USQ Fraser Coast Moving Forward Together Forum
The 40th anniversary of Indigenous Australians gaining citizenship was a focus of the second annual Moving Forward Together Forum held at USQ Fraser Coast during Reconciliation Week on Wednesday, 30 May 2007.
More than 170 people, from a host of cultures and nations, attended the forum which was organised by the campus Higher Education Centre, Buallum Jarl-Bah and facilitated by Senior Education Lecturer, John McMaster.
The guest speakers included Professor of Indigenous Policy at Griffith University’s Office for Community Partnerships, Boni Robertson, plus Elders Auntie Delmae Barton and Roz Grahame who travelled from Brisbane to participate in the Forum.
Auntie Roz is an elder currently working at Griffith University and has been heavily involved in Indigenous education and training for many years and had a key role in the establishment of the MURRII School in Brisbane.
An enduring memory of the forum was a performance by special guest Auntie Delmae Barton.
Auntie Delmae is a highly respected indigenous elder and opera singer, whose son William is an internationally-renowned didgeridoo player and singer. She is also known for an incident which happened at a Brisbane bus stop just over a year ago. She collapsed and was left for dead at the busy bus stop for more than five hours after becoming ill. The incident sparked a State Government investigation.
The guest speakers and participants shared their stories of their struggles and successes.
The audience also heard from Aaron Carroll, a young Aboriginal man who is finishing his final subject in Law and who is currently employed in the Office for Community Partnerships/Indigenous Community Engagement at Griffith, local Elders including Auntie Marie Wilkinson, Auntie Joyce Watson and numerous Fraser Coast residents.
The forum was a huge success and wonderful event which brought Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians together in the spirit of reconciliation. This year it also attracted people from many nations and cultures, some migrants and some visiting students.
Following the forum there was a special screening of the award winning movie, 'Ten Canoes' (with the kind permission of Palace Films).
This event, along with the USQ Fraser Coast Linking Campus to Community project held in April, acted as an incubator for themes that fuelled the USQ Fraser Coast Community Debate in November.
For further information
Telephone 61 7 4120 6133 for Rhonda Harwood or Jill Byrnes.