Future Women Celebrates NAIDOC Week 2022: Transcript

Please note that, due to audio quality issues, some parts of this transcript are incomplete. 

Tony Garvey

First of all, thank you very much for that warm welcome. I’d just like to say wominjeka to everyone, so wominjeka in the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung language means welcome. So welcome to all Indigenous and non-Indigenous people here today, it’s a great opportunity for Indigenous people right across Australia to celebrate their culture this week. We’ve been doing it for quite a few weeks with Reconciliation, Sorry Day and now today or this week NAIDOC Week. We had the changing of the Moreland City Council name yesterday to a Woiwurrung name. Now, Woiwurrung is the Wurundjeri language. Merri-bek is the new name for Moreland as you did see on TV last night. My only claim to fame and I fell asleep on the couch and missed it. Must’ve had a big day. We’re very proud and honoured to go forward in that. It just goes to show how I think we’re all starting to work as one. It’s very important for us right across Australia, for all races and whatever. It’s just important that we put a foot forward each, and go together as one and enjoy this beautiful country that we’ve got here. It’s a lovely, lovely opportunity for everyone. I’m just so proud and honoured to be here being a traditional owner, on the back of my mum’s family, the () family. I’ll move in, with my Welcome, but I hope you all have a great NAIDOC Week. I’m definitely going to be celebrating, and I might have a few Panadol at the end of the week. We’ll see how we go. The Wurundjeri people are also a part of the Kulin nation. So Kulin means (man). So in the Kulin nation, we have the five language groups. There’s the Wathaurong to the west, the (cooler) who are the westerly neighbours to the Wathaurong, Taungurong to the northeast, Boonwurrung to the southwest, and the Woiwurrung of the Wurundjeri territory that we stand on here today. The Wurundjeri, the city of Melbourne, it extends from the mountains of the Great Dividing Range, south to the Yarra River, west to the Werribee River, and east to Mount Baw Baw. The Wurundjeri people, they have a social totem which is Bunjil the eagle. Bunjil represents spiritual powers throughout many parts of Australia. Bunjil fought all the wars about life, behaviour, and ceremony, that make sure that our culture would continue for all walks of life throughout Australia. Bunjil was referred to as the Creator of mankind. Bunjil created great people from the land and that is why we call the land our mother or the mother of creation. Never can the land be taken away. The land will always belong to Aboriginal people as we are a part of the land and the land is a part of us. Our story is similar to the European people. Theirs is by their chosen faith, ours is by the Dreamtime. We both have creators and beliefs and ours is Bunjil. It is a traditional custom for the Australian Aboriginal communities to be asked to give permission for people to enter their land. Today you’ve now joined with me to honour the spirit of my ancestors past, present, and emerging, who have nurtured this land for over 80,000 years. And we as the traditional owners of the land offer our heart in welcome to land, hoping together as citizens of this beautiful country, we will develop and unite a stronger nation for all people. I’ll just close up with my Woiwurrung language, which means you are most welcome to the land of the Wurundjeri people. Thank you very much for inviting me here today.

Jamila Rizvi

Thank you so much Tony, you’ve got a very busy morning ahead of you so grab something to eat on the way out, thank you for being here. I’d also like to acknowledge the country on which we gather today, and pay my respects to Wurundjeri elders past and present. I also want to recognise that First Nations women have been gathering together and sharing stories and sharing ideas with expertise on this land to 10s of 1000s of years. And so today we all join in a very important tradition. NAIDOC Week is of course a chance for us all to celebrate and to recognise the history, culture, and the achievements of Australia’s first peoples. To pay homage to those have driven and lead to change in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities for generations upon generations. The theme for NAIDOC Week was to “Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up!” a remind that every single one of us has a role in championing institutional, structural, collaborative and cooperative change that allows for, to quote the Uluru Statement,”a fuller expression of Australia’s nationhood.” On behalf of Future Women, I would like to thank our partners Maurice Blackburn – I’m just making sure I was looking at the right table – a law firm that absolutely shares our commitment to social justice and the ongoing fight for them, so thank you for being here today, and supporting others to be here today also. Thank you as well to Witchery, who have worked with us to deliver this same event in Sydney, much to my envy, every year for the past three years – (great month) to be hosting it in Melbourne, finally. I’d also like to acknowledge the First Nations visitors that have worked with us to make today’s event possible, and I want to call them out individually because the number of times I have sat in a room or a boardroom or an organisation or a meeting, and someone has said, “ah, yeah, but we just couldn’t find a option for that.” Look harder, look harder for local outcomes and wanting to be consistent…) make today possible. The invitation artwork and the artwork you see on the screen is by artist Kylie Hill, give her a round of applause. Thank you so much Kylie for your absolutely stunning work. The floral arrangements are from Rory and Emily at Gathermore Floral Events. Our panel hair and makeup are by Kaydee Kyle-Taylor, who is also here. Not sure if I can see her, but she’s also here, give her a round of applause. Up the back is Jacinta Keefe. I also want to thank all of you for being here very early on a cold winter morning in Melbroune to be a part of this very important conversation. A portion of your ticket prices has been donated to the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation, who’ve been Future Women’s charity partner since the very beginning. I want to thank, say thank you to the AIEF representatives who are here today. You’ll be hearing from Keeley Meijer a little later this morning. A reminder that if you are making your voices heard on your phone, or you are being seen on social media this morning, you can tag us @futurewomen so we can collate as many people’s photos and you can use the hashtag #FWNAIDOC. And finally, just a little word of warning that some of the subject matter that will be discussed in the morning panel may be confronting for people in the room. If you need to step outside at any point, just head out the doors to your right or to your left. If you need assistance, please just seek out one of the Future Women team members who greeted you on the way in. It’s now my absolute pleasure to introduce Jennifer Kanis from Maurice Blackburn, who will say a few words before Future Women’s own Madison Howarth introduces and facilitates this morning’s discussion. Thank you so much, and welcome to Jennifer.

