A local Indigenous man said seeing so many young faces at Lismore's NAIDOC Day celebrations gave hope for the future of reconciliation.
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Malcolm Saunderson is a Lismore council employee who has worked on the council's new Reconciliation Action Plan and said days like this offered a chance to plant the seed of change early.
"If we can spark the change in young brains early... I'm hoping it's going to nut out a lot of racism, its going to cement a pathway to reconciliation," Malcolm said.
Implementing cultural awareness training in organisations like the council was another important way racism could be overcome he said - for everyone from the employees to the managers - "because no one's better than anyone else".
"It's a document for council so the community can hold us accountable. Before council could approach reconciliation, we had to look in our own backyard within council first - it's a very good step in the right direction."
He said there's been a big cultural shift in the past few years and the new reconciliation policy was a step in the right direction.
Lismore City Council mayor Steve Krieg announced the new reconciliation policy for the council during the celebrations, and said it would make the organisation a more inclusive workplace.
"It's an internal document about how Lismore City Council can be a more inclusive employer. It's about including everyone and accepting everyone," Cr Krieg said.
