Archive for category: Indigenous

Jackson Newell, Holly Kovac, & Akala Newman
Hey mob! Call out for Indigenous stories start now for next semester’s Indigenous edition of Honi Soit. We are happy to review any content written by Indigenous students as First preference, and also content relating to Indigenous Australian affairs. Also a call out for artwork submissions to be started for a potential cover. Send us your content or ideas to indigenous.officers@src.usyd.edu.au

Support the Grandmothers Against Removals (GMAR) National Gathering happening on May 26th.
GMAR was started in 2014 by First Nations community members who are directly affected by forced child removals. They are a community group that works to stop the ongoing Stolen Generations.
A delegation of First Nations Grandmothers from the movement to stop ongoing Stolen Generations will travel to Canberra to mark National Sorry Day next month on 26 May 2018. 10 years on from Rudd’s apology and it is clear that the atrocities of the past are being repeated. At present, the number of First Nations children forcibly removed from their families is higher than at any other point in history.
https://www.youcaring.com/grandmothersagainstremovals-1164281

Zhixian Wang, Helena Ng Wai Ting, Yifan Kong and Wenxin Fang

This month has been a fruitful one for international student collective. The very first constitution of the collective has been finalised, and was implemented in the first election of the collective. Consequently, about 10 students were elected in the first election to work on several major issues outlined in the annual action plan.

After the massive sign-ups collected during Oweek, the awareness for the collective has been raised like never before. The collective has been recognized as a community for international students, therefore, more and more students are getting involved in the collective this semester.
At the beginning of the semester, four office bearers had a meeting and discussed the outline the details of our first constitution. The constitution is divided into several parts, important ones are electoral regulation and position descriptions.

Our first collective election took place on 4th April in Carslaw 173, the election was the first meeting which followed the new constitution. There were about 30 people signed up for the election and about 15 people went. 4 officer bearers were assigned to different duties: secretaries, grievance officer and treasurer. There are 4 departments divided by duties: event, marketing and special programs. There were 10 positions taken at the first election meeting.

Due to high demand, another round of interviews was held later on in SRC office. 5 students showed up in the second meeting after the election, we discussed some critical issues on special programs, precisely, we discuss the Honi Soit special edition with the president and after this conversation, more details on the concession opal card petition has also been discussed in the office.

This week, we are going to focus on the spending within the collective and make some decisions and plans regarding to the budget. We are currently planning an event for the collective to attend Jew revue, this will be our first social event of the collective.

Join our Facebook group ‘USYD International Students Collective’ and like our Facebook page ‘USyd International Students Collective’.

<strong>Indigenous Officer’s Report</strong>
<em>Jackson Newell</em>

This week, the Indigenous Strategy and Services Committee will meet, and it will be my first time attending the meeting as a voting member. Being the only student voice on the Committee, I do aim to represent all Indigenous students as best I can. One thing that has been a topic as of late in relation to the Koori Centre, has been the printer. I recently notified the President, and General-Secretaries that if the University will not provide the funds or provide limited funds, that the SRC, as part of the Indigenous budget will provide funds or provide additional funds for this.
Last week, an article was published in Honi by James Stratton, in relation to the University’s National Centre for Cultural Competency’s release of an online course which seeks to give students an enhanced learning of Indigenous culture and its role and place in contemporary Australia. I urge all students to take up this course when they can. Further comments on this are in last week’s article.

Any issues, shoot us an e-mail at indigenous.officers@src.usyd.edu.au.

Georgia Mantle

“The past few weeks have been filled with a number of rallies. First we had the Sydney Black Lives Matter rally to stand in solidarity with Black Americans who still suffer under the oppression of white supremacy. As the rally was held in Australia it also included the suffering of Black and Indigenous Australians as the organisers demanded justice for the victims of death in custody, for the end of racist policy like the Northern Territory Intervention and a stop to the ongoing stolen generations. It was amazing to see a great turn out to this rally and to be able to listen to the inspiring speakers.

Last week Australia took to social media to express their disgust over the recent Four Corners expose of Don Dale Prison and it’s treatment of Indigenous children in detention. The sad thing about this is for Indigenous Australia this is nothing new, we have been talking about this for years yet it took white media to suddenly get people to listen and acknowledge the suffering. Last Saturday hundreds of people turned out to take stand against the injustice. We heard our strong Indigenous leaders speak about their suffering and devastation under the colonial system that is Australia that still sees it’s First Nations people pushed aside. We then all marched to parliament house to demand our “leaders” take real action and not just do a Royal Commission that will not lead to real change (See the last failure of a Royal Commission into deaths in custody)
Thursday was Aboriginal Children’s days and once again we took to the streets to protest against the on going removal of Indigenous Children and the suffering that occurs in out of home “care” the rally was organised by the amazing and inspiring ‘Grandmothers Against Removals’. It was heart breaking to hear the stories of these women’s experiences with having their children and grandchildren taken away from them.

A strong message that came through from these rallies was it is not enough to just come out and march in a reactionary way after seeing something like Four Corners rather what is needed is committed allies they listen and learn rather then assuming they know what is best.
Some upcoming events that may be of interest is, ‘Whiteness and Aboriginal Solidarity’ happening on the 11th of August at 7:30pm at the Waterloo Tent Embassy. “

Hello! My name is Georgia Mantle and I am one of the Indigenous Office Bearers for 2016. Before I begin my report I would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of the land in which I am writing this report, the Gadigal people of the Eora nation. I am apart of the Gadigal mob which gives me great pride to live and work on the land of my people. I would like to welcome my Indigenous brothers and sisters to USYD and to this land as we start another year of study.
The Indigenous Collective is an autonomous collective group for Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander students. My role and the role of my Co-Office Bearer Madison is to ensure that the voices of Indigenous students are being heard. This year we hope to hold regular collective meetings and events to really build the presence of Indigenous students across the campus.

Not only do I represent your voices to the Student Representative Council I also sit on SEG ATSISS which is the ‘Senior Executive Group for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Strategy and Services Committee. Sitting on this committee means I am able to voice the concerns of the Indigenous student body straight to the Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Indigenous Strategy and Services. If there are any issues that you believe need to be brought to this committee I will always take them to the meetings which happen monthly.

I would also like to mention that In Week 8 this semester the Indigenous student body has a chance to take over this whole paper! For the third year in a row we will be publishing ‘Indigenous Honi’ which will be a paper that centers on representing the voices of Indigenous people and issues affecting Indigenous people. An official call out will happen very soon but in the meantime start thinking of something you could contribute whether it be an article, a poem, or art.
This year I hope the Indigenous student body can mobilise around issues that affect us the most so we can ensure that our voices are heard and we are able to make effective change within the university and broader community.
If you have any questions about the Indigenous collective and how to get involved or you just want to chat send us a message at: indigenous.officers@src.usyd.edu.au

Georgia Mantle