Jennifer Kanis 

Thank you very much Jamila. Can I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land we’re on today, the Wurundjeri people of the Kulin nation, and pay my respects to elders past, present, and emerging. And thank Tony, who has now gone to another event and probably has three events before 10:30, but thank Tony for his very warm Welcome to Country. Maurice Blackburn is really proud to support this event celebrating NAIDOC Week, and this conversation with an exceptional panel of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women. As a legal [inaudible] we’re committed to engaging with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities to promote reconciliation. We’re lawyers, and we’ve done some really interesting cases recently, and also quite devastating ones as well. We were recently involved in a large [case] against Commonwealth where, you know, we had to argue that Aboriginal Australians should not be classified as alien in the Australian Constitution. And we succeeded but how sad that we have to do, that, you know, and go all the way to the High Court for that [inaudible]. We also did the Northern Territory youth justice class action, where we just achieved quite a lot of financial compensation for first people who were held in youth justice and really damaged by the system up there and we’re very proud to have been able to work with those people, to achieve good outcomes for them. And what we have learned and continue to learn is how important it is to walk beside our own Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander clients. While the law presents one way of addressing justice, it remains a system of colonisation. And generally law settles disputes retrospectively, or provides compensation for a harm hurt. And often the outcomes, even when you’re successful, are unsatisfactory. And it’s it’s really important to Maurice Blackburn that we also work to stop the harm from occurring in the first place. And to this end we’re focused on continuing relationships with our clients and their communities long after the legal action or legal work is finished. I’m really looking forward to today’s panel and getting and learning about, you know, the rights for women that we have in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Happy NAIDOC, thank you.

Madison Howarth  

Morning, everyone, thank you so much for being here. Thank you so much to Uncle Tony as well for that beautiful welcome. It’s an honour to be here on Wurundjeri land, and I’d also like to join and pay my respects too. Happy NAIDOC, my name is Madison Howarth, and I am a Wonnarua and Yuin woman.  At Future Women, I’m the Online Learning Manager, and today we’re joined by an exceptional lineup of black women to celebrate NAIDOC Week. So without further ado, let me introduce them. Nerita Waight is the CEO at the Victorian Aboriginal Legal service. In 2016 she established Balit Ngulu – a specialist legal service for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Nerita is completing a Masters of Law and is passionate about social justice, equity, and discovering innovative ways so solve the justice issues plaguing her community. Thank you so much for being here. Kimberley Benjamin is based in Naarm, and is a proud Yawuru, Bardi and Kija woman from Rubibi, Broome, WA. Kimberley has worked as a researcher, writer, director, and story producer for both television and documentary film. Currently, she works for First Nations owned and lead creative agency Garuwa, having previously worked with many community organisations in Perth. Kimberley’s diverse work and passion for telling stories is informed by her connections and relationships with communities across the country. She’s also sitting on the National NAIDOC Committee. And Tanya Hosch is the Executive General Manager of Inclusion and Social Policy at the AFL, and 2021 South Australian Australian Australian of the year. With a long and distinguished history in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander policy, advocacy, and governance, and before joining the AFL as the first ever Indigenous person and second woman in their executive rank in August 2016, Tanya was the joint Campaign Director of the Recognise movement for constitutional recognition. So please make them all feel very welcome. So, the theme for NAIDOC this year is ‘Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up!’ I believe each of you can tell me about a time in your life you’ve had to get up, stand up and show up for mob. We’ll start with you, Nerita.

Nerita Waight  

Well, given my role is tied to the Legal Service, it’s kind of an everyday job, in every other working minute. For our government, connected again with my job and particularly my two young Aboriginal boys, who are given a very troubled crime agenda, at the moment. So, I think I’ve been getting up and showing up and fulfilling that NAIDOC theme for my whole professional life. But even when I don’t, Valorang, my grandmother, my aunty too, but my Grandmother, would harrass me after board meeting after board meeting to join the NAIDOC Committee at her community already and I just learnt to partake in that picture.

Madison Howarth  

Kimberley?

Kimberley Benjamin  

Yeah, I think about the work I’ve done in film, and I’m lucky enough to go through a very visual language initiative with some work when I was back in Perth. And the first documentary, I made was a half hour for NITV called Owning Your History, which shared the story of three incredible Noongar Nannas, and their granddaughter Brianne Yarran. And I think about that film a lot, in the way that those women really spoke to this year’s theme, getting up, standing up and showing up for their history. And also that looking forward to the future generations, of passing down knowledge, and yeah, really instilling a lot of, a lot of pride in who they are as strong Noongar women, and having them all been through, taken away, through Stolen Generations. And I feel really lucky that that was the first thing that I was able to, to write and direct for TV and it’s really grounded me in the work that I do now. So I would always pay homage to them, and honour them. Naidi, she passed away last year, but she was able to use my film as her submission into the Royal Commission into Institutional sexual abuse. And so yeah, I felt quite proud of being able to contribute that to the family, and also just an archive for them. For their family history. So yeah, I love it. I love talking about them.

Tanya Hosch 

I think when you find you’re the only Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person in the room whose standing up for um and it’s enforceable but I’m going to talk a little bit in code. Um and if you can work out the context, then well-done. I am sure some of you will. I was in a role once where the government, the federal government was promising to do something, they were dragging their feet to do it. When we were expecting them to announce they were doing it they gave us $5 million instead. And I convinced our board to give the money back until they actually gave, came through, with what it was we were asking them to do. And so they were worried about it being public that we were giving the $5 million back. So we got the $5 million, and we got what we asked for.

