Latest news with #AboriginalCommunity
SBS Australia
5 days ago
- General
- SBS Australia
From horror to healing: a truth-telling journey on a Bass Strait island
From horror to healing: a truth-telling journey on a Bass Strait island Published 9 July 2025, 8:57 am On Flinders Island in Bass Strait sits a little-known place, significant to not only Tasmanian and the nation's history, but global history. It's known as Wybalenna and it's a place of deep sorrow for the Aboriginal community. More recently, the community has been working to make it a more comfortable place to spend time and continue the truth-telling that's been happening since colonisation. This year marking NAIDOC week at the site with a flag raising in what's believed to be a first. A warning to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander viewers that the following story contains images of people who have died.
New York Times
7 days ago
- New York Times
‘Hallmarks of Institutional Racism' Found in Police Killing of Aboriginal Man
A white police officer who fatally shot an Aboriginal teenager during an arrest attempt in 2019 held racist views that were 'normalized' in his department, a public inquiry found Monday in a long-awaited report that cast a harsh light on policing culture in Central Australia. A coroner read out the findings of the two-year-long inquest into the killing of 19-year-old Kumanjayi Walker in his outback community of Yuendumu, where he was shot three times by Constable Zachary Rolfe of the Northern Territory Police Department. The public inquiry found that before the shooting, the police force had ignored repeated complaints about Mr. Rolfe's violent treatment of Aboriginal people and that he had previously shared videos of forceful arrests with his family and friends, apparently for entertainment. Mr. Rolfe, 33, was charged with murder, a rare instance for a police officer in the line of duty. He has maintained that he shot Mr. Walker in self-defense, and was acquitted after a jury trial in 2022. The case touched off protests and became a rallying cry over police mistreatment of Indigenous Australians, a minority that is arrested and incarcerated at much higher rates than the rest of the population. The public uproar over and interest in the case had centered around what, if any, role racism had played in the fateful encounter between the two men. Mr. Rolfe fired the shots after he was stabbed by Mr. Walker in the shoulder with a pair of scissors during a scuffle. The teenager was dragged, bleeding, into a police vehicle as relatives watched. In her findings on Monday, Elisabeth Armitage, the coroner for the Northern Territory, said: 'I am satisfied that Mr. Rolfe was racist and that he worked in and was the beneficiary of an organization with hallmarks of institutional racism.' She traveled to the community — a three-hour drive from the nearest airport — to deliver her findings before residents in a dusty courtyard lined with gum trees, just a few streets away from the red-walled house belonging to Mr. Walker's grandmother, where he was killed. Want all of The Times? Subscribe.
SBS Australia
7 days ago
- Health
- SBS Australia
NAIDOC: Celebrating First Nations excellence
Songs sung in Kalaw Kawaw Ya, a language from the western and central Torres Strait Islands, opening this year's National NAIDOC Week Awards Ceremony. The annual awards honour Indigenous excellence, recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people whose work improves the lives of others in their communities and beyond. Co-Chair of the ceremony, Steven Satour says the 2025 celebration is an especially momentous one, marking five decades since NAIDOC week was established to honour and elevate Indigenous voices, culture, and resilience. "50 years. That's how long this movement has been growing, holding us and reminding this nation who we are tonight, we honor that journey and celebrate the strength, the spirit, and the stories that got us here." The prestigious NAIDOC Person of the Year award this year recognising one Jaru and Indjibarndi man's trailblazing work in Indigenous health- "Ok, this is it. The big one- the 2025 National NAIDOC Person of the Year award goes to Dr Daniel Hunt." Dr Hunt is a General Practitioner and Dentist, and has worked widely in the Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation sector. He is the Deputy Chair of the Blood Borne Viruses and Sexually Transmitted Infection Advisory Committee for Western Australia, and has made major contributions to managing the Australian Syphilis epidemic. He says this years' NAIDOC week theme- The Next Generation: Strength, vision and legacy- resonates with his own way of thinking about advocacy and how positive change builds over time. "Legacy is the thing that I turn to most because it is what I look at, look back at when I do any of the work I do, or the advocacy that I have for Aboriginal Health because it is those who have come before us, those trailblazers who really have paved the way for how we conduct themselves. One of our elders at the previous organization I worked at, we used to speak about how much work there is to do in Aboriginal healthcare, but we also have to really look at the amazing work that we have done." He says the honour of being awarded NAIDOC Person of the Year is one he shares with all other nominees and recipients. "We have to be absolutely proud of what has been accomplished and what all the amazing people accomplished. I'm incredibly proud, the term Black Excellence can't be expressed enough. When I see what is happening in Australia and in this room and the people who have won the awards this evening, these awards aren't all any individual awards. Hannah and Bianca, these are our awards because this is the work of everyone that has come before us." Among the other nine recipients, AFL legend and influential Indigenous rights advocate Michael Long has been awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award. In 2004, the Anmatjere and Marranunggu man walked from Melbourne to Canberra to call the government to action on Indigenous issues. His leadership inspired the birth of The Long Walk — a national movement for reconciliation, education, action and unity. Mr Long says his career in AFL has given him the strength and opportunity he's been determined to give back to others. "I just want to say this game has given me so much, but hopefully I've given back and has created an opportunity and pathway for so many of our young men and women. This is an award I'll treasure." Alongside Mr Hunt and Mr Long, Rosalie Kickett has been honoured as Female Elder of the Year. The award recognises Ms Kickett's work in mental health support, suicide prevention and women's safety, as well as her dedication to empowering First Nations incarcerated men. "I'm truly honored and I'm truly humbled, deeply humbled. Honestly, I still am a little shocked. I never expected this. I never walked this path for recognition. I did it for my community here, for my mort ((mob)), my family, and for those who no longer have a voice." It was loss of life in her own community that motivated Ms Kickett to train others in suicide prevention. "After all the loss of suicides in my hometown, I thought I wanted to make a difference. So I went and even though I mental health practitioner, I thought I needed to take this mental health first aid out into the communities." This years' Youth Award has gone to another woman dedicated to improving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health- Anika Gosling, a young Wadjuk Noongar woman who works as a School Psychologist. 25 year old Danielle Ponter has also been recognised at the ceremony- celebrated for her achievements with the Sportsperson Award. The Marranunggu and Anmatjere woman is a two-time premiership AFLW player, and she says her uncle, co-award winner Michael Long, has been her inspiration. "I'm here tonight with my uncle Michael Long and the rest of my family, and to have someone like that, a part of my family and to not turn out the way that I have, it would be crazy. He's done so much work for our community and I grew up around that. So it's been instilled in me from a young age, and that's why I do the things that I do, and it's why I'm so passionate about giving back to community because it's been around me my whole life." For Natasha Wanganeen, Finalist for the Creative Talent Award, this years NAIDOC theme 'The Next Generation: Strength, vision and legacy', is all about this celebration of cross-generational impact and change. "A lot of trailblazers have made this happen for us over the years, so it is beautiful to see everybody in the next generation come up and just celebrate each other."
