Wadawurrung Traditional Ceremony Booking Request Form

A Welcome to Country is a traditional custom observed by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. The purpose of a Welcome to Country is to Welcome people onto the Country where an event or gathering is taking place. Traditionally this would be an opportunity to teach newcomers of any rules or expectations of the Traditional Owners.

When organising a Welcome to Country, please note that it should always occur at the beginning of the event or formal gathering.

A Welcome to Country must be conducted by the Traditional Owners of the land on which you are gathered. Wadawurrung Elders present at or conducting ceremonies at more formal events should be treated as dignitaries. A Welcome to Country should never be recorded, although rare exceptions may be granted through prior negotiation and written agreement.

A Welcome to Country can be held with or without an accompanying Smoking Ceremony*, Traditional Dance and/or Didgeridoo performance. While the Didgeridoo is not a traditional instrument on Wadawurrung Country, we recognise its importance to many First Nations people. We offer Digeridoo performances as an accompanying service to our Welcome to Country ceremonies and you can book a Digeridoo performance through this form.

An Acknowledgement of Country is a statement of recognition of the Traditional Owners of the land. An Acknowledgement of Country can be given by any person Indigenous or non-Indigenous.

Please note: All booking requests must be received with a minimum of 4 weeks’ notice. Requests received with less notice than this may not be accepted.

 

*If hosting a Smoking Ceremony, please contact the CFA two days before an event and make sure smoke alarms are deactivated.

Please note:

1. An URGENT request (less than 48 hours' notice) will incur a $500 fee. Please select this option below. 
2. There will be a surcharge for ceremonies outside of normal hours: Normal hours are defined as 8:00am – 5:30pm, Monday – Friday. For morning bookings, this includes requested arrival time from 8:00am onwards. For afternoon bookings this includes commencement time of 5:30pm at the latest.
   Out of hours is defined as anything outside of these hours, as well as Aboriginal calendar days/weeks of significance and public holidays.
3. All Aboriginal communities are eligible for a discounted rate.

• All prices listed are exclusive of GST.
• Invoices must be paid within 14 days of issue or at least 3 days prior to the ceremony (whichever comes first). For credit customers, invoices must be paid no later than 14 days after the ceremony.
• Payment can be received by credit card, bank transfer or purchase order, subject to establishing a credit account.
• Customers requiring a credit account must apply using a Customer Credit
• Application for trade form (available on the last page of this booking form to download). Signed and completed forms must be sent to accounts.bookings@wadawurrung.org.au.

*All prices quoted exclude GST

Bookings

1. Bookings are not accepted until confirmed in writing from the Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation (WTOAC) office.
2. All booking requests must be received with a minimum of 4 weeks notice.
3. Any booking for Traditional Dance must be completed with a minimum 30 days’ notice.
4. Requests received with less notice than above may not be accepted.
5. Urgent bookings with less than 48 hours’ notice (received during business hours) are subject to an additional $500 urgent request fee.
6. All calendar bookings are to be created and managed by the WTOAC office; any bookings sent directly to any WTOAC Outlook calendar will be declined. 
7. Prices listed should be considered an official quote for services.
8. Actual Purchase Orders must be provided as soon as possible and at least 7 days prior to the event date by emailing bookings@wadawurrung.org.au. 
9. Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation acknowledges that not all groups have equal access to resources.
10. Please contact us if you feel your group may need our services but you cannot afford the current pricing. We will do our best to accommodate groups such as schools with a high number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students or volunteer / grassroots organisations.

Housekeeping

1. Please organise parking arrangements for your visiting Wadawurrung representative conducting the ceremony.
2. Please warmly greet, welcome and orientate the Wadawurrung representative and any other First Nations people attending your event, as you would any special guests.
3. If there are Elders present, please ensure they are cared for and respected as you would other dignitaries - make sure they are comfortable, offer them a seat and a cup of tea.
4. First Nations people and especially Elders attending an event should always be seated at the front, as a sign of respect. Provide a comfortable space such as a green room if required.
5. Make sure your Wadawurrung representative is given high level information about your event in advance of the event, so they understand the context and audience. This may take the form of an agenda, event order and/or running sheet.
6. The attendance of visiting dignitaries or the media must be advised at the time of booking. WTOAC reserves the right to cancel the event and charge the applicable fee if media or dignitaries have been organised to attend without prior agreement.
7. Once we have agreed to the presence of dignitaries at your event, please give the Wadawurrung representative the list of names (including any formal titles or salutations) so we can formally acknowledge and/or welcome dignitaries as required.
8. If a microphone is being used, please provide a microphone stand. Some Wadawurrung representatives may use clap sticks as part of their ceremony and can’t hold a microphone at the same time.
9. The Welcome to Country should always occur at the very start of proceedings.
10. After the Welcome to Country it is best practice for the next speaker to thank the Wadawurrung representative for their Welcome and conduct an ‘Acknowledgement of Country’. An Acknowledgement of Country is a statement of appreciation and recognition of the Traditional Owners of the land. An Acknowledgement of Country can be given by any person Indigenous or non-Indigenous. Contact us in advance if you need further support or advice about this.
11. If you have booked a Smoking Ceremony please ensure smoke alarms are deactivated and that you have contacted your local Fire Brigade office if you feel the ceremony may result in the fire brigade being notified.
12. Prior to filming, photographing or recording please read the ‘Media Policy’.

