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Historic change to Advance Australia Fair, Australia's national anthem, in the 'spirit of unity' Prime Minister Scott Morrison said Australia's story was ancient, as were the stories of the country's First Nations peoples.(ABC News: Rhiannon Shine) More than 140 years after it was first composed and performed, Advance Australia Fair is again being updated in a move the Prime Minister says reflects a "spirit of unity". From January 1, 2021, the second line of Australia's national anthem will change from, [...]

Commemorative coin raises Aboriginal flag copyright debate An Indigenous organisation is questioning how the Royal Australian Mint can issue coins featuring the Aboriginal flag at the same time as the Australian Senate is investigating the flag’s copyright issues. Laura Thompson, co-founder of Clothing The Gap, helped start the #PrideNotProfit petition and Free The Flag campaign which led to the Senate inquiry into the flag’s private copyright protection. She said she was surprised that the Mint released a coin set featuring [...]

More ancient wonders revealed at Budj Bim Aboriginal site South-west Victoria's world-heritage listed Budj Bim Aboriginal site has yielded further ancient wonders, with laser technology revealing previously unrecorded fish traps and stone huts, deepening its cultural and historic significance. The discoveries were made using light detection and ranging technology that mapped the landscape and penetrated vegetation to reveal features that are invisible to the naked eye. New scans of the Budj Bim Cultural Landscape have revealed more remnants of stone [...]

Remembering the 1946 Pilbara strike, Australia's longest, that paved the way for Indigenous right. An aboriginal man sitting on old weathered cars during the day at an Aboriginal community. Marshall Smith and what's left of the cars that carried workers in the landmark 1946 Pilbara strike.(ABC Rural: James Liveris) The rusting car bodies that Banjima man Marshall Smith sits among at Mingullatharndo community are a daily reminder of one of the most significant human rights struggles for Indigenous people in [...]

Year two targets for Aboriginal Procurement Policy nearly tripled McGowan Government’s Aboriginal Procurement Policy results in more than 5.5 per cent of government contracts awarded to Aboriginal businesses in 2019-20 Results far exceed the two per cent target for the 2019-20 financial year 234 contracts worth over $172 million awarded to Aboriginal businesses 104 different Aboriginal businesses across the State secured contracts 143 contracts, worth a total of more than $69 million, awarded to Aboriginal businesses based in regional locations [...]

Stop reporting and start doing, lawyers tell NSW inquiry into 'inhumane' Indigenous incarceration Coroner’s court should be properly resourced to investigate deaths in custody, bar association says Tony McAvoy SC addresses the NSW inquiry into Indigenous incarceration and deaths in custody on Monday. Photograph: NSW parliament The imprisonment rates of Aboriginal people in New South Wales are “gross and inhumane” but the solutions already exist in the 50 different reports that have been written on the issue over several decades, [...]