Shannon Smith
Thursday, 19 March 2026
‘Over four years, thousands of Victorians took part and shared their truth as formal evidence’ (yoorrook.org.au)
Sitting back and watching the Yoorrook Commission come together and transforming how a State moved forward into the past captivated my mind and heart. Bringing the commission together and listening to the shared truth and evidence given was enough to rock the core of any who has engaged or even took up an interest in the proceedings.
Given I was NSW born and raised I wondered how I could justify my participation in this Statewide event that was gripping Victoria. As I flicked through the material that was being shared by the Yoorrook Commission I came across a very familiar name ‘Henty’. Henty to me was a small country town in the Riverina just 178km from my hometown of Darlington Point. As I read on I felt myself becoming enraged as the history of the Henty family unfolded, and to have a town so well known to me named after this family who changed the life and history of Victoria forever. But still I wondered, in what way could I contribute to the Truth Telling Process that was spreading across Victoria?
My heart was aching; my head was spinning from all the truth that were unfolding right before me. My grandchildren, my grandchildren were all Victorian born so the Victorian story became part of who they are and who they would grow to become. The grandchildren were welcomed on Country by the Dja Dja Wurrung and presented with their possum skins (they had been adopted). I have a responsibility to take of the care of the upbringing of the grandchildren on Djaara Country and an obligation to gently guide them towards truth in whatever form and shape it was to take.
Growing up in the Riverina I witnessed firsthand the treatment of Aboriginal folks in the church. Nothing direct but the subtle exclusions which would eventually see the number dwindle to zero. My grandmother, a Wiradjuri woman, was born at Warangesda Mission Station in 1909 during the period of the Reverend J.B. Gribble as station manager. My grandmother Isabel Edwards (Murray) loved the Lord and would encourage her children and grandchildren to attend church each Sunday. Although my Nanna was baptised, she was never confirmed and I was lucky enough to be there the day she made her confirmation. It’s a memory that will forever my etched into my memories.
I am still not sure how I felt about the role the church played in the demoralising of my old people. I think Uncle Archie Roach summed it up perfectly when he penned the words to the song ‘They Took the Children Away ’Said to us, ‘Come take our Hand’ Set us up on mission land, taught us to write and pray, then they took the children away’.
I remember a friend from High School once questioning me about my role in the Church and I often recall his words ‘but Shannon, you must remember that the church hurt our people’. Those words cut deep and remain with me today. In a sense his words keep me grounded and reminded of the injustices our people suffered under the rule of the church. So, one can understand my nervousness when the Anglican Church was called up by the Yoorrook Justice Commission to give evidence.
My heart leapt with relief as I watched the hearing from my motel room in Darwin and neither Bishops tried to deny the involvement the church played in the demise and dehumanisation of my beautiful ancestors whether it be NSW or Victoria. The Anglican church was taking ownership of their involvement in stolen lands, stolen children and the treatment of First Nation Australian’s. I was one proud Anglican that day but one very broken hearted ‘black fella’. It’s important for to me to say ‘Thank you, Bishop Richard and Thank you, Bishop Genieve’; your involvement, your honesty and your commitment to walk with us First Nation clergy as old wounds are torn apart in seeking a way forward in togetherness. The Anglican church in the Province of Victoria was saying to us ‘yes, we are ready to take responsibility, and we acknowledge the wrongs we have committed against our First Nations’. It’s funny how different songs come to mind when reflecting on certain moments in life. I can’t help but call the mind the words to the old song ‘The Garden’ as I think of Bishop Richard and Bishop Genieve: ‘I come to the Garden alone’.
After hearing about the Walk for Truth across Victoria I had already made my mind up that I was going to walk, not only for the church, not only for myself but mostly for my Victorian born Grandchildren and our Old people who bore the brunt of these vile massacres that almost succeeded in wiping entire tribes out along the coast line of Victoria. I must admit there was a sense of stillness the day I arrived to register for the first leg of the three sections of the walk from Portland to Parliament.
