Summary of the Annual Report of Sutherland Shire Reconciliation Inc

2022

The 2022 Annual General Meeting in April was our first as an incorporated organisation. We made some minor updates to our constitution. The Public Officer for the SSR Inc is Toni Downes, currently Treasurer of the association. In March we opened two new bank accounts, a transaction account that will enable us to make payments by direct debit and/or cheque, and a savings account that would attract interest. Over the year we redirected funds from our old Cheque account into these two accounts.

At the AGM the following officer bearers were elected for the year.

Chair: Graham Avery

Deputy Chair: Shalah Johnson

Secretary: Jan Moffatt

Treasurer: Toni Downes

Committee: Elizabeth O’Neil, Catherine Lee, Mary Jacobs, Karen Armstrong & three new Committee members - Linda Augusto, Wilma Stevens, and Dana Scully.

Committee meetings were held in February, July, October and November. A number of members and interested local people attended the Committee Meetings. Importantly, the Executive and Committee spent several months workshopping and drafting a Code of Conduct for the Committee to provide a respectful framework for all our interactions and activities.

Overall, we had a successful year, membership and finance wise. SSR had 72 paid-up members in 2022 including 11 organisations. This was a significant increase on 2021, (42 and 7 respectively). We started the year with $7760.32 and $127 in petty cash and ended the year with $19884.01 in our Bank Account, $127 in petty cash. About $9000 is a committed expense to a 2022 project. We have 140 unsold copies of the Les Bursill Biography in our inventory.

The successful School Pack Project, originated in 2020 by Aunty Dolly, was completed with the last of the Packs delivered to schools in the early months of the year. In the end about 300 packs were distributed to children/families in Government and Catholic Primary Schools in the Sutherland Shire. The success of this project led to the development of a Stage 2 project where the Picture Dictionary would be distributed to all children in Primary Schools. ANSTO donated $10,000 to the project and by the end of the year we had engaged a printer and were finalising the artwork.

On Sorry Day, in May, we held a deeply moving dawn service in memory of the Stolen Generations. A number of very successful Yarning Circles were held across the year. Highlights included Bush Tucker Plants, Walks on Country, discussions with Aunty Ali, and the number of community members and school leaders who attended various events. We sincerely thank Aunty Dolly for your continuing contribution to the success of these events.

This year, the Christmas Picnic had a theme: Rainbow Serpent. It was a huge success and a fitting community event with all the wonderful bright colours, activities and goods on sale. It was held on Sunday 4th December at Burnum Burnum Sanctuary, adjacent to the Woronora River, about 100 families and individuals gathered to share a sausage sizzle picnic and enjoy a range of entertainment and workshops. A special thanks to all the Donors, and to the volunteers who organised and ran this activity so successfully.