Footprints of Leadership: Past, Present and Future
CAL’s Indigenous Communications Coordinator, Trish Adjei participated in a student-led Indigenous leadership forum at Macquarie University on 21 September.
The theme of the forum was ‘Footprints of leadership: Past, present and future’ and featured keynote speaker Jody Broun, who is an artist and Co-Chair of the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples.
Trish participated as a panellist in the Q&A forum on current and future Indigenous leadership. ‘Some of the issues that were discussed’, says Trish, ‘included how Indigenous leadership differs from historic leadership, is international representation at the United National meetings more beneficial than lobbying the Australian government and the constitutional recognition of Indigenous Australians.’
Trish spoke about what CAL does and how CAL has been promoting the resale royalty scheme to Indigenous communities in Western Australia and the Northern Territory. Trish says that ‘Many of the artists that I have met are seen as leaders in their communities even though they may not have been educated under the Australian school system. They have a wealth of knowledge about their culture which is translated in their artworks and in the end, supports their communities.’
She also discussed the work of the Intergovernmental Committee on Intellectual Property and Genetic resources, traditional knowledge and folklore at the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) and the importance of protection of Indigenous culture so that these leaders can feel strong and install pride in community members about Indigenous culture.
Item posted on 23 September 2011.