Yarning Circle

Curtin University would like to pay our respect to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members of our community by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which the Bentley Campus is located, the Wadjuk people of the Nyungar Nation; and on our Kalgoorlie Campus, the Wongutha people of the North-Eastern Goldfields.

The Yarning Circle provides an outdoor venue for On Country & Integrated Learning experiences for students, staff and visitors to the Perth Campus, while linking to the transformational learning and education of Noongar Culture seen at Nowanup Bush Campus.

Consisting of a 6-tonne canopy made of a thatch-work of re-bar and rammed earth seating, the Yarning Circle is surrounded by thousands of native plants including banksias, flame peas, kangaroo paws and woolly bushes.

In addition to delivering on Curtin’s Interim Elevate Reconciliation Action Plan, the Yarning Circle supports both the university’s Black Cockatoo Action Plan through the revegetation of surrounding lands and the Curtin Living Knowledge Stream, along with being a major contributor in Curtin’s 6 Star Green Star – Communities recertification under the Culture and Heritage category.

Since its completion in August 2020, the Yarning Circle has hosted:

• The National Indigenous Business Summer School WA 2021 program
• Wanju Curtin Mia (Welcome to Curtin) events
• On Country, On Campus events
• Classes for VISA1016 – Creative Arts Practice
• Seminars for INDS5005 On-Country Learning, Exploring Indigenous Australian Knowledges
• Seminars for CHRE502 – Human Rights History Across Cultures and Religions
• Welcome to Country events
• Cultural Awareness events for Faculty and staff

To further Curtin’s commitment to reconciliation and connection to country, the below actions will be undertaken in the coming years:

• Delivery of Curtin’s Interim Elevate Reconciliation Action Plan 2020 – 2022
• Delivery of the Living Stream, including installations as part of the Exchange precinct
• Continued planting of native endemic species, to aid in the rehabilitation of the campus to its original state pre-colonisation