Tag: Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander

The Federal Government is set to defund the peak National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Legal Services (NATSILS) and all law reform and policy officer positions in affiliates across the country today. The $9 million of cuts would mean the appalling over-representation of incarcerated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is likely to get worse. Read more »

Our Constitution is missing a crucial part of the Australian story – there’s not one mention of the tens of thousands of years of history of the First Australians, nor the unique contribution that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people continue to make today. In fact, whilst there are parts that mention lighthouses, beacons, buoys […] Read more »

Lorna Schmider-Woodcock is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander woman from Brisbane. She currently lives in Canberra where she is an Indigenous cadet through the Australian Public Service Commission program at the National Museum of Australia. On December 10th and 11th, 2012, I attended the Indigenous Knowledge is Eternal: Knowledge and Culture Sharing in Indigenous […] Read more »

Bonnie Hook brings us her third – and final – ChangeCourse blog post and emotions are running high! Read more »

This is the first in a series of blog posts from the scene of ChangeCourse 2012, where young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from around Australia have come together to work with Oxfam on bringing about positive change in their communities and themselves. Read more »

A new series of concerts called Rock for Recognition have been initiated in order to raise awareness and promote the need for recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the Australian Constitution. The inaugural Rock for Recognition headlined by Dan Sultan will tour to Melbourne, Sydney, Perth and Fremantle and features a varied […] Read more »

Last weekend, campaigners and volunteers hit footy grounds across the country to talk to fans about Indigenous health inequality, as part of the Close the Cap National Rugby League round. When I left home early on Saturday morning, I must admit to being slightly nervous about the reception we would receive. League fans are out to […] Read more »

For the fifth year running, the NRL is dedicating a round of matches to Close the Gap – Australia’s largest campaign to improve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health. The round (3-6 August) will raise awareness of Indigenous health inequalities, but also encourage further cooperation to Close the Gap between our leaders and communities! Remind […] Read more »

For the fourth year running the NRL is again dedicating an entire round of their premiership to the Close the Gap Issue, the largest Australian campaign to improve indigenous health. The NRL’s Close the Gap round last year reached over three million people with the message of health equality. This year the Close the Gap […] Read more »

by Oxfam intern Jarrod Strauch On 27 January 1972, at just shy of one in the morning, four young Aboriginal men planted a beach umbrella on the lawn in front of Parliament House. They were there in response to Prime Minister William McMahon’s newly-announced policy on Aboriginal land rights – a policy which announced that while […] Read more »