SBS Australia
04-07-2025
- SBS Australia
Heartbroken but hoping for change: Kumanjayi Walker's family prepare for coroner's final report
Kumanjayi Walker was only 19 when he died on November 9, 2019, after former Northern Territory police officer Zachary Rolfe shot him three times at close range in his home community of Yuendumu. For more than five long years his family has fought for whatever justice they might be able to find. The coronial inquest into the teenager's death, beset by delays and extensions, has run for several years. As the family prepare for the Northern Territory's coroner to hand down her final report on Monday, they are calling for truth and accountability. Rolfe was charged with murder after the shooting but acquitted at trial. Over three years, the coronial inquest has heard hundreds of hours of evidence from Kumanjayi Walker's family, community members, Aboriginal leaders and police officers. His family said in a statement that the testimony has been heartbreaking and confronting, shining a light on the failings that contributed to Kumanjayi's death, including systemic racism throughout the ranks of NT Police , Zachary Rolfe's background and conduct on the night of the shooting. "The inquest testimony confirmed our family's belief that Rolfe is not a 'bad egg' in the NT Police force, but a symptom of a system that disregards and brutalises our people," they said. "Crucially, the inquest heard evidence backing a return to full community-control, stating what yapa (Aboriginal people) have always known: when we can self-determine our futures and self-govern our communities, our people are stronger, our outcomes are better, our culture thrives." Family spokesperson Samara Fernandez-Brown said the death of her cousin has devastated their family and the Warlpiri community. "We miss him and feel his loss deeply every single day, it will stain our country for generations to come," she said. 'The inquest into his death has been gruelling, shocking and devastating." Throughout the inquest, Kumanjayi's family and community have stood strong, showed up and listened to all the ways that he was failed, Ms Fernandez-Brown said. 'Racism killed Kumanjayi – racism from NT Police, the NT Government, from Zachary Rolfe, yet none of them have ever been held to account for Kumanjayi's death," she said. 'We are heartbroken and exhausted after many long years, but we are hoping change is coming. "We have faith that the truth will finally be told, and want to see real change so that we can finally start our healing." Senior Warlpiri Elder Ned Hargraves issued a request to Acting NT Police Commissioner Martin Dole. 'If the NT Police come to Yuendumu for the findings, we ask you this: come with no guns, and come with an intention to hear us and listen to us," he said. 'We are not interested in Martin Dole coming to Yuendumu just with empty words. "If he is just coming to say sorry he is not welcome - how many times have they said sorry and still harmed us?" During the inquest for Kumanjayi Walker Warlpiri people called for no more guns in the community. "If Dole comes with news of real change that would be different, if he said police would put down their guns like we wanted, yes, he would be welcome," Uncle Ned said. "But they are now giving out more guns to more police to shoot our people." Throughout the inquest Warlpiri families and communities have been calling for an independent police ombudsman; power returned to Yuendumu and Aboriginal communities through self-governance, self-determination and full community control; divestment from prisons and punitive policing, and investment in culturally safe, community-led alternatives; the banning of guns and an end to the excessive use of force and racially discriminatory policing and a reckoning with the NT's mass incarceration crisis, especially the systematic over-incarceration of Aboriginal people and criminalisation of children. Kumanjayi's family and community have travelled to Alice Springs courthouse for hearings since the inquest began in 2022. "While we have waited for these findings another young Warlpiri man, Kumanjayi White, was taken from us when he died in police custody in Alice Springs in May this year," their statement said. "This loss has left us heartbroken once again, but we are determined to keep fighting for justice for all our people. "The Coroner has heard our truth, she has come to our community, she has heard expert evidence, which supports our calls for change: changes which will establish a sense of hope for our people. "If the Coroner does not include these recommendations in her findings, we will feel heartbroken and utterly let down." The coronial inquest into Kumanjayi Walker's death began in September 2022. Coroner Elisabeth Armitage is due to hand down her final report on Country in Yuendumu on Monday.
ABC News
04-07-2025
- Politics
- ABC News
Vic government working on ongoing Indigenous representative body
The Victorian Government says it's working on how the First Peoples' Assembly can become an ongoing representative body to advise on certain government decisions. It says the peak Aboriginal body will have a direct line to ministers and departments to consult on laws that directly affect First Peoples, but will not have veto powers on policy or legislation.
