Ballerrt Mooroop History

Ballerrt Mooroop (Strong Spirit) Site, Ceremonial site, and Uncle Tom’s Tree

Ballerrt Mooroop is located at 208A Hilton Street in Glenroy. The site holds deep cultural and educational significance for First Nations people on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country. It features a ceremonial ground with a firepit, totem, and shield-shaped benches designed and built by former students of Ballerrt Mooroop College. The spotted gum tree at the ceremonial ground is known as "Uncle Tom’s Tree"—named after Uncle Tom Slater, a much-loved Elder who would sit beneath it and yarn with students. Uncle Tom passed away at the site in 2006. At the centre of the site stands Be-al, a River Red Gum overlooking the future wetland and likely marking a hidden creek. Other native gums and bushes support local birdlife, including honeyeaters and parrots.

Ballerrt Mooroop has a rich history:

  • 1954–1992: Site of the former Glenroy High School
  • 1995: Opened as the Koorie Open Door Education (KODE) school by Wurundjeri Elder Margaret Gardiner
  • 2009–2011: Renamed Ballerrt Mooroop College Koorie Pathways School
  • 2011: College closed
  • 2012: Community campaign launched to return the site to Aboriginal community use
  • 2017: Site kept public and leased to the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation

To learn more about the site’s history, cultural significance, and the community’s vision for its future, download the Ballerrt Mooroop booklet (PDF 4.7MB).

  • The late Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Elder Margaret Gloria Gardiner, who passed away in August 2022 aged 63, was a steadfast, smart, articulate and fiery advocate when it came to her connection to Country and Ancestors across all of her First Nations.

    In 2011 Aunty Margaret played a key role in the campaign to keep open the Ballerrt Mooroop. Since the school was closed in 2012, she had been campaigning to keep the school site for the benefit of the Hume and Merri-bek First Nations communities.

    She has continued this work until most recently in August 2022 when Aunty Margaret was leading the campaign for the Ballerrt Mooroop community hub to be built in Glenroy. 

    Aunty Margaret often spoke up to ensure concerns around cultural protocols and Aboriginal sovereignty were heard.  

    Resources:

  • Uncle Tom passed away in 2006 here at the school site. The gum tree at the ceremonial group is called "Uncle Tom's Tree" because Uncle Tom used to sit under the tree and talk to the kids who got into trouble.

    Uncle Tom was a Kamilaroi and Wiradjuri man described by the staff and students as “a true Elder, much-loved Uncle who cared, who listened, who pushed us to work hard, who always told us: you must have an education and be proud who you are". Uncle Tom served as a board member of the Victorian Aboriginal Health Service for 10 years.  

    Read more about Uncle Tom’s daughter Aunty Sharon Slater, a very proud Kamilaroi and Wiradjuri womanwho won’t be silenced when it comes to protecting the rights and raising awareness for Aboriginal and Torres Strait children with severe disabilities.

  • Gary Murray, a First Nations Elder of the Wamba Wamba, Yorta Yorta, Dhudhuroa, Dja Dja Wurrung, Djupagalk and Baraparapa Peoples based in Fawkner.

    A father of 12 and grandfather of 28 grandchildren. Gary’s family were likely to be the first Aboriginal family to settle in the Merri-bek area in 1954. Gary graduated from Glenroy Primary School and the old Glenroy High School which was at this site. Gary has lived in the Merri-bek area since 2008 and is an active member of his community.

    Through the examples set by his grandfather Sir Doug Nicholls and father Stewart Murray he was inspired to educate himself in lore/law and continue the family legacy with his leadership.  

    Gary has a range of commitments in the community including his recent involvement in the Merri-bek First Nations Advisory Committee where he champions the Ballerrt Mooroop Hub project.  

Ballerrt Mooroop History Comission Report 

Commissioned by Merri-bek City Council, the report brings together historical records, oral histories and community reflections to tell the story of the site—from its deep cultural significance on Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Country to its legacy as a place of Aboriginal education, activism and community gathering.

Ballerrt Mooroop History Comission Report (PDF)

The future of the Ballerrt Mooroop site

A 2021 feasibility study into the future of the site identified that Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Elders and Aboriginal community members strongly believed that the Glenroy Ballerrt Mooroop site would provide Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people with a sense of pride. 

The site could be a place to share family stories, education, and cultural traditions, values, and customs to help build a strong, vibrant, and healthy Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung community and broader Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in the area. 

In 2022 Merri-bek City Council resolved to advocate to the State Government, to transfer the title of the Ballerrt Mooroop site to the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation. 

The aim of the campaign is to secure the future of the Ballerrt Mooroop site with a view to establishing community, health, education, cultural, and open space facilities for Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung and the broader Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities in the cities of Merri-bek and Hume. 

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Recognition for Ballerrt Mooroop

Merri-bek City Council is proud to have received the Reconciliation Victoria Maggolee Award on 30 May 2024 for the Ballerrt Mooroop project.

The award recognises Council's collaboration with the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation to transform the Ballerrt Mooroop site in Glenroy into a thriving community hub.

Merri-bek City Council, along with its community partners, aims to secure the Ballerrt Mooroop site’s use for education and cultural purposes for both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal communities in Merri-bek and Hume.

The Maggolee Awards recognise Victorian local governments working in partnership with First Peoples to support self-determination, advance reconciliation, and strengthen shared decision making with First Peoples.