THE Acton Peninsula will house a revamped version of Ngurra, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural precinct that stalled after being announced by the Morrison government in 2022.
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The Canberra Times can reveal Indigenous Australians Minister Linda Burney will deliver the precinct at the site of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies, after consultation with traditional owners in the region.
"Ngurra will be a place where Australians - including us - students, and international visitors can learn, experience and engage with over 65,000 years of culture, tradition, and story," Ms Burney will say in a speech to the AITSIS Summit in Melbourne.
Ngurra is an Indigenous word that appears in many different Aboriginal languages around Australia and means "home", "country" or "place of belonging".
While the original plan announced by Ms Burney's Coalition predecessor Ken Wyatt would have relocated the AITSIS to the Parliamentary Triangle, it will remain in Acton and be upgraded and expanded to include a National Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Centre.
The project is funded with $316 million allocated in the 2022 federal budget.
A National Resting Place to house and care for First Nations ancestral remains without provenance "and those waiting to return to country" will be built as part of the new Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural precinct.
"This will be bricks-and-mortar truth telling," Ms Burney said. "A place where our history can be recognised and celebrated."
![Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney. Picture by Gary Ramage Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney. Picture by Gary Ramage](/images/transform/v1/crop/frm/234480217/e5569e7f-6418-43a5-989a-9137869a2070.jpg/r0_0_5764_3843_w1200_h678_fmax.jpg)
Ms Burney will also use her speech to acknowledge those disappointed over the outcome of the referendum last year, when Australians voted against an Indigenous Voice to Parliament.
"I understand that the referendum outcome last year has left many people hurt, including myself," she will say.
"That some are questioning the very future of reconciliation. But I have also been around for a while ... More often than not, change happens slowly."
She said the advancement of Aboriginal justice and rights movements "is one of both progress and setbacks" and that more First Nations peoples were needed "at the cabinet table, at the boardroom table, in business, running not-for-profits ... In the places where decisions are made."
"So, I say, do not give up hope," Ms Burney will say.
Ancestors to be 'cared for with dignity and respect'
AIATSIS chief executive Leonard Hill said the National Resting Place "will be a private and quiet place, where ancestors will be cared for with dignity and respect, and according to cultural protocols - the realisation of a long-held aspiration of First Nations communities".
AIATSIS is located adjacent to the National Museum of Australia on Acton Peninsula.
The need for a National Resting Place stems from the past collection and removal of remains over a period of at least 200 years, from first contact until the early 1970s.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have advocated over decades for such a place, which was recommended by the Advisory Committee for Indigenous Repatriation in 2014.
AIATSIS chair Jodie Sizer said the National Indigenous Knowledge and Cultural Centre would ensure that "modern, fit-for-purpose and world-class facilities are developed to protect and share our collections".
"As we celebrate a significant milestone this year - our 60th anniversary, we reflect on how far we have come and the opportunities the establishment of Ngurra will unlock for future generations and for all Australians," she said.
Former government's plan stalled after elders raised concerns
In January 2022, shortly after then Indigenous Australians minister Ken Wyatt's announced his Ngurra plan, some of Canberra's Aboriginal elders said they had not been consulted.
Dr Matilda House-Williams, a Ngambri and Ngunnawal elder said at the time the "respectful and honourable way to go about doing this" would be to "talk to proper elders".
Her son Paul House described a 2022 media release announcing Ngurra "offensive" because it did not recognise the Ngambri people.
Ms Burney said her revamped plan followed talks with the traditional owners in the Canberra region.
"My hope is that this new site will allow First Nations people from across the Canberra region, and around Australia, to feel at home."