National NAIDOC - Award Winner

Vince Ross (Victoria) - Elder of the Year (Male)

Vince began from very humble beginnings, having ‘no home’ other than living on the banks of the Murrimbidgee River.

Vince is now the State Director of the Victorian-Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress. He had a vision of an Aboriginal Cultural centre in Geelong, which he saw to fruition with the establishment of Narana Creations, a centre which teaches all aspects of Indigenous culture.

Narana Creations has won three Victorian Tourism awards, including a life-time achievement award. It passes on valuable cultural practices and provides traineeships and pre-employment training to Indigenous people in hospitality and administration.

An average of 300 children passes through their cultural education program in any given week.

Vince has mentored people into leadership roles and established the “Rescue Our Youth” strategy, where an Aboriginal elder is employed to visit young Indigenous people who are in trouble with the law, and supports them through the legal process.

Vince is currently working on his next vision of constructing multi-purpose buildings that will, amongst other things, provide short term accommodation for homeless Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.