Davina’s Blog

The Coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peak Organisations (Coalitions of Peaks), alongside all Australian governments, has tasked the Productivity Commission with reviewing progress and making recommendations to ensure the objectives of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap are met. The Agreement emerged from the recognition that previous government efforts were not improving […]

Human Rights Commission Findings In July 2024, the Human Rights Commission released a report highlighting the persistent issue of racism within Australian politics. The report found that governments at all levels in Australia show a lack of willingness to address and combat racism. This conclusion was drawn from a thorough analysis of publicly available information

On the 13th of February 2008, a pivotal moment in Australia’s history unfolded—the National Apology to the Stolen Generations and their descendants. The event marked a significant step toward acknowledging the painful chapters of the past, a gesture aimed at healing wounds and fostering unity. Yet, it’s imperative for all of us to recognise the

Dr. Peggy McIntosh is Associate Director of the Wellesley College Centre for Research on Women and author of the White Privilege Theory There are opposites of the terms ‘normal’ and ‘privilege’. If ‘white-skinned’ people are normal and privileged, people whose skin is other than ‘white’ are abnormal and disadvantaged. Such logic makes First Peoples abnormal

Undertaken by four young First Nations men from the east of the continent, the political action of 1972 witnessed the establishment of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy (Clark 2008) and recognition of the Aboriginal Flag. It was the first time the international media had noted the social and political struggle of Australia’s First Peoples. Initially. Police,

Reframing Assimilation The period spanning from the 1930s to the 1970s in Australia was deeply marked by the policy of ‘assimilation.’ While anti-assimilations, led by activists like Ferguson, Patten, Gibbs, and Cooper, were combating the government’s restrictive assimilation policies that aimed to curtail First Peoples rights and cultural practices (Maynard 2007).   Assimilation in Policy

The Art of ‘Yarning’ Across various societies, storytelling takes on the form of ‘yarning,’ a term deeply rooted in the dialects of Aboriginal English among the First Peoples of Australia. Pay homage to First Peoples ways of being in our everyday lives by embracing ‘yarning,’. A yarn, at its core, delves into human experiences, and

A Time of Desolation As the latter years of the 1870s bathed the Far North Queensland goldfields in drought, the region was plagued by a dire crisis. First Peoples faced the harsh grip of starvation, a plight exacerbated by the depletion of game and natural water sources during the dry years of 1877 to 1879[i]

The Power of Marginalised Voices First Peoples scholars often find themselves described as writing from the margins—a term sometimes used pejoratively. Yet, this mode of writing is much more than that; it is a strategic articulation from our unique standpoint. It is a deliberate act aimed at centring our cosmologies, allowing Non-Indigenous Peoples to grasp

Many still hold a vision that prioritises social justice for all Australians. Such people see as an imperative enacting all of the recommendations from the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody, and the Bringing Them Home Report. It is also believed that taking firm action on the key topics outlined by the Council for