2019

1. 11 September Protest

   12-year-old Arrernte and Garrwa boy Dujuan Hoosan from central Australia, star of the acclaimed documentary, In My Blood It Runs, becomes the youngest person to ever address the UN Human Rights Council. In his short speech he shares his own experiences with the youth justice system and calls for support for Aboriginal-led education models. ^[1]

   I want my school to be run by Aboriginal people. I want adults to stop cruelling 10-year-old kids in jail. I want my future to be out on land with strong culture and language.

   — Dujuan Hoosan in his speech to the UN

2. 16 September Treaty

   Voting opens for representatives to the First Peoples’ Assembly in Victoria, which will help determine the framework for a treaty. More than 30,000 Victorian Aboriginal people are eligible to vote for 73 leaders until 20 October. It is the first time Aboriginal people have ever been able to vote for such an assembly. ^[2]

   We cannot underestimate that power the assembly will give to that [treaty] negotiating. For the first time, we have an elected voice in Victoria.

   — Jill Gallagher, treaty advancement commissioner ^[2]

2020

1. 17 September Arts Recognition

   Wongutha-Yamatji man and first-time Archibald Prize entrant Meyne Wyatt wins the 2020 Packing Room Prize with his self portrait, titled Meyne. It is the first time an Aboriginal artist has won any of the awards in the Archibald prize's history. (The Packing Room Prize is judged by gallery staff who receive, unpack and hang the entries submitted to the Archibald prize.)

2. 25 September Arts

   For the first time DNA data technology is used to preserve moving images for archival purposes, and for the first time an Australian video is encoded on DNA. The video chosen is that of Cathy Freeman running – and winning – the 400m Olympic race in 2000, and on this day projected onto the Sydney Opera House.

3. 25 September Arts Recognition

   APY man Vincent Namatjira, great-grandson of renown artist Albert Namatjira, wins the Archibald prize with a portrait of himself and AFL legend Adam Goodes titled Stand Strong for Who You Are and becomes the first Aboriginal artist to win the prize in its almost 100-year history.

   Indigenous art isn't just dot paintings ... We do everything – music, film, photography, contemporary art. We do it all, and we do it really well.

   — Vincent Namatjira ^[3]

4. 30 September Health

   MasterChef judge Jock Zonfrillo's Orana Foundation unveils a database of more than 1,400 Aboriginal ingredients, detailed with their nutritional value, taste profile and potential commercial application. Designed to help make Aboriginal foods commonplace in Australian homes, the Foundation plans to hand over the database to an Aboriginal organisation to use and manage it.

2021

1. 1 September Politics

   Former Western Australian treasurer and Yamatji man Ben Wyatt joins Rio Tinto as the first Aboriginal member of its board of directors, which follows the company's disastrous destruction of the Juukan Caves in 2020, which Wyatt approved in 2013.

2022

1. 20 September Arts Stamps

   

   Australia Post releases two stamps featuring rock art from the north Kimberley's Wanjina Wunggurr community. One shows crocodiles, the other one Gwion Gwion figures.

2. 23 September Land & land rights

   In a landmark decision, the UN Human Rights Committee finds that the Australian government has violated its human rights obligations to Torres Strait Islander people by not acting on climate change. A group of Islanders first filed the complaint in 2019, the first legal action brought by climate-vulnerable inhabitants of low-lying islands against a nation-state. ^[4]

3. 29 September Self-determination

   The Referendum Working Group and the Referendum Engagement Group hold their first meetings in Canberra. The groups will work with the government on the next steps to a referendum to enshrine a First Nations Voice in the Constitution. For members of both groups see the media release by the government.

2023

1. 5 September Remains repatriation

   In a landmark example of cultural repatriation, Manchester museum returns more than 174 everyday objects to the Anindilyakwa community, in the Gulf of Carpentaria, off the northern coast of Australia. Items include dolls made from shells, baskets, fishing spears, boomerangs, armbands and a map made from turtle shells. Manchester Museum’s return of the objects is significant because repatriation projects normally revolve around sacred or ceremonial items. The museum’s head of collections had spent time on Groote Eylandt, and the community was directly involved in deciding what should be returned, and what should stay in Manchester.

   We have declared [Manchester Museum] is open to future repatriations, and we expect that this is part of the future of museums, not just ours, but other museums in the future.

   — Georgina Young, Head of Collections and Exhibitions, Manchester Museum ^[5]

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References