Madison Howarth 

Kimba, you sit on the national NAIDOC commitee. Why did the committee come to choose this theme for 2022?

Kimberley Benjamin  

Yeah, it’s a real privilege each year, we get to sit around a table. There’s 10 incredible committee members and we’re sort of representative across the nation, which is yeah, really amazing. And we get the honour to select the theme each year. We really thought about the last few years that we’ve been in and that we’ve all been in and thinking about how our mob have continued to fight and to advocate for many issues, you know, every day, and how we, we really thought about how we can honour that and highlight that NAIDOC week is that, you know, it’s only one week of the year but it’s an amazing opportunity for us to really spotlight and think about those who have paved the way for us and really the mob who are still today you know, advocating. And we thought well if we can just say you know, come on mob get up, stand up, show up, then we can encourage people to think about how how we do that every day in our lives and and that it doesn’t, but it’s also quite a broad way you know, there’s there’s many different ways that we can do that. And yeah, so that’s how we landed on that theme and it’s been really amazing even with NAIDOC week now, but even just watching how people are engaging in it and my favourite part of the week is when mob, you know, share on social media, they share photos of their ancestors, their old people, their family members who have got up, shown up and stood up for them to be where they are today. And that’s what I think about a lot my parents do as well. And my brother’s here today, and it’s really nice to have him all the way from Broome and my sisters all the way from WA. So to just wanted to give them a shout-out really. But if I could get also earlier from about the High Court case my brother he’s involved with serving in that with Jamie. And yeah, it’s really it’s just, it’s another way of how, you know, all across we’re involved in different fields and how we get up, stand up, show up.

Madison Howarth  

What does the theme look like in action for Non-indigenous people as well as mob? How would you like, I guess allies, to get up stand up show up?

Kimberley Benjamin 

Yeah, I think that’s been a favourite question of mine, because there so many different ways. And, yeah, well, so some of the mob, because I think about that a lot. You know, we do that every day, can look like caring for our elders, you know, checking in on our old people, checking on our family, sitting on country, sitting with country, speaking out language, they’re all these different ways that we, we can, you know, embody that theme. And, you know, then there’s the mob who are on the frontlines who are the faces of many campaigns that we were, you know, we’re aware of, and I think about, you know, Saturday night, we had an incredible national NAIDOC Awards, which was just after three years of having no NAIDOC awards night. It was a biggest, flashest, like, amazing atmosphere. And it was just, it was so incredible to see us all together in one room and celebrate each other. I think, you know, Samara Fernandez Brown who, some of you might know, has been, you know, she’s been the representative of the ‘Justice For Walker’ case, she got up and spoke about that, and honoured that on the night. And, yeah, just there’s so many different ways, and I think the best way for allies is really supporting and, you know, thinking about all of these different campaigns that are out there, and how we can support them, whether that’s like through petitions online, whether that’s through donations, or how your workplace can can support local local mob and what they’re doing on the ground so.

Nerita Waight 

You’ve also got non-Aboriginal people working in local Aboriginal organisations.
At the legal service we’ve got some wonderful staff and was on full staff now legal before but that’s not really how we see families when it comes to getting justice and further processing. Custody, it means that we can one faction go around accessing superannuation earlier because we will die earlier. It happened to my mum and happened to my uncle too, shortly before

So a few people organisations and why it’s so simple, please, we would highly be structured. As leader even apart from boys such also means that the government is always we still have a really long way to go in this country with resources. And the second thing is that I wanted to have some some food for people they want to find out.

Tanya Hosch

Can I just add something to that? If I had $1 for every time that someone said to me as we were leaving the meeting, ‘I’m so glad you said that’ if you’re an ally, and you’re thinking that can you actually just say it in the room?  Like seriously, just say it in the room or just amplify the voices of the Indigenous people who, you know, sometimes there’ll be things that need to be said by Indigenous people. But it doesn’t mean that you can’t support it. And to support it in the room is really, really important because anyone who does any kind of advocacy knows that you lose skin every time you do it. And the reality is that, particularly if you’re the only Indigenous voice in the room, it’s a heavy weight . And so to share that, if we’re saying that we’re equally concerned or seriously concerned about these issues, just, you don’t have to try and speak for us, but you can certainly amplify and agree to make it clear that you do.

Kimberley Benjamin  

Yeah, I’m just going to add as well on creating safe spaces for us mob to be in you know, this event is a good example, because I’ve watched this NAIDOC panel over the years, and I’ve seen so many mob I know, like my sister, Shannan Dodson, she was involved in the panel a couple of years ago. To see people involved like that, and then to be able to have the opportunity to sit on this panel, it was an easy way to say, I I’ve seen that. I feel like I’ll be good there, I’ll be safe with Tanya and Nerita. And Madi, Madi and I met in 2018, when we volunteered at the National NAIDOC Women’s Conference. We were kind of fresh faces, you know, and I think our main goal, there were sort of volunteers in the media department. But our main goal was to look after the elders, which was so special for us too, you know, just make them cups of tea and make sure they’re alright.

Madison Howarth

I’ll come back to you Tanya, for this, but I will ask all of you. We have a new government. What do you hope the Labor government will act on?

