The Munarra Centre for Regional Excellence is a world-class education, sporting, and public gathering space that honours the world’s oldest living culture.
The Munarra Centre for Regional Excellence is a world-class education, sporting, and public gathering space that honours the world’s oldest living culture, located on Yorta Yorta Country, Shepparton, Victoria.
As a result of a genuine co-design process, the Centre’s design, guided by ARM Architecture with landscape architects Bush Projects, reflects a deep commitment to the Yorta Yorta community, with spaces thoughtfully crafted to support education, sporting activities, and the transmission of First Peoples’ knowledge.
The project comprises two parts: an upgraded Rumbalara Football and Netball Club to the north and a new community and academic building to the south.
The new building, resembling the Aboriginal flag from above, features a central circular courtyard, a veranda for indoor/outdoor learning, and a firepit, all developed in close collaboration with stakeholders. The design also incorporates the Nanyak Wall, a photographic representation of the community’s history, which extends into the landscape and connects to the northern site. The northern site includes an upgraded Rumbalara Football and Netball Club, with new netball facilities, renovated clubrooms, and a unifying canopy that reflects the colours of the Rumbalara logo, reinforcing community identity.
Photo: Eleisha Collins
“The Munarra Centre for Regional Excellence and the Rumbalara Football Netball Club are so unique they are nation leading. I am excited and optimistic about this investment’s potential to deliver the future to Yorta Yorta and other First Nations including the people of south-eastern Australia” — Deputy Chair of Munarra Ltd, Uncle Paul Briggs OAM.
Munarra Limited, an all-First Peoples board, oversaw the project and will manage the future operations of the building. The project was delivered by the Department of Premier and Cabinet, First Peoples State Relations, Victorian School Building Authority (VSBA), and supported by a financial contribution from the University of Melbourne.
The Centre was built by Indigenous-owned company TVN On-Country. The project is the largest ever awarded by the Victorian state government to a First Nations owned and operated company and created twelve new jobs.
The consultant team included Bush Projects, Codus, Gallery Kaiea, MGAC, PLP Building Surveyors & Consultants, Spacecraft, Spiire, Vivid Wayfinding, WSP, and
21-19 Pty Ltd.
The Munarra Centre for Regional Excellence represents the resilience and future aspirations of the Yorta Yorta people and will continue to be a place of learning, cultural celebration, and community gathering for years to come.