The Berwick campus of Federation University will be hosting a public lecture to mark National Reconciliation Week on Wednesday, 28 May.
The university’s National Centre for Reconciliation, Truth and Justice will head the lecture, led by Noongar man Jesse J Fleay, a prominent humanitarian author and research fellow.
“This is a perfect example of a topic for us First Nations peoples, where the decisions of the past and the hope of a better future evoke our shared value of justice,” Fleay said.
The lecture will begin at 12pm, running until 1pm, with a light lunch provided after.
He will present a lecture on ‘Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander First Nations Australians in the workforce from 1840s till Present’.
It aims to cover several themes explored through Fleay’s research, those that include how colonial and federal legislation systematically marginalised First Nations peoples by undermining their legal agency.
It also touches on how that same factor enforced servitude under the guise of protection and training, where it speaks about how these injustices remain entrenched in many modern-day structures, where systematic racism continues to shape economic outcomes for many Australians.
“First Nations accomplishments are Australian accomplishments, which have an outward benefit to all, so let’s continue to share in the spirit of truth-telling across Australia’s many lands and waters,” Fleay said.
The university’s associate deputy vice-chancellor of reconciliation, professor Andrew Gunstone, said that it is hoped that the lecture, alongside other events that the Centre is organising, “will contribute to addressing substantive reconciliation in Australia”.
The Centre is Australia’s leading think tank on reconciliation, where it explores regional and national understandings, as well as engagements through academic and community settings.
Tickets for the free event are available through this link www.eventbrite.com.au/e/nrw-lecture-first-nations-australians-in-the-workforce-1840s-till-present-tickets-1359854303829