Tanya Hosch 

Ah so many things! Um, Essentially for me, one of the things, something that they’ve been really clear about referendums, so that’s great. But you’ve already said that. I think, I mean, this is a state and territory responsibility, but one of the things that I feel really passionately about is changing  the age of criminal responsibility. I mean it’s absolutely appalling that in Australia we lock up ten-year-old children. And we know that that disproportionately impacts Aboriginal, young people in particular, the research is really clear about the incredibly detrimental impact that has on brain development to go through trauma of a being picked up in a police wagon and strip searched in a police cell at 10 years old. And so, you know, I think the federal government can put in strong leadership out there. The ACT government has already said that they’re going to change the age, but I’m getting the sense that they’re dragging their feet a little bit on that. So I think federal government leadership on this question, it’s going to be really important when all the Attorney Generals meet together, because certainly it’s my understanding that previously, the federal Attorney General wasn’t supportive of this. And I think that nobody decides not to act to decide like I really hope that they take a certain leadership position motion.

Madison Howarth  

Nerita?

Nerita Waight  

Certainly agree with that. But particularly in issues like raise the age and even limitation of the optional protocol is all immoral conduct. Is that it needs a partnership between the federals and the states. In that raise the age discussion, the states will aim to blame the feds, the feds will only blame the states and they will come to a wall because they don’t know how to work together. So what I would like to think. Is them working together. So you’ll find some of those lifetimes that he serves the age because when you go into — a large proportion of the children are Aboriginal, and many of them out there because they are criminalised without care. The things that you would put a child in a timeout and those privileges. So there are some issues that need to be addressed. We also have seen over 500 left in captivity and repeated started for a second and we have not progressed we have regressed in according to data. So that is a national issue, we need to see public determination and also the federal and also at the federal level. Those are some of the big tick items that I would like to think. And I think that if there is a drive within the wider community then that will echo in chambers of parliament.

Kimberley Benjamin  

I know being in the arts I’ve learned a lot of people might be creating in their own lives. And we’ve been through pandemics, I often think about how our mob being affected in that area and hope that the new government can really think about how much art impacts everyone. And how you engage in that trust in, in all members of our life. It’s realy exciting to think in film as a black fella, there are a lot of new initiatives. And a lot of people are really thirsty, for First Nations stories and I really hope that that can continue. So that we are able to do that in the right way to get them available. So we need a big push.

Madison Howarth  

How do we measure progress and hold them accountable?

Tanya Hosch 

Well, to me, I think one of the important parts is actually having access to the data. I think that there is a whole bunch of data that we don’t have access to. And that’s why the conversations about that sovereignty are so critically important. I think it’s sometimes the data that is collected is not necessarily the data that we as First Australian’s would choose to collect. And so, you know, partnerships in that making sure that we’re actually getting access to accurate information, because I think we all know that there’s definitely gaps in the sort of information we get. And then I think it is really that being really clear. For the leadership of peak bodies and service delivery agencies, make sure that they’re supported to have the platforms that they need to speak up about these issues. I think that we’ve come through a really difficult period in political leadership in this country, there’s an unprecedented level of political upheaval over the last 10 years, which has made it really hard to actually create momentum when it comes to some of these really important policy conversation. So I think it’s really important to actually, for us, as First Nations people to make it really clear that we’re not going to vote that we’re not going to be held to ransom for government funding. And that is a really difficult call to make. But I think if we work collectively they can’t really afford to fund anybody. So I think, and I also think that, you know, confirms that the government is showing, you know, the kind of openness to conversations that perhaps we have had for some time. So, and then when we think that work is happening to states and territory and Northern Territory around the treaty conversation, that’s also happening at your dialogue. But it really is about if we want to measure progress, I think that we’ve got to have a mechanism to hold people accountable, and holding political leaders to account and this is where allies come in as well. Because we were going to replicate it’s not enough of us to have massive impact at the ballot box. We’ve got all these cycles in our federal parliament. And I think while we’re not in them, we need to let them know that we’re there to support them as well as just imagine what it will be like for them in their party rooms, things of that nature. So you know, it’s a, it’s a push, it’s pushing in. But really being very clear we can hold people to account.

Madison Howarth

Did you want to add anything to that Nerita? About holding people to account or measuring progress.

Nerita Waight  

Always happy to talk about holding people to account. One thing I will say is that if we are going to collect data, it’s also important that we match data with resources. So often the amount when actual organisations are resourced they are not resourced to meet the situation they’re quite on the face of the wrong data. And so that means that you’re unevenly only scratching the surfaces of the problem as you don’t have the resources to match it.  So for me, get access to data but also make sure that our resources match properly . But also make sure that we have decision making power over how those resources are allocated and how they work for communities. Because every community is very, very different. Services that have worked in Melbourne are not going to work in Mildura, they are not going to work in Botany Bay. These are different communities with different issues. So that’s on that end in terms of everything resulting in data. On accountability, we have certainly seen a lack of it over many years. Both state and federally and this is often led to very tragic circumstances, for our communities. When an Aboriginal person dies, and apparently they are not reported back on, the family doesn’t know what happened. So that’s a lack of accountability. When it comes to how people are treated in prison there is not any accountability there. When it comes to the fact that they do not have the same assets as healthcare as you and I do out here. There is no accountability for that. So until we invent accountability at every level around institutions for state and federally we won’t make progress in my opinion.

Madison Howarth  

Uluru Statement From the Heart campaigned for the support of First Nation’s people and fought for rights in a similar way before. What can we learn from previous?

Tanya Hosch  

I think two main issues. One is that, the one that I always think about is the 1967 referendum and, despite how it looks, I wasn’t born then. You know, what was really, really powerful about that the the incredible success of that way, you know, almost 95% of the country voted yes, it was like that. And that was really critical. But it was also a partnership with Indigenous Australia. But the black leadership was supported, and I think that goes to show that that that works well. I think all of the success we’ve had in Australia, in progressing rights of First Peoples have worked on that, on the basis of that kind of model, where a small part of the demographic inside we need to support of all other Australians. But that doesn’t mean that we need to hand over any kind of leadership.

