Acknowledgement of Country

This is whose land it is.

Youth Ministry Futures is based at Ridley College, Parkville — Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country. We work with ministers and churches on many Countries across Australia. Three forms of acknowledgement follow, sized for different contexts. Use the long form where the occasion invites it; the short form as the system standard; the brief form where space is tight.

The standard YMF structure — problem first, data next, posture last — does not apply here. Acknowledgement of Country is a posture artefact. The mentor register still holds: no saccharine opening, no bureaucratic framing. Name specifically where you are and whose land it is. Let the weight carry itself.

Long form

For event welcomes, the homepage, and inside-cover pages of major documents.

Youth Ministry Futures acknowledges the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people as the Traditional Custodians of the land on which our home at Ridley College, Parkville, is built. We extend our respect to their Elders past, present and emerging, and to the Traditional Custodians of every Country on which our Cohort members and partners gather and minister across Australia. In the tradition we come from, reconciliation is not peripheral — it is among the things we are called to practise.

Event welcomes · Homepage · Major documents

The closing sentence is the theological move. It makes a vocational claim — "called to practise" — not a doctrinal one. No confessional terminology, no denominational framing. The weight is in "not peripheral": conviction stated plainly, without reaching for grandeur.

For an event outside Melbourne, substitute the relevant Country name for "Ridley College, Parkville." For an online event where participants are on multiple Countries, use: "…to the Traditional Custodians of all Countries from which we gather."

Short form

For the site footer, slide masters, and email signatures where space permits.

Youth Ministry Futures acknowledges the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people, Traditional Custodians of the land on which we are based at Ridley College, Parkville, and the Traditional Custodians of all Countries on which our people gather across Australia. We respect Elders past, present and emerging.

Site footer · Slide masters · Email signatures

Two sentences. The theological line does not belong here — short form is posture by presence, not by statement. The national dimension acknowledges that YMF's work is not confined to Naarm/Melbourne.

Brief form

For tight single-line contexts: email footer text, slide headers, tight print contexts.

YMF acknowledges the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people, Traditional Custodians of the land on which we are based, and all Traditional Custodians of the Countries on which we gather.

Email footers · Slide headers · Single-line print contexts

One sentence. Uses "YMF" rather than the full name — appropriate where the brand is already established in context.

Placement guidance

Where each form belongs, and what to do when Country varies.

Homepage

Long form

Below the hero, before the four rooms.

Event welcome (Parkville)

Long form

Opening words, before any other content.

Event welcome (interstate)

Long form, Country adapted

Presenter checks the specific Country before the event and substitutes.

Event welcome (online)

Long form, adapted

Omit the Parkville reference. Close with: the Traditional Custodians of all Countries from which we gather.

Slide master

Short form

Slide 2, after the title slide.

Site footer

Short form

Above the copyright line, on every page.

Email signature

Brief form

Below role and contact details.

Major documents

Long form

Inside front page — methodology notes, research summaries, prospectus.

Why this wording

The wording names specifically where YMF is based — Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country, Parkville — rather than using a general acknowledgement. Specificity is more honest, and consistent with what Ridley College and Whitley College, who share the same ground, both do.

The national dimension is acknowledged separately, because YMF's Cohort members and partners work on many Countries across Australia. Both realities are named.

The long form carries a lightly theological closing line. It names a tradition and a vocation — not a denomination or a creed. This is appropriate for a cross-denominational body: the claim is accessible to all streams YMF works with, and it says something true to YMF's convictions rather than leaving the acknowledgement as mere courtesy.

The three forms are not interchangeable. The brief form is not simply the long form shortened — it omits the national dimension and the theological line, because its context does not carry them.