Attending the Blak Tie Ball for NAIDOC week

I was honoured to receive an invitation and attend the Blak Tie Ball last night to celebrate 20 years of the Orange Aboriginal Medical Service (OAMS https://oams.net.au/about/our-governance/) and NAIDOC week (National Aborigines and Islanders day Observance Committee). Prof Stan Grant provided an inspiring speech during the dinner. It was a great night of celebration about the achievements of the OAMS staff and community.

CEO Jamie Newman and Sharynne

Over 300 people attended

Prof Stan Grant provided an inspiring speeck

Sharynne, Sophie and Harry

Celebrating 20 years of OAMS

The video from the night was posted on Facebook in October 2024: https://www.facebook.com/Orangeaboriginalmedicalservice/videos and I made a brief appearance :)

NAIDOC week: Our Languages Matter

2 July to 9 July is NAIDOC (National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee) Week.
Here is how our CSU Head of Campus, Professor Chika Anyanwu has described its significance:

NAIDOC Week celebrates the history, culture and achievements of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. This year’s theme is Our Languages Matter. The aim is to emphasise and celebrate the unique and essential role that Indigenous languages play in cultural identity, linking people to their land and water and in the transmission of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, spirituality and rites, through story and song.

As a University whose ethos is built on Yindyamarra Winhanganha, ‘the wisdom of respectfully knowing how to live well in a world worth living in’, I would like us to join in celebrating the achievements and contributions that our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have made in our lives: as custodians of the land and waters that have nurtured and made our lives in the region worth living in; as custodians of wisdom through their spirituality, rites and song lines; as custodians of the languages which have held their culture for thousands of years and enriched ours as a result, and as intellectuals who have made enormous educational, entrepreneurial and cultural contributions which have nurtured, and continue to nurture future generations.