It was a 3.5-hour drive from Bendigo to reach the starting point of the Yoorrook walk and I took my granddaughter McKenzie with me for the walk. The crowd of people gathered was a little overwhelming and I knew not a soul. But we were all there for the same reason: ‘Walk for Truth Telling’ across Victoria. This was the day! The corrobboree the smoke bellowing from the smoking ceremony, you could start to feel the ancestors gathering in the atmosphere. I still so clearly recall the words Aunty Claudette Lovette spoke ‘a smoking ceremony represents the beginning of a journey’. As the walkers emerged from the smoke it was like walking into a new world. A group of many stranger embarking on a journey walking forward into the past. Here we were, well over a hundred people taking our brothers and sister by the arm helping each other along the way as we walked.
The 13km walk from the far side of Portland to the Convincing Grounds with forever be a part of my soul. The stillness and silence as you walked and looked out over the coastline was deafening, you could hear the old people calling with every step you took. This was where I was meant to be, walking for our old people walking for truth. This was their moment in time, and we were given the responsibility of seeing this through alongside Commissioner Tavis Lovett. If I had to use a describing word as we approached the Convincing Grounds the word would be ‘eerie’ those last few hundred metres were the most incredible. You could feel the old people it was almost like they were calling you and had been awaiting your arrival. It was that moment I looked up and there was my granddaughter, all but three years of age. She ran over to me and walked the last two hundred by my side. As we reached the end of our first day’s walk, we were welcomed with a smoking. It was that magical moment when my little granddaughter fell in line behind her elders walked to the fire and smoked herself (the beginning of her journey).
‘Bishop Matt Brain, you walked with me and you talked with me as we lined up for day 2 of the Yoorrook Commission Walk for Truth. It rained, the wind was ice cold, but you showed up to walk by my side’. This was commitment beyond commitment to a walk toward Truth telling across the Bendigo Diocese. A special promise from our Bishop promising us that we will never have to walk alone. He will be right by our side every step of the road no matter how rugged the road may become.
Bishop Brain and Bishop Treloar have shown nothing less than total commitment and lined up with the Aboriginal Provincial Clergy as we walked the final 3km to Melbourne Parliament House. This was a very special moment in time as we walked these final steps together, standing on the Promise of God – Deuteronomy 31:8 ‘The LORD himself goes before you and will be with you; he will never leave you nor forsake you. Do not be afraid; do not be discouraged’.
Bishop Brain’s commitment to the Walk has demonstrated the promise of the Bendigo Diocese when it comes to truth telling. The walk has laid it on the table for a gentler approach to truth telling. Commissioner Lovett was a wonderful example of gentleness in his approach to being met with hostility. The example and approach of Commissioner Lovett has given us all a sense of peace laying truth telling out in the open. Since the Yoorrook Walk for Truth, Bendigo Diocese has committed, or, I should say, re-committed to their promise to First Nation communities. We have committed to walk with our communities in whatever ways they need us to. Conversations flow much freer and colleagues aren’t afraid to ask or tread where they once thought they weren’t welcome. It has become an open space for all to openly engage and commit to closing the gap within the Anglican Diocese of Bendigo. Bendigo now has a very strong Reconciliation Team working on reinvigorating an old RAP.
Cultural Awareness has extended beyond Bendigo and across the Province of Victoria with a gentler approach and giving participants the opportunity to go out into communities and sit in community with local Elders and immerse themselves in the local Aboriginal Culture. With the work of Bendigo Diocese’ promise toward walking with community, we have been invited to sit with local elders attending Women’s Business. Being given the opportunity to reach out to the local Aboriginal community has been a true Blessing in helping to find a home for my heart.
Image: Revd Canon Shannon Smith with Bishops Matt Brain and Richard Treloar at the conclusion of the Yoorrook Walk for Truth. Credit: Lesa Scholl
The Reverend Canon Shannon Smith is a proud Wiradjuri and Worimi woman. She was ordained as deacon in 2009 and priested in 2010 in the Anglican Diocese of Riverina. She serves as Parish Priest at St Mark’s, Golden Square and is the Aboriginal Community Support Officer for the Anglican Diocese of Bendigo. Canon Smith has been a member of the National Aboriginal Torres Strait Islander Anglican Council since 2008 and served in the Melbourne Diocese Anglican Indigenous Network from 2009–2011.