HomepageLCSDP Objectives and Activities
3. To restore the Lake Condah Mission Church site and provide active reconciliation for the far southwest Victorian community.
Achievements
The church site tells a crucial story between Aboriginal and European heritage and society in the far southwest of Victoria and is reflective of the Australian story.
The church was constructed not long after the mission was established in the 1860s. While the church and European religion played their part in subjugating Aboriginal people, society and culture, the Aboriginal people formed a relationship with the church that is still evident today.
The introduction of the Victorian Half-caste Act in 1886 removed Aboriginal people with a mixed heritage from the mission. The affect of the discriminatory Act was to tear families apart causing heartache and a sorry legacy. Some families were even transported to other missions and reserves in Victoria including Lake Tyers Aboriginal Mission and Correnderk Mission.
An additional affect of the removal of Aboriginal people from the mission was to decrease the labour that was required to ensure the mission’s viability as a self-sufficient community.
Following the first World War, the mission was officially closed. Following World War II a large portion of the lands divided up for the Returned Solider Settlement Program.
Aboriginal families continued to live on the mission land as the church was still congregating up until 1957 by the Aboriginal and broader communities.
In the few years leading up to 1957, the church’s steeple developed a large crack in the steeple and government authorities ordered the church’s demolition. 1957 was the same year that the Victorian Government abolished the Aborigines’ Protectorate Board.
Current Activities
Restoring the Lake Condah Church site is central to the themes of reconciliation and healing that underlie the broader aims and values of the LCSDP.
The original church bell was purchased by the Glenelg Shire and returned to the community in February 2003.
The LCSDP prioritized the restoration of the Lake Condah Mission Church site in late 2004.
The LCSDP has chartered a Working Group to address reconciliation issues and also the restoration of the Lake Condah Aboriginal Mission Church site.
Over the past few years, the Working Group has endeavoured to identify an appropriate restoration of the church site. A variety of options have been developed and continued to be discussed.
The Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners organisation is currently assessing the future use of the mission site which will address the restoration of the church site.
Landscape planning for the cemetery is currently being conducted.
In November 2008, the Commonwealth Government vested the titles for the mission site and cemetery to the Gunditj Mirring organisation. Timbercorp Ltd also returned the strip of land between the mission and cemetery.