We believe that the preservation of Victoria’s heritage is a vital link to our cultural, educational, aesthetic, inspirational and economic legacies, and recognise the importance in elevating the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations and individuals in protecting the richness of Victoria’s history and cultural heritage.
We are proud of our reconciliation work in advocacy, education, cultural engagement and custodianship. NTV continues to aspire for further reconciliation, creating more opportunities to further enrich an understanding and celebration of our shared heritage. Through working together we can more inclusively capture the diversity of Victoria’s deep history. We recognise our privileged position within the cultural heritage sphere and our responsibility in providing a platform to openly and honestly contemplate the impacts of colonisation and embrace opportunities for all Australians to understand and accept the wrongs of the past.
Our vision for reconciliation is a community that appreciates, conserves and celebrates our shared heritage, and embraces the diversity of contemporary Australia. We aspire to a more equitable society where the interpretation, presentation and management of Victoria’s cultural heritage is based on historical acceptance, truth-telling, and creating meaningful opportunities for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to shape the way we acknowledge and celebrate Victoria’s cultural past and present. We believe that it is vital to acknowledge the past, including aspects of our history which are painful and uncomfortable. In order to move forward, towards reconciliation, we must also expand our understanding of the past by acknowledging new perspectives, and recognising present injustices.
We cannot erase history, but we can tell the whole story.