Madison Howarth 

I’ll come to you Kimba. Why is storytelling so important to you? And what role can film play in connecting audiences with First Nations stories?

Kimberley Benjamin  

Certainly it is for our small business, inherently how we live our lives through learning our place in our culture and through family history through creation stories. So I think for a lot of mob involved in the film industry. Its feels like, you know, a natural thing for us to do in just engaging in new forms of that. And, and now we get to, you know, really, we’re in a new era where you’re able to access so many people through different forms of not just television. And like a lot TikTok. So good. So it’s generational and there’s new ways of just being able to shape information and learn and, also, yeah, I think it’s an exciting time to be in the film industry.

Madison Howarth  

Nerita, Future Women have a podcast called ‘There’s No Place Like Home’ and it centres the voices of victims survivors of domestic violence, which is why right here experiences and and their opinions on holding perpetrators to account or feeling justice. Coercive control will be a criminal offence in Queensland by the end of 2023. And Victoria Aboriginal Legal Services has released published the paper addressing coercive control without criminalisation avoiding tools that helped people’s lives. So I wanted to ask you, could you please explain and the Victorian and Aboriginal Legal Service’s stance on criminalisation of coercive control and why you take that stance.

Nerita Waight 

First of all, I just want to acknowledge that, that is the work amplified by the voices in our community. We were very lucky that, that actually started off TikTok and Twitter conversation around coercive control. Which at the time the discussions were closed, because of what was happening in that space. So [inaudible] and then you have a client, as well, as an author. You just have assets of thought, and they are just powerhouses. They worked with us to make sure that we sent it and how important it was within that paper. And to make sure to also watch just in practicality. And the reason why we will have to do more work watch CCGs often enough, they know is the perfect example of basically silence to resolve the tensions. Rather than I was I was doing what I ordered to do, which was conferences, that actually meant attending classes. And many of them were locked up for a very minor and unusual crimes of poverty.  In the case of Nelson, she was arrested for shoplifting and then she lost her life shortly there after. [Inaudible]

Madison Howarth  

Tanya, your leadership comes through quality to advocates from the AFL. The AFL has issues with racism, and highlighting the past few years in particular. And there’s no doubt that this has extended from field a non-playing group to other employees. How is the AFL shifting this culture?

Tanya Hosch

Yeah, I mean, I know I kind of I’m glad that there was a substantial apology offered to Adam. It was still important that we’re prepared and providing safety to applause the audience. The foundation couldn’t have been able to do anything else.   And, you know, to me, that kind of is some of the most important reconciliation that we should be concerned with at the AFL. Certainly our fans have got a massive audience and footprint, and I think the racism, in some ways in the way that Adam highlights racism because of the racism gets looked, overlooked, every minute of every day in some places. And if you think about how many people get involved in football, then you shouldn’t be surprised that we’re going to see massive racism in our game because it’s part of the community. There’s over a million people who are signed up as members of football clubs in the AFL. So that’s like 1 in 24 Australians. Massive footprint, I mean, and even political parties collectively would just die for those numbers. And we’ve had them all season with women’s footy it’s even more impressive in terms of our growth in society. Honestly, I hate racism. But it’s in the air that we breathe. And it’s not just about the name-calling, it’s not just about the racist following on social media, it’s about the institutions and systems that still create the enabling environment for those other things to take place. And so in some ways, I’m glad to work in a place that is forced to have this conversation. So I think that’s part of it. I think in terms of the answer, we do need better legislative remedies for dealing with racism in Australia than we currently have because we know it goes massively unreported. But one of the key things for us in our code is we are really fortunate to have a lot of Indigenous players in the game who are, you know, I know I can’t quite say, but I like to think universally the best players in the game. And, you know, I think it’s a mix of critical mass of numbers of Indigenous people, people of colour. I think having us distributed through our system in decision making roles is critical. So seeing more and more social pressure on people on actual club boards, something that I’m really, really pleased to see the growth in that, because when I started, it was only 1 out of 18 clubs and now they’re 1 in 6. You know, I think about the work of Collingwood Football Club that we’re sure couldn’t have been done with Josiah with the simulator or title. So this is our critical maths, it’s about having people of colour and First Peoples in decision-making roles. And it’s about us looking at the institutional and systemic racism that creates the enabling environment. It is not just about name-calling. And it’s okay if we don’t get perfection, but we’ve got to be consistent. And at the moment, we’re not consistent. And we know that a lot of people have such little faith and good grace in our system to respond properly. But they’re not going to bring it to our attention. But fortunately, we are seeing more people bring it to our attention, how it solves the problem we’re going to talk about so we’ve got to talk about more. That is absolutely what’s happening. And wheeling inside the system of Australian rules footy, it’s definitely grown. And, you know, it’s, again, it’s a collective effort.

Kimberley Benjamin  

Was just gonna add as well, you know, keeping people, holding people to account, we’ve got the Yoka footy show which is here as well, it’s produced by Carla Hart. And I really admire the way that they commentated on, on many of the issues, and being able to give, yeah, football as a voice, give Blackfullas a chance to be able to talk to these issues as well. And, and yeah, that’s another way of being able to spread that message out to the masses, people are tuning in each week on Wednesday night, on NITV and across social media platforms as well. So that’s been really meaningful.

Madison Howarth  

I’ll stay with you then, Kimba. You’re a filmmaker, what changes do you want to see in the film and television industry to improve representation of the mob, and are we seeing improvements there?

