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EPISODE 134 FEATURES CULTURE IS LIFE CEO, BELINDA DUARTE
Belinda Duarte is a former athlete and educator, current inspirational leader, formidable female exec, proud First Nations Australian and the inspiration for Series 5 - #sharethepodcastmic
As a sprinter and heptathlete, she trailed for the Commonwealth and the Olympic Games. She was the inaugural director of the Korin Gamadji Institute (more below), and integral to the establishment and development of the AFL SportsReady’s National Indigenous Program. In 2012, Belinda was voted Football Woman of the Year. Today, she is CEO of Culture is Life, working to empower young people through Indigenous-led solutions and cultural connection.
While this Episode is just in time for January 26th - a significant day in Australia; it's time to #changethedate - there is lots more up for discussion: from Belinda's family story, to sustainability and Indigenous wisdom, raising strong young people, ethical leadership and how we can use sport and culture to move towards reconciliation.
Find Belinda here.
See her takeover of Clare’s Instagram here.
“SPORT IS PART OF THE AUSTRALIAN IDENTITY AND OFFERS A CHANCE TO DEEPEN UNDERSTANDING AND BROADEN ENGAGEMENT. IT'S AN EXPRESSION OF TALENT, PERSPECTIVE AND INCLUSION IN A RANGE OF DIFFERENT COMMUNITIES." - BELINDA DUARTE
SHARE THE MIC NOW AUSTRALIA is a social media initiative to amplify Indigenous voices in Australia. Follow here.
THE KORIN GAMADJI INSTITUTE, based at the Richmond Football Club, is an educational and training facility that supports and incubates leadership and employment pathways for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth aged between 14 and 21 years. Find them here.
CULTURE IS LIFE is an organisation that promotes Aboriginal-led solutions, which deepen connection to Culture, for Aboriginal young people to prevent suicide. It also advocates to reframe Australia’s relationship with its First Peoples.
The incidence of suicide among Aboriginal young people aged 15 to 24 is four times higher than that of non- Aboriginal young people. The prevalence of intentional self-harm among Aboriginal
young people is more than two times higher than for non-Aboriginal young people. The
interconnected issues of cultural dislocation, personal trauma and the ongoing stresses of
disadvantage, racism, alienation and exclusion have contributed to heightened risk of mental
health problems, substance misuse and suicide among Aboriginal people.
Culture is Life recognises the complexity of the issue and the interplay of social, cultural and systemic determinants of health that heighten the risk of suicide. Drawing on growing evidence that cultural strength influences the health and well-being of First Nations peoples globally as a protective factor, Culture is Life backs Aboriginal-led solutions that deepen connection to culture and country for Aboriginal young people. Read more at www.cultureislife.org
THE AUSTRALIAN DREAM is Adam Goodes’ and Stan Grant’s award-winning film, which explores race, identity and belonging in Australia today.
Culture is Life’s MY AUSTRALIAN DREAM CAMPAIGN extends the impact of the film, calling for all Australians to watch it. It expands on the content of the film through personal interviews, raises awareness and localises conversations through educational resources to consider an Australian Dream we can all be proud of.
Watch STAN GRANT give his iconic speech here.
“Thousands of voices rose to hound an Indigenous man. A man who was told he wasn’t Australian. A man who was told he wasn’t Australian of the Year. And they hounded that man into submission. I can’t speak for what lay in the hearts of the people who booed Adam Goodes. But I can tell you what we heard when we heard those boos. We heard a sound that was very familiar to us. We heard a howl. We heard a howl of humiliation that echoes across two centuries of dispossession, injustice, suffering and survival. We heard the howl of the Australian dream and it said to us again, you’re not welcome.”
TERRA NULLIUS is a Latin term meaning "nobody's land". British colonisation and subsequent Australian land laws were established on the claim that Australia was terra nullius, justifying acquisition by British occupation without treaty or payment. This effectively denied Indigenous people’s prior occupation of and connection to the land.
MABO In the 1971 Gove land rights case, Justice Blackburn ruled that Australia was terra nullius prior European settlement. This judgement was unsuccessfully challenged by subsequent cases in 1977, 1979 and 1982. However, on the 20th May 1982, Eddie Koiki Mabo and 4 other Indigenous Meriam people began their legal claim for ownership of their traditional lands on the island of Mer in the Torres Strait. Mabo and his companions claimed that the Meriam people had:
continuously inhabited and exclusively possessed these lands
lived in permanent settled communities
had their own political and social organisation
On these grounds, the Mabo case sought recognition of the Meriam people’s rights to this land. It took 10 years, but finally they won. Eddie Mabo was not around to see the victory - he died months before the decision was handed down.
The High Court’s judgement in the Mabo case resulted in the introduction of the doctrine of native title into Australian law, removing the myth of terra nullius and establishing a legal framework for native title claims by Indigenous Australians. The judgement ruled that the common law as it existed:
violated international human rights norms
denied the historical reality of Indigenous people's dispossession
Native title:
recognises that Indigenous Australians have a prior claim to land taken by the British Crown since 1770
replaces the “legal fiction” of terra nullius, which formed the foundation of British claims to land ownership in Australia Via Australianstogether.org.au
Image via NITV
“Australia Day was not consistently celebrated on 26 January as a public holiday in all states and territories until 1994.” Read this, and 9 more things you should know about JANUARY 26, via NITV
INVASION DAY Read this powerful op-ed by Luke Pearson.
Find MUNDANARA BAYLES’ Black Magic Woman podcast here.
Watch the Global Oneness interview with UNCLE MAX HARRISON, below:
ETHICAL LEADERSHIP The Vincent Fairfax Fellowship aims to help participants to define, understand and address their ethical challenges to help them make decisions with confidence and clarity. More here.
BE AN ALLY Clare ask Belinda, what can non-Aboriginal Australians do to connect with this work and be part of the change? Know your traditional lands, says Belinda. Connect, be curious, watch the docos and read the books. Businesses, join Reconciliation Australia here.
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