Reconciliation focus of 18th Oration

Reconciliation and Social Justice: The Challenge for Australians will be the focus of the 18th Concannon College Oration at the University of Southern Queensland (USQ) on Wednesday 13 September 2006.

Prominent Indigenous researcher and lawyer, Professor Larissa Behrendt, will deliver the address in the Bishop Kelly Dining Hall at the College from 7.30pm.

Chair of the Concannon College Council, Mark Tranter, said that the college was very fortunate to secure Professor Behrendt for the Oration.

'Professor Behrendt is the Director of Research at the Jumbunna Indigenous House of Learning at University of Technology in Sydney and is a well respected figure in the area of Indigenous Rights.

'She is also a published author on the subject and we are very excited that we were able to get her to attend and speak on this issue,' Mr Tranter said.

Held annually, the Oration has attracted many well known speakers, who have addressed the audience on various social issues.

'We have had many prominent Australians speak, including Lieutenant General Peter Cosgrove and Nobel Prize winner, Professor Peter Doherty, who spoke on matters of public interest.

'This year it is an opportunity for the people of Toowoomba to hear about something that has been an area of interest in Australia for a long time and listen to someone who is very passionate about the issue.'

Professor Behrendt was the winner of the 2002 David Uniapon Award and won a 2005 Commonwealth Writer's Prize for her novel Home.

She is a board member of the Museum of Contemporary Art, a Director of the Sydney Writer's Festival and a Director of the Bangarra Dance Theatre.

Media Contact: Josh Ada, USQ Media, +61 7 4631 1628 or 0403 643 192