Since the British invasion of Gadigal land at Sydney Cove in 1788, race relations in Australia have been underscored by what Wiradjuri writer Jack Gibson describes as the “supremeness of whiteness”.
Narratives of Indigenous inferiority and deficiency, combined with paternalistic policies, have produced a cultural climate where non-Indigenous voices have often dominated debate on matters of concern and importance to Indigenous communities.
However, in recent years, Indigenous journalists and storytellers have sought to change this.
The Uluru Statement From the Heart calls for a process of truth-telling. And as the Black Lives Matter movement has grown, some media organisations are recognising the need to deal with their histories of racist representations. In 2020, for example, the Stuff Group in New Zealand apologised for its racist and exclusionary depictions of Māori over decades.
Why Indigenous justice has not changed since the Royal Commission 30 years ago miragenews.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from miragenews.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
George Floyd’s death and the US Black Lives Matter movement sparked extensive media attention. Why aren't Australian Indigenous deaths in custody getting the same amount of media coverage?
A documentary series aimed to spark national conversation about criminalising coercive control. However, it highlighted power imbalances in conversations between Indigenous and non-Indigenous women.
Cultural warning: This article contains names and images of deceased Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This article also contains links to graphic footage of police violence.
This month marks 30 years since the final report of the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody. The report consists of five volumes, several regional reports and 339 recommendations. It included 99 individual death reports of Aboriginal deaths in custody that occurred between January 1 1980 and May 31 1989.
Numbers 205-208 of these recommendations address ethical ways the media should report on Aboriginal affairs. The way Aboriginal deaths in custody are reported can cause distress for affected families and communities, and fuel racial biases and prejudices among non-Indigenous Australians.