First Nations Voice

Poet, film maker and digital producer of Wiradjuri heritage, Jazz Money, examines the potential benefits and threats to Indigenous data sovereignty in increasingly digitised spaces.

This protocol guide endorses the rights of Indigenous people to their cultural heritage and supports Indigenous creative practice. This protocol guide encourages self-determination and helps build a strong and diverse Indigenous arts sector. These are key goals and priority areas of the Australia Council for the Arts.Over the years, the principles and protocols contained in this protocol guide have also been applied nationally and internationally – educating readers and users on Indigenous Australian cultural heritage, and encouraging meaningful collaborations with Indigenous artists and creators.

While there have been some advances in recent years, the reality of a European dominated cultural sector in Australia and across the world makes a clear case for more active strategies and policies around cultural safety and re-Indigenising spaces for us to continue growing as the oldest continuing arts and culture makers on this earth.

When seeking to engage with First Nations cultural heritage on any project, it should be expected that you consult with the appropriate cultural authority at each stage of research, development and production.

Diversity is a white word and the Australian arts sector is governed by a cultural perspective where excellence and success are synonymous with whiteness.  Here are some simple points to consider when looking to achieve a genuine commitment to working with First Nations and People of Colour in the Australian arts sector.

In this conversation, Genevieve Grieves chats with NAVA's Professional Development Coordinator, Wesley Shaw and First Nations Engagement Coordinator, Georgia Mokak, about her current role teaching students about decolonisation at the Art Gallery NSW as part of their annual Djamu Indigenous Art program, as well as her role at Museums Victoria, and developing a practice and knowledge around decolonisation more broadly.

NAVA and Create NSW hosted four Zoom workshops to amplify the voices of the NSW Aboriginal visual arts sector to the Indigenous Visual Arts Action Plan consultation in December 2020.

The right to self-determination is contained in article 1 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) and in article 1 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. It has particular application to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as Australia’s first peoples, as was recognised by law in the historic Mabo judgement.

The right of self-determination for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is in addition to the right which everyone has to freedom from discrimination (including under ICCPR articles 2.1 and 26) and which members of all ethnic, religious or linguistic minorities have to enjoy their own culture, as well as profess and practice their own religion.

Thanks to the Fake Art Harms Culture campaign led by Arts Law, the Indigenous Art Code and the Copyright Agency, the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Indigenous Affairs held an inquiry into the growing presence of inauthentic Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander 'style' art and craft products and merchandise for sale across Australia. NAVA submitted a response to the inquiry and appeared before the parliamentary inquiry in Sydney on Tuesday 6 March 2018.

For decades, the idea of a National Indigenous Arts and Cultural Authority (NIACA) has emerged and re-emerged in recognition of the unique place of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts as the world’s premier continuous cultural tradition. A NIACA would provide a much needed central peak body for the Indigenous arts and cultural sector, providing First Nations artists and cultural organisations with a national voice across all areas of practice.