Lucas Heights Community School opens First Nations Wellbeing Hub

Release date: 11 December 2023

Lucas Heights Community School celebrated the completion of their First Nations Wellbeing Hub recently. The hub will provide a wide array of health and wellbeing services targeted at addressing the needs of Aboriginal students and supporting their academic success. 

The day began with an opening ceremony involving Aboriginal dance, music and a smoking ceremony. There were speeches by Lucas Heights Community School Principal Julie Adams, member for Campbelltown Greg Warren, Dharawal Elder Aunty Dolly, First Nations students from the school community, among others. A choir of students from the primary school charmingly led attendees in the national anthem. 

The services run out of the hub include programs run by the school directly alongside visiting community services such as paediatrician visits; hearing and vision testing; workshops on mental health and parent-support workshops; and an Aboriginal playgroup within the child-safe enclosure attached to the hub.

The hub has beautiful, hand-painted Aboriginal art across the outside of the building Aboriginal artist Gary Purchase. Lucas Heights Community School principal Julie Adams said, “I think once Gary Purchase created the mural outside, it just changed everybody's view ... It's such a beautiful space that it was exciting and welcoming, and our First Nations kids really stepped up at that point and owned the space.” 

The hub is the first of its kind in NSW and will offer a blueprint for similar facilities to be built across the state. The local construction company brought on board to build the First Nations Hub is Dotbuild Constructions. Corey Dotti, a proud Dunghutti and Gumbayngirr man, and the Managing Director of Dotbuild Constructions, attended the opening of the hub, he said, “It’s a privilege, a big honour to build a spot like this for First Nations people in the local community to confidently come here and speak about their issues and anything they’re facing, it’s an honour.”  

The project was brought to life through collaboration with the school’s Aboriginal students, local Aboriginal Elder Aunty Dolly, the Sutherland Shire Council Reconciliation Committee and the Department of Education. Aunty Dolly said, “we'd all gotten together to see the fantastic outcome and how it's going to benefit the school as well as [the] community.”  

The build is part of the School Infrastructure's NSW (SINSW) Facilities Maintenance Contract, which connects businesses with schools in their respective local areas. SINSW has extended an opportunity to Aboriginal businesses throughout NSW, like Dotbuild Constructions, to use their trade expertise in local schools and make a positive impact on the community through the First National Engagement in School Infrastructure (FNESI) program. This initiative allows Aboriginal businesses to actively participate in school projects and contribute to the development and maintenance of educational facilities in their communities. By engaging with local companies, SINSW is fostering collaboration and supporting the growth of Aboriginal businesses, while simultaneously ensuring that schools receive the necessary maintenance and improvements they require.  

SINSW launched the FNESI program in July 2023 to increase the involvement of Aboriginal businesses, people and communities in the maintenance of our schools and educational facilities. Visit our FNESI webpage to learn more.