To celebrate 2023 NAIDOC Week, Essendon Fields hosted the second gathering of the Little Long Walk on Thursday 6 July. An estimated 140 people came together to raise money for the Long Walk Foundation, an organisation started by AFL legend Michael Long in support of Indigenous education programs across the country.

This year’s Little Long Walk was supported by a host of tenants at Essendon Fields and their staff including Hyatt Place Melbourne, Linfox, Melbourne Heli, Active Utilities, Blinkr, YMCA and of course the head office of Essendon Fields, which had a number of staff participate, including CEO Brendan Pihan.

The Little Long Walk, which took place on Wurundjeri Woi wurrung land, around the Essendon Fields precinct, was followed by a celebration BBQ sponsored by event partners LaManna Melbourne.

Apart from raising funds for the Long Walk Foundation, the Little Long Walk again provided participants with an opportunity to acknowledge the traditional owners on which Essendon Fields stands – the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung people of the Kulin Nation, their spirits, ancestors, elders and community members past and present.

Special guests at the 2023 Little Long Walk included The Long Walk Foundation’s GM Leanne Brooke, Wurundjeri elder Aunty Di, who provided a Welcome to Country focusing on this year’s NAIDOC week theme – For our Elders – and a traditional smoking ceremony by Wurundjeri man Alex Kerr.

It’s been almost 20 years since Michael Long undertook the walk from his home in Melbourne to Parliament House in Canberra in 2004, meeting with the Prime Minister at the time to draw attention to plight of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities in Australia. As part of the forthcoming referendum to include a First Nations’ Voice in the Australian constitution, Michael will recreate the historic walk once again.

Essendon Fields CEO Brendan Pihan thanked all those who participated, noting the opportunity to not only support the Long Walk Foundation and come together as a community, but also have the chance to reflect on the enormous history and contribution of the traditional owners of Essendon Fields.