This month we spotlight one of our consultants from our Adult Learning team, Ros Molyneux.
Could you please introduce yourself?
“Hi, my name is Ros Molyneux, and I am a Consultant with Gowrie, based in Geelong.”
What do you love about being a consultant for professional learning at Gowrie?
“I love being able to travel round Victoria, particularly visiting regional and rural services. I enjoy connecting with Early Childhood colleagues and supporting them to improve practice.”
Can you tell us about your feature on ABC iView’s ‘Restoration Australia’ and how that came about?
“My husband and 3 sons are Gunditjmara men, Traditional Owners from South West Victoria at Lake Condah (or Tae Rak) near Heywood. We currently live in Geelong but have maintained a strong connection to this area.
In 2023, We were fortunate to purchase an old church in Breakaway Creek, just a few kilometres away from the Lake Condah mission. This is where Craig’s Grandfather and extended family lived, with the Mission and the Gunditjmara people being under the control of the church. The stone Country around Tae Rak was traditionally used as a place for harvesting eels, with woven traps placed in between the volcanic stones to trap and catch the eels.”
What did you want to achieve with your renovation of the old church?
“Our intent was a family project where we could renovate the old church into a weekender and provide a place for future generations of our family to stay connected to their Country. We became involved with Restoration Australia as a good opportunity to tell the story of the re-creating of this space through an Indigenous lens. We reimagined parts of the church such as the stained-glass window featuring local birds and animals. This included an eel, and the black and white cockatoos which are totemic to the Gunditjmara people. I was fortunate to receive weaving instruction form Aunty Eileen, a Gunditjmara Elder, using the traditional grass (poonyart) from which I created a large light fitting inspired by the eel nets. I am also growing these grasses at the church for future weaving projects. These are among many local native species we have reintroduced to the church grounds as part of the restoration of Country.”
Can you talk more about your connection to First Nations culture and how that influenced your renovation project?
“Working together as a family has strengthened our connection to place and through local truth-telling allowed reclamation of a dark part of Australia’s colonial history.”
You can watch Ros and her family’s story on Restoration Australia, ABC TV, June 11, 8pm (Season 8, episode 4), or on ABC iVew.
