Home | News | Welcoming the Oceania Orienteering Championships to Ngunnawal Country

Welcoming the Oceania Orienteering Championships to Ngunnawal Country

A split-image: left side a rural field with a wooden fence and distant hills; right side a bright abstract painting with swirls, dots, and floral motifs on red.

The Oceania Orienteering Carnival will begin with a special Welcome to Country on Saturday 26 September, recognising the Traditional Custodians of the land on which the 9 day competition will take place.

The Ngunnawal people are the Traditional Custodians of the Australian Capital Territory and surrounding region. For time immemorial Ngunnawal people have maintained a tangible and intangible cultural, social, environmental, spiritual, and economic connection to these lands and waters.

Orienteering Australia and the OACT Oceania organising team are honoured to welcome Tyronne Bell, a Ngunnawal Elder, who will share a Welcome to Country and offer a safe passage on the ancestral lands with competitors, officials, volunteers and spectators at 2:00 pm on the opening day of the carnival.

The Welcome to Country will be an important moment as the carnival gets underway, setting the scene for a week of competition, friendship and shared experiences across the Australian and international orienteering community.

We look forward to coming together on Saturday 26 September to begin the Oceania Orienteering Carnival with respect, connection and a warm welcome.

More information can be found on the Oceania Orienteering Carnival website.

author avatar
Daniel Stott (OA Manager of Participation: participation@orienteering.asn.au)

Related News

Nominate and celebrate an orienteering volunteer who has made an exceptional impact over the past 12 months.
The Australian team has been announced for the 2026 Australia-New Zealand MTBO Challenge at the Australian MTBO Champs.
The 2026 Australian Mountain Bike Orienteering Championship is from Thursday 8 October to Sunday 11 October 2026 in Ballarat & Creswick, Victoria. Final bulletin out now!