Kimberley Benjamin 

Yeah I think, you know, for my generation coming through, we’ve had incredible trailblazers, I mentioned Carla Hart before as well she played a really big role in my career journey, and mentoring me through, through my, through my field. And, and I think people are understanding now that they can’t, can’t go out and make a First Nations story without a First Nation’s mob involved. You know, no stories without us. Stories must involve First Nations mob in key creator roles and that’s the people who get to make decisions in writing in directing. And, and there the ones who get to make those decisions about how we’re represented, and yeah, I think a lot of mob involved in, in film, you know, you can sit down and watch something you can tell straight away, you could see made by mob because it’s talking to us personally. And then it reaches the wider, you know, audiences, reaches out as it reaches people who are engaging in our stories, who want to learn. But it’s also talking to us which is so important, you know? Because we want to learn too, we want to, we want to see our stories represented, we want to see our faces and voices on screens. So, you know, some things I’ve seen in, in the film industry in the past few years is how collaborative filmmaking is, is become more and more prominent and understanding now and, and that’s been, that’s been interesting, these practices of all. Yeah, the standards that are being made that have been, you know, because there have been people who have really fought to be able to get to us, for people like myself to be able to come into industry and assert an agency over our stories. So I worked, I was lucky enough to work on ABC series called Back To Nature; some of you have seen it, some of you haven’t. It was a really beautiful way of, you’ve got, it aired during when most of the east coast was in lockdown last year. And it it spoke to how we connect to landscapes around us, and it was produced by a non-Aboriginal company. But I was engaged as a creative writer, director role. And I took on that role because I also felt safe in that company, and they had executive producers that were Aboriginal. And they really understood that they could not tell stories of our landscape and our country without speaking about First Nations history and some, some, often most of, you know, some of those histories, particularly down here in Victoria, which I worked on two Victorian episodes. You know, you can’t speak about country when, you know, without acknowledging the fact that there have been massacres, and there have been spikes of darkness you know, that we can’t, you know, share, share our country without speaking about those layers of stormy surfaces. And most of these places, you know, people don’t know about it until they learn. Stand on sights that have seen horrible, horrible things happen. So it is changing in the industry, and it’s really exciting. I also, with my work at Garuwa, I work with my co-founder, Genevieve Grieves, and she’s, she’s looking at the way that we can introduce, you know, decolonization into the film industry and what that looks like, engaging in those methods of taking away the hierarchical ways of how we, how, how we share that responsibility of film-making, you know, we, we, we always tell other people’s stories. How those people’s stories that were telling, how do they also have agency, and how, how they can come into those key creative roles. Their stories so they can also step into the role of directing. So it’s exciting. It’s really beautiful to see that people are wanting to shake things up and change the direction.

Madison Howarth  

Tanya, in terms of your time working in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Policy, what have you found organisations do well?

Tanya Hosch  

Hmm. Well. Yes. Okay. I think the organisations that, that do policy the best, in my opinion, and you know, depending on what sort of policy you’re talking about, but if we’re looking at government policy, for example, I think we see the best results really from actually listening to the people who are going to  be the recipients of what that policy delivers. Can’t remember exactly when now, but there’s some, a couple of Harvard professors years ago, professors Holt and Cornell, they did a big research study on Indian economic independence. They sort of had this hypothesis that those Indian communities in North America that had casinos, and were economically strong, they wanted to try and get an understanding of what made those communities so economically prosperous. And, lo and behold, what they discovered was it had nothing to do with casinos, they had everything to do with governance, and indigenous governments, and indigenous people making decisions. Because if you’re dealing with the consequences of your own decisions, guess what, you make better choices most of the time. I’m still trying to get that through to my 14 year old – make good choices! But, I don’t know, she will get there. But, you know, I think making sure that we’re engaging with people who are on the receiving end of what that policy dictates is clearly, you know, what ends up being the most effective practice. And I think the other thing is that we review those policies regularly. You know, sometimes policies will stay aside for decades, and not at all keep up with current trends, and thereby, you know, avoiding some of the critical conversations that really require a review. And that’s why it’s always disheartening when we hear about a new Royal Commission or something like that. And we need those owners to draw a line in the sand and say, enough’s enough. But it shouldn’t have to get to that crisis point, it shouldn’t have to get to the point where so much harm has occurred, before we pull our stance and say, “we need to have another look at this.” We’ve got an opportunity to do that, so policy should be something that is on an ongoing, continuous learning pathway. And that’s certainly informed by the people who are the recipients of those policy measures.

Madison Howarth

Women hold our communities together. They are our strength source of knowledge and guidance. Can you each tell me about a time where the women in your life inspired you and how they influence the work that you do?

Nerita Waight  

Yes, just so you know, I think it’s important to know that it’s not too hard to centre people with experience in policy work. And we’ve been doing it for quite some time now, but this presumably says go about your business. Again, show us all the data security protocols, but, you have the most interesting, informative discussion with mob who seem to understand what will work and what will not. And I’ve been lucky enough, those of us who do badly by government this automatic is to add a rapport with their solutions, because their solutions are just easy, simple, they are looking at policy circumstance, they break it down from what was being done when they were 5, when they were 10 and when they were 15, up until they are an adult. So I think it’s really important that those organisations engage in of policy, you will ensure that you have, that you have listened, will inform your policy not contributing, informing and (…) You will be rewarded because you’ll have more meaningful work. And you’ll have something in the business state of mind and (…). In terms of review, you’d find me I’m lucky to come from a family of a lot of Aboriginal women. My great grandmother had 15 children. Yep, pretty hard work. One of them was my grandmother, who then, sadly she passed in 1965. So she died. But my mum was born in 1962, went through a really hard time at school because, back then, black kids weren’t thought from our country.  They were seen as from farms and see how it turns out that she’s in the story of perseverance. You know, she battled being raised into it because obviously, my grandmother had passed. She values her education. She made it decide into healthcare and usually when he talks about how you can work with personal perspectives really incredible title and all that and the single market The font that pops out straight from my original master synthesiser because every day, she led without the she engaged in with humility. She listened to ours. And she always made sure that she had time anybody

