As many of you may be aware, this week is NAIDOC Week. NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia each July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC is celebrated not only in Indigenous communities, but by Australians from all walks of life. The week is a great opportunity to participate in a range of activities and to support your local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community. Many of them can be found here: https://www.naidoc.org.au/get-involved/naidoc-week-events – including ones close to you all!
This year’s NAIDOC Week theme is – Because of Her, We Can! As pillars of our society, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have played – and continue to play – active and significant roles at the community, local, state and national levels.
As leaders, trailblazers, politicians, activists and social change advocates, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women fought and continue to fight, for justice, equal rights, our rights to country, for law and justice, access to education, employment and to maintain and celebrate our culture, language, music and art.
They continue to influence as doctors, lawyers, teachers, electricians, chefs, nurses, architects, rangers, emergency and defence personnel, writers, volunteers, chief executive officers, actors, singer songwriters, journalists, entrepreneurs, media personalities, board members, accountants, academics, sporting icons and Olympians, the list goes on.
They are our mothers, our elders, our grandmothers, our aunties, our sisters and our daughters. Sadly, Indigenous women’s role in our cultural, social and political survival has often been invisible, unsung or diminished. For at least 65,000 years, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women have carried our dreaming stories, songlines, languages and knowledge that have kept our culture strong and enriched us as the oldest continuing culture on the planet. This week is a chance to pause, respect and celebrate this amazing contribution.
At talkforce, we proudly value the contribution women have made to our country’s history and will make to Australia’s future. We are also proud that 78% of our talkforce team and associates are female. As part of our RAP, we will also continue to strive as a business to create opportunities for indigenous employment into the future.
Please take a moment this week to reflect on the amazing contribution of Indigenous women to our country’s rich and diverse history and join with us to celebrate the opportunities and possibilities that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples can make to Australia’s future.
Artwork: Painted by Bigambul woman, Cheryl Moggs, from Goondiwindi, the painting portrays the 2018 theme, Because of her, we can! showing the courage and resilience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women.