Hi, My name is Kerri Reilly, Director of Aboriginal Health and Research Translation for
Central Adelaide Local Health Network.
I'm of Ngarrindjeri descent, I'm a mother, I'm a grandmother, wife, sister,
Aboriginal community member.
This year's NAIDOC theme 'Because of Her We Can' means many different things for me.
It invokes many different feelings, for myself as a daughter, as a mother, as a sister, as
a wife, as a grandmother or nanna.
But above all, it reminds me of the really unique and special role that Aboriginal women
have in our society and what they contributed to over time.
The history of our Aboriginal women and their continued journey that they endure both in
a contemporary setting is like no other in Australian society and often the stories of
our women go unspoken.
This year's theme also reminds me of the amazing quiet achievers and the work that we also
need to continue to do for equity in terms of life expectancy, education, employment,
opportunities, economic security and above all, the safety for Aboriginal women and children.
And I think that this theme, this year's theme, epitomizes all of those things and it reminds us to reflect
on where we've been and where we are going, but also what we also have to celebrate; our
women are amazing, they come in all shapes, forms, and I think that that is also something
to be recognised, because there is beauty in Aboriginal culture, there's beauty in pain,
and there's beauty in the successes of our community, and I think that this year's theme
gives us an opportunity to celebrate all of those things.
I think also too, it's an opportunity for all of the community, to get together, and
not just Aboriginal community, it's an opportunity for non-Aboriginal people to come and experience
the successes of Aboriginal communities, of individuals, and what's actually been achieved.
NAIDOC is also a time I think that we can take stock of where we've been but also what
we still need to do.
I think it's a great time to showcase all the amazing things that are happening at local
levels within organisations, within communities, within families, at a state level,
but also nationally, and I just think it's a really positive time of the year where we can come
together to demonstrate that we are a resilient community and that there are lots of things
to be incredibly proud of and to be celebrated, but also a time to think about what more needs
to be done and how do we progress the journey?
I think that there are lots of opportunities for the Aboriginal community and non-Aboriginal
community to come together to share history.
It's really important to have a shared understanding of what that history is, because that speaks
volumes about how we can progress our Reconciliation journey as well.
Aboriginal people are Australia's First Nations Peoples; we have a long and enduring connection
to this Country, and that's a really, really important story to tell, irrespective of how
painful that that might be, for both our Aboriginal community and non-Aboriginal community to
understand and accept that history, and it is a shared history since colonization,
it is a shared history.
There are plenty of opportunities.
And I think within work places and communities, whether it is sporting groups, whether it's
through schools, whether it's in your place of employment, or education, there are safe
places for non-Aboriginal people to ask those questions and unpack their own knowledge of
Aboriginal history.
I think we rely heavily, on mainstream media to inform us, but there are other ways to
actually get that information around Aboriginal history.
In terms of how we might celebrate or share information about the journeys of Aboriginal
women, again, there are a number of places and spaces where that can actually occur.
For us, the role of the Gladys Elphick Women's Committee, as well as the South Australian
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Women's Alliance is another opportunity; the Granny's
Group - an amazing group of Aboriginal women who have led lots of conversation and lobbied
and advocated in this space around Aboriginal women's issues.
We also have amazing people like Kimberley Wanganeen who heads-up the South Australian
Aboriginal Women's Safety Strategy.
So there are places where we can actually share information, and get information about
Aboriginal women in leadership.
And we're not necessarily talking about women in leadership positions, but also leadership
in their own communities, within their own families, within their own networks, and the
important role that Aboriginal women play in that space of nurturing - not only children
but in carer roles, those natural extensions of who they are - not only as Aboriginal women,
but as women in general.
Aunty Gladys was a remarkable woman of her time who had great influence around community,
both in the Aboriginal community and much more broadly than that.
Her work has an enduring legacy throughout even into contemporary Aboriginal society today
with the establishment of Nunkuwarrin Yunti, Aboriginal Legal Rights Movement,
Tauondi College, and generally across the Aboriginal Affairs portfolio.
A lot of Aboriginal female leadership that doesn't necessary come in the form of a role
of director, for example, or a team leader or a manager.
We see great examples of leadership throughout community and that might be somebody leading
family conversations, it might be somebody providing extended support to family members
that is a form of leadership that often goes unrecognised or unspoken about - and that
is a natural extension of Aboriginal women in their communities and I think we often
don't think about that type of leadership when we think of 'leadership'.
So for me, I think that there are multiple examples of amazing Aboriginal women leadership
and it doesn't necessarily always need to reflect on Eldership or Statesmanship in that
space, we have a number of amazing young women leading great initiatives in Aboriginal community,
both with their peers and also with younger people through good mentoring and some really
good examples of that are young people like Nicole Gollan with the City of Adelaide Council,
Tanya Sutton New York marathon runner - they're just a couple of examples of what's actually
happening in that space.
Nisha Cash - a great, amazing artist.
Jessica Wishart.
Some really amazing women.
Also we have great Eldership through the Aboriginal Granny's Group but also people like
Faith Thomas who was Australia's first Aboriginal female cricketer who was recognised this year
through Reconciliation Week - she is another example of a trailblazer.
Lowitja O'Donoghue with her great work through ATSIC - great advocacy, lobbying over many, many years,
to make a difference, not only to Aboriginal women, but also to the Aboriginal community,
and our place as people in Australian society.
Other amazing Aboriginal women that we've had in this space is our current patron of
the Gladys Elphick Committee, Aunty Shirley Peisley AM, who headed-up the 1967 Referendum
campaign, poster girl, who continues to have an influential space and platform to voice
Aboriginal issues for not only Aboriginal women but the community more broadly.
And then again we have our amazing quiet achievers who go unspoken but who have endured great
personal pain yet continue to share their experiences and continue to provide support
to non-Aboriginal people who want to be educated around cultural safety and cultural competency
and I take my hat off to those individuals with a particularly special mention
of Sharon Gollan.
So from my perspective, a culturally responsive health system to improve outcomes for Aboriginal
people should have in place measurable processes and practice that can identify cultural safety,
but I think it is much more simpler than that, I think it's purely people suspending their
own values, their own beliefs, their own ideas, around what should fit for everybody.
It's an individual experience, and I think that if people were generous of time, and
be willing to suspend those ideas and values to actually listen to what the needs are of
the patient or the consumer at that point in time, they're going to be individual experiences
and we can't just use a broad-brush approach and go 'I treat everybody the same', because
'the same' isn't the same that everybody's going to come with the same needs, they're
an individual need and I think it really is as basic as listening and being respectful.
The message that I have for non-Aboriginal people during NAIDOC Week is come and embrace
the opportunity to ask the questions that you may not have felt comfortable to ask;
immerse yourself in the celebrations of NAIDOC; and understand that there are amazing things
about Aboriginal community that can be celebrated; there are amazing successes; there are ample
opportunities throughout NAIDOC Week to immerse yourself in an event, and even if you just
come just to experience it, but participation is going to help you to understand it a little
bit more, so I'd strongly encourage anybody to come and enjoy NAIDOC Week; take five minutes,
yeah, and come out.
My message for our community during NAIDOC Week is go out, enjoy it, celebrate it,
immerse yourself into it, catch-up with family, catch-up with friends,
showcase your amazingness as an Aboriginal person and celebrate.
This year's NAIDOC Week theme 2018 is 'Because of Her, We Can'.