Kimberley Benjamin  

Yeah, I think we’re lucky, we have so many women that we are surrounded by, you know, most of us are matriarchal and our, it’s the women who keep our communities together. I think about my own mother who is similar to Maria, she was born in 1960, and 7 years before the 1967 referendum. You just think, like, that’s within our lifetime. And I happen to sit and reflect on, on how much, you know, our mothers, our aunties, and that has been through for us to sit on this stage today. I think about my Aunt Bella a lot as well, she’s typing away. And she’s the funniest character, and I often just get random text messages where she just will send me a photo of my great granny or someone with no context, you know? And I’m like, “oh thanks Aunty Bella!” But, you know, those ways are how we, yeah, how we keep connected to our, our values and our community. And I also feel really lucky to have a beautiful system and also things continue. Lilly Brown, she’s a proud Gumbaynggirr woman from Coffs Harbour. And she’s taken on the role, she’s now executive of Headspace, in a new role with the First Nations lead. And she’s my, like, I called her up last night to talk, to talk through this panel and what I could contribute to it. And she’s who I go to everyday for advice. She lives in Broome now, but she still here and was one of the reasons why I moved over this land. But, yeah, think about her role that she plays now in caring for our mob’s mental health. And, you know, keeping people accountable, keeping organisations in government accountable, and, and, and how she operates in, in that space, and how she agitates, and how she challenges every day to make sure that when she’s on that executive level that she’s really similar to both of you and how your work enriches multimedia the most. Unfortunately, you know, the Kimberley region has one of the highest suicide rates in the country. And, so, yeah, I think a lot of that was similar in how she came into my life and has said what’s happening, yeah. Do I swap the mic over?

Tanya Hosch

So, a long, long time ago, in a land far, far away. I’ve remember going through a stage in my early 20s where, you know, I was very fired up to change the world and working alongside a lot of Aboriginal men, young men in that process. We were, you know, really, so enthusiastic and idealistic, and that’s a good thing to be at that age. But a number of senior women sort of took me aside and, sort of acknowledged, or basically said, “look. Okay? You’re going to do all this work, and by this men are going to get all the credit for it.” You know like that old feminist cartoon? “Oh, that’s an excellent suggestion Tanya. Perhaps a man would like to suggest it, and then we can act on it.” And that was definitely my out but I was just so happy to be there, I wasn’t really analysing what was going on I was just so grateful to be in the room. But what I said to me was, “just keep doing the work, because eventually people will realise you’re the one that keeps standing up and doing the work.” And I feel like that was really great advice because I couldn’t, once my eyes were open to that dynamic. Because I think it’s often hard for young (…) to talk about sexism amongst First Nations people, because we’ve got enough to deal with. But it was really important insight for me; it gave me permission to assert myself as a business woman of colour, and as a Torres Strait Islander woman. I’m really grateful because I could’ve gotten really disheartened and just gone away, and just found a corner where it didn’t matter, but it really has turned me on. And it also gave me insight into what they had dealt with, where it was much more difficult than it was for me. So, yeah, I think that is the sort of advice that I have found inspiring because when you’re doing the work that you’re passionate about, and that you know is important, and that you would do for free if you didn’t have to earn a living, it’s, it’s important to realise that you don’t have the luxury of giving up.

Madison Howarth

We’re unfortunately running out of time, but I could sit here and ask you questions all day. So I’ll ask you one, one final thing. What is one thing that you want everyone to take away from today?

Nerita Waight  

One thing, even if it’s just that. One thing is just to know that First Nations communities are not just stories of the same disadvantage. We are stories of adversity yes, but strength and determination and purpose and even solutions. And most of the lesson of the generations, you didn’t get a nicer family child. So that country ties it all together. So, that’s something I’d like you to take for that extra thing, is that basically, if you are interested in presenting justice issues, reach out to Aboriginal legal services in your states and territories. (that also) produces a volume of work, in advocacy status and all that sort of thing, take on etc. So please get engaged in that. And if you’re interested in optics and custom for dissection for that connection, do a fantastic job supporting fans that…

Kimberley Benjamin  

I’d say, just channel the energy in this room that we’ve created today, and think about the ways that you can take this into your own worlds. Yeah, I recently engaged with a beautiful scholar Dr. Mary Graham. And she speaks about, you know, Aboriginal principles of ethics of care for us, for each other, and our communities. She’s, you know, she speaks about saying

Tanya Hosch

I’ve been thinking a lot about conflicts of power, and how people use power, and how, certainly there’s lots of moments in time I’ve said I don’t feel like I’ve got any power at all. But what I realised is that collectively we can always find this power. So if it’s as an individual, it’s important to think about how we can collectively come together.

Kimberley Benjamin  

Th land is what is law and you are not alone. And I always think about that, especially living off country. And yeah, I would, something that resonates with you and how you can take that from NAIDOC Week into the rest of the year, so, have a good NAIDOC Week.

