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Youth lead Campaspe’s 2026 Reconciliation Walk

By Jemma Jones

Jun 1, 2026

Hundreds of students and community members took to Hare St on Friday, May 29 for the annual community Walk for Reconciliation in Echuca. Photo by JORDAN TOWNROW

Youth from across the Campaspe Shire lead this year’s community Walk for Reconciliation in Echuca on Friday, May 29, showcasing this year’s Reconciliation Week theme, ‘All in’.

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At 10am, hundreds of students and community members came together in front of Njernda Corporation on Hare St for a traditional smoking ceremony led by Uncle Rick Ronnan, with sounds of Narjiic Day-Burns’ didgeridoo filling the morning air.

The walk began shortly after, where a steady stream of students from schools across the shire walked with flags, handmade banners and signs along Hare St towards the Aquatic Reserve.

Community members walk down the Hare St shopping strip. Photo by JORDAN TOWNROW

At one point, the procession stretched the entire length of the Hare St shopping strip, drawing smiles from onlookers as children chanted “rec-on-cili-a-tion”.

After the 10-minute walk, student representatives took the stage at the Aquatic Reserve to introduce the morning’s speakers: Echuca College principal Jessica Sargeant, Njernda Corporation chief executive John Mitchell and Campaspe Shire Mayor Daniel Mackrell.

Each speaker praised the dedication of student leaders who made the day such a remarkable success, highlighting how vital it was for young people to carry forward the important traditions established by previous generations.

Narjiic Day-Burns played the digeridoo during the smoking ceremony. Photo by JORDAN TOWNROW

Mr Mitchell spoke about the role of reconciliation, and what being ‘All in’ looked like.

“Reconciliation has never been the work of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people alone … how we partner, how we make decisions, how we show up in community, that’s shared work,” he said.

“I want to acknowledge … the strength, generosity and the patience of First Nation people who continue to lead the conversation, often while carrying the cost of it.

“We’re all better because of the leadership, and we owe more than gratitude — we owe it in action.

Student Bronsae Johnson spoke at the Community Walk for Reconciliation at the Echuca Aquatic Reserve. Photo by JORDAN TOWNROW

Njernda chief executive John Mitchell spoke about how small acts and showing up could make all the difference in the world. Photo by JORDAN TOWNROW

“Being ‘All in’ is not the slogan that we wear for one week … It looks like uncomfortable conversation.

“It looks like changing the process, even when the old one was easier. It looks like asking whose voices are missing from the room, and then doing something about it.”

He then issued a challenge to the crowd and the broader community: actively listen to and learn from First Nations stories, then turn that understanding into meaningful small acts of reconciliation.

“Small acts, multiplied across a workforce, become culture. ‘All in’ — that’s what is asked of us, and that’s what I’m committing to, alongside all of you today,” he said.

Bringing the formal proceedings to a joyful close, Echuca College’s talented band took to the stage, performing the iconic songs Solid Rock by Goanna, Beds Are Burning by Midnight Oil, and From Little Things Big Things Grow by Paul Kelly, as young students danced with infectious enthusiasm.