Media policy

1. Ceremonies should not be filmed, recorded, streamed or broadcast except by special exception and with written agreement with WTOAC prior to the session. 
2. Prior to your event, please ensure that you negotiate and get confirmation in writing from WTOAC permission to film, record, stream or broadcast. This may attract a fee depending upon the scale of the audience.
3. Written permission should also be negotiated if you intend to photograph an event for print, publication or social media.
4. Individual Wadawurrung representatives have individual preferences about being photographed, so the response to this may vary depending upon the person. Please ask and negotiate in advance and ask again on the day before taking photos. Please be clear about your intention for taking the photo. If you intend to print or publish the photo the Wadawurrung representative may want to review and approve any images prior to publishing. Please ask.
5. If the picture is used in a new context at a later date, permission must be sought afresh.
6. The MC or event organiser of the education session should take responsibility for communicating the Wadawurrung representative’s preferences about being filmed or photographed. The event organiser should also let audience members known that live streaming on social media is not allowed.
7. If you have an agreement with WTOAC to publish content from a ceremony, this content (photo, video etc) should be sent to WTOAC for review and approval prior to publishing or printing.
8. Taking pictures of Wadawurrung representatives’ children requires written permission from their parents.

Sorry Business

1. Across Country reproduction of names and photographs of deceased Wadawurrung people is restricted during a period of Sorry Business. Sorry Business varies in time and is determined by Community.
2. If you intend to publish voices or images of First Nations people who have passed away, please seek permission first and ensure a ‘deceased persons warning’ phrase is included at the start of the publication or resource.

Intellectual Property

1. Wadawurrung Stories and Songlines are for oral sharing by Traditional Owners.
2. You must seek permission before using, publishing or posting Cultural information.

Cancellations, postponements, rescheduling

1. To cancel, postpone or reschedule a booking on the day of the event, please call the Wadawurrung representative as soon as possible to notify them.
2. To cancel, postpone or reschedule on any other day in the lead up, please both call (03) 5222 5889 and email bookings@wadawurrung.org.au (to create a timestamp) notification of your request.
3. Important: Requests to cancel, postpone or reschedule must be received during business hours (9am-5pm, Mon-Fri). Notifications to cancel that are received outside of business hours (9-5, Mon-Fri) will register the notification commencing at 9am on the start of the next business day.
4. Any event or booking that is cancelled, postponed or rescheduled less than 5 days (120 hours) from the start time of an event will be charged at 100% of the booking price. The exception to this is when the Wadawurrung representative agrees that the weather is too poor to proceed.
5. A request to postpone or reschedule an event will be subject to the booking wait times detailed in the first section of these terms and conditions.
6. If the event is cancelled by the TO, the person or organisation that has paid for the booking will be refunded for services not provided. WTOAC does not accept any liability for any other expenses related to cancellation of Wadawurrung services for the event.

Payment and Prices

1. All prices listed are exclusive of GST.
2. Invoices must be paid within 14 days of issue or at least 3 days prior to the ceremony (whichever comes first). For credit customers, invoices must be paid no later than 14 days after the ceremony.
3. Customers requiring a credit account must apply using a Customer Credit Application for trade form (available below to download). Signed and completed forms must be sent to accounts.bookings@wadawurrung.org.au.
4. WTOAC will generally apply fee increases on the 1 July each year but reserves the right to increase fees without prior notice at other times if required. Where a booking has been made for a future event and a fee increase occurs between confirmation of the booking and the date of the event, the current fees on the date of the event will apply.
5. All bookings require full payment in advance to secure the reservation. Failure to provide full payment will result in the reservation not being confirmed.
6. Bookings that have not been paid for in full at least three (3) business days prior to the reservation date will be automatically cancelled or rescheduled. It is the responsibility of the booking party to ensure that payment is received within this timeframe to avoid cancellation. If the booking is cancelled due to non-payment and the party still wishes to proceed, a new reservation can be made based on availability and subject to the prevailing rates.
7. Please make payment to WTOAC as per the invoice that will be issued to you following the confirmation of your booking.
8. The party to whom the invoice is issued is the party nominated during the entering of the billing details, and therefore the party nominated in the billing section is responsible for payment of the account. Any corrections to any of this information must be submitted to WTOAC in writing any time before the services or event takes place.

    

Click here to download credit application form

The Credit Application form must be signed by someone in your organisation authorised to do so. Hand signatures or digital images of hand signatures are required. All details must be completed. Three trade references are required. Please send completed application to accounts.bookings@wadawurrung.org.au.