon their ancestral lands that the University of Sydney is built.
As we share our own knowledge, teaching, learning, and research practices within this University may we also pay respect to the knowledge embedded forever within the Aboriginal Custodianship of Country.
- Request for Acknowledgement of Country form - pdf | word
- Acknowledgement of Country General Info - pdf | word
- Acknowledgement of Country wording - pdf | doc
Contact Details:
Tatum Touma
Location: Room 223, Old Teachers College
Tel: (02) 9351 4859
Toll Free: 1800 622 742
E-mail: kooriadmin@usyd.edu.au