Tanya Hosch

A dear friend of mine introduced me to a great James Baldwin quote, that I’ve actually forgotten about. And I think that’s why I keep thinking about this issue of power. James Baldwin wrote, you know, and he has, you know, power allied with ignorance is the most ferocious enemy that justice can have. And so, I think, think about one collective action you can take on something that you know is clearly important to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. And Nerita’s just told you where you can go to pick up some of that information and direction if you’re not sure, or somebody doesn’t imediately come to your mind about what that should be. But even when we’re feeling weak, if we choose not to use our voices then we’re giving any power or agency we’ve had up. And we all come from a long line, as in, you know, as (versus) shows, we’ve come from a long line of proud people who forward us to suit up and stand up and show up and all of that sort of thing. You don’t have to do it on your own, do it collectively, even if it’s just half a dozen of you go up to your local MP and, you know. Please to be willing to think about the fact that in this country we would lock up 10 year old kids. And if we really want to do something about preventing more deaths in custody, we really have to stop, you know, letting such young children to end up in prison at that age.

Madison Howarth

Thank you all so much for your time. Your, your insiders have such thoughtful responses, and I love everyone for joining me. Thank you. Thank you all, as well, for being here and kicking off NAIDOC Week in this way. It’s so great to see such a full room of people who are willing to come together and, and hopefully have a lot of things to take away to think about and to act on as well. I’d also like to thank our partners, Witchery and Maurice Blackburn, and I thought I’d give a shout-out to all the amazing black women who were our suppliers today. We’ve got aunty Kylie Hill over there who did the art, she’s also got some beautiful earrings so go and talk to her about those. And of course, photographer Jacinta Keefe. Kaydee and Nikita did our make-up. Go follow her at @ITHINKSHEAFREAK on Instagram. I’d now like to introduce Keeley Meijer to say a few words to wrap up today. Keeley is, completed year 12 in 2015 at Pymble Lady’s College on an AIEF scholarship, and she’s now pursuing university studies and balancing this with part time work as a tennis coach and a model. So, I’ll hand over to Keeley.

Keeley Meijer 

Thank you to you guys, and being here having a conversation with us today. Good morning everyone. My name is Keeley Meijer, and I’m a proud Aboriginal woman from Gunditjmara and also a (Djabwurrung) woman. I also am the great-grandaughter of Captain Reginald Saunders, who was the first man to be commissioned in the Aboriginal army. But I’m also an AIEF alum. I would like to thank Tony Garvey for his moving Welcome to Country. I too would like to pay my respects to the traditional owners of the land on which we gather and pay respects to elders past, present, and future. A big thank you to all to the wonderful speakers we’ve heard from today. It is truly inspiring to share the room with so many strong female leaders. May your voices continue to shape a kinder, more equal and inclusive future for generations to come. There has never been a more important time to get up, stand up and show up for change. I would like to thank Future Women for asking me to speak with you today. Future Women is a supporter of the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation, also known as AIEF. I graduated and attended high school at Pymbal Ladies College in the northern suburbs of Sydney in 2015 on an AIEF intense scholarship through Evonne Goolagong Cawley. When I first received the news on attending a prestigious boarding school, I cried. And it wasn’t happy tears either. I remember my dad being incredibly proud of me. But my mom, on the other hand, she dreaded the day I left. Throughout my time at Pymbal I dedicated most of my time to training and competing for tennis, and, as well as furthering my education. One of the subjects I enjoyed most of all was physical education. This has led me to study the Bachelor of Health and Physical Education with a minor in social work. People hardly to realise how important children are, whether it’s in sport or in the classroom or in general. Children are a major part of our future generation and I hope to make a change and encourage them to be the best they can be. Since leaving high school, I’ve faced many personal challenges. In my second year of university, my beautiful mum passed away, as well as at a young age at the age of 39. And I was left with all her responsibilities at 19. University was the last thing on my mind, the my mental health being the priority. I strongly believe mental health is the most important aspect in our lives. So with that in mind, I made the decision, I took a leave of absence from uni. However, life works in mysterious ways. I’m now a model for WINK agency and a plus-sized body positive advocate, tennis coach, and also our after school care coordinator for YMCA, our local school in Bendigo. And being the only Aboriginal educator, I get to educate and integrate my culture in my services. I never thought I could be doing what I’m doing and have the opportunity to share my short story today with you all. To this day, the biggest achievement I have is simple. I’m the first person on my father’s side of the family to graduate from high school. Being receiving, before receiving AIEF’s scholarship, education was the last thing on my mind. I didn’t care much of it. I didn’t have any goals besides attending college tennis in America. Today, my goals are to be a positive role for children, to be someone in their lives who encourages, cares, laughs, and believes in then when maybe no one else does. The other is to share the message through social media and hopefully campaign that every body is beautiful in their own way. So today I feel incredibly honoured and thankful to have been invited to this event and to be in the presence of so many other incredible women. I’m sure many of us are feeling empowered, and in awe of being confident, even more so an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander. Happy NAIDOC Week, and thank you.

Jamila Rizvi

Thank you Keeley and thanks again AIEF we’re sharing her with us this morning. We’re always blown away by the AIEF graduates who attend Future Women events and Keeley is certainly one of them who impresses us every time. Folks, I’m going to wrap it up really briefly. Thanks again for our incredible panel. Thank you to our wonderful sponsors Maurice Blackburn, who continue to fight for justice for all Australians, including First Nations people. Please look out in your emails today; we are gifting everyone a Red membership to Future Women to say Happy NAIDOC Week to all of you. Come and join the conversation in our community. To the dapper looking blokes, you are very welcome as well. You’re also welcome to share that membership with a woman in your life if you’d prefer. We hope to make all of you welcome at our Melbourne and Victoria events in future. It feels really good to be back. Thank you for being here today. Thank you to the First Nations people in the room, happy NAIDOC Week to you. Thank you to the allies for showing up. Let’s continue that spirit in the coming weeks, months, years. Have a wonderful NAIDOC Week.