Jack Charles vs The Crown written by Jack Charles & John Romeril and directed by Rachael Maza, was presented at Belvoir St Theatre. It was an Ilbijerri Theatre Cooperative Production.
black+write Indigenous Writing Fellowships were awarded to Ali Cobby-Eckermann for Ruby Moonlight and Sue McPherson for Grace Beside Me.
Kim Scott won the Kate Challis RAKA Award for his novel That Deadman Dance.
Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu was award both the Deadly Award for Album of the Year for Rrakala and Male Artist of the Year.
The Deadly Award for Female Artist of the Year went to Jessica Mauboy.
Deborah Mailman is awarded Deadly Female Actor of the Year for her role in the TV series Offspring.
The Deadly Film of the Year went to Mad Bastards.
The Deadly Award for Outstanding Achievement in Literature went to Anita Heiss for her novel Paris Dreaming.
The National NAIDOC Award for lifetime achievement went to Ned Cheedy, a respected elder and custodian of Yindjibarndi country.
National NAIDOC Person of the Year was awarded to lawyer and author Terri Janke. Terri is a Meriam and Wuthathi woman.
NAIDOC Scholar of the Year was Professor Lester-Irabinna Rigney, a Nurungga man who grew up on Point Pearce Mission on the Yorke Peninsula in South Australia.
On August 26 to mark what is now known as ‘Freedom Day’, thousands march to marked the 45th Anniversary of the Wave Hill Walk Off at Kalkarindji and Dagaragu, the home of the Gurindji nation (and supported by the associated nations of the Malgnin, Mudpurra, Bilinara, Nyarinman and Warlpiri peoples). The protest led by Vincent Lingiari in 1966 was a demand for rights to traditional country, and to be treated equally with other Australians employed on the land.
Dylan Coleman wins the David Unaipon Award for Mazin Grace.
Kim Scott wins the Miles Franklin Award, the ALS Gold Medal, the Commonwealth Writers Prize, and a number of other awards, including the inaugural Victorian Prize for Literature for That Deadman Dance. Kim Scott also wins the Kate Challis Raka award for That Deadman Dance. Alexis Wright (Carpentaria), Gayle Kennedy (Me, Antman & Fleabag) and Tony Birch (Shadowboxing) were shortlisted.
The First Nations political party was registered on 6th of January 2011. This is the first political party that centralises its policies on the agenda of indigenous Australians.
Bronwyn Mehan wins the Dymocks Red Earth Poetry Award for Under Attack and John Bodey wins the Dymocks Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Writers’ Award for Wadjita.
Children’s television series Dance Academy directed by Ian Watson,; Cherie Nowlan, Jeffrey Walker, Ian Gilmour, Daniel Nettheim, Catriona McKenzie, Lynn-Maree Danzey, Michael James Rowland, and Ben Chessell , picks up a Logie Award for the Most Outstanding Children’s Program
26 January – Well known Redfern community advocate Shane Phillips won the Australian of the Year award for Australia’s Local Hero. Shane is the CEO of the Tribal Warrior Association and works tirelessly on improving the lives of Aboriginal people in Redfern.
Professor Marcia Langton presents the ABC's 2012 Boyer Lectures on the theme, The Quiet Revolution: Indigenous People and the Resources Boom. The lectures can be streamed or downloaded.
Boori Monty Pryor appointed as the first Australian Children’s Laureate (joint appointment with Alison Lester).
January 2012 marks the 20-year anniversary of the 1992 High Court decision in favour of Eddie Mabo. January, 2012 also marks the 40-year anniversary of the Tent Embassy.
Mabo, directed by Rachel Perkins and starring Jim Bani as Eddie Mabo and Deborah Mailman as his wife, Bonita, airs on ABC1 on Australian television, as does the six-part series Redfern Now, the first contemporary TV drama series written, directed and produced by Indigenous Australians.
Anita Heiss wins the Victorian Premier's Award for Indigenous Writing for her book, Am I Black Enough For You? and Siv Parker wins the David Unaipon Award for Story. Kim Scott wins the Book of the Year in the NSW Premier's Literary Awards and the Christina Stead Prize for Fiction for That Deadman Dance.
BlackWords' fifth anniversary was celebrated with a day-long symposium at The University of Queensland's Art Museum. Speakers included Melissa Lucashenko, Bruce Pascoe and Australian Children's Laureate, Boori Pryor.
Bill Gammage wins the Victorian Premier Literary Award for his book, The Biggest Estate on Earth; How the Aborigines made Australia.
Joe Flynn wins the Dymocks Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Writers' award for Territory Days.
Jeanine Leane was shortlisted for the 2012 Commonwealth Book Prize for her novel Purple Threads, and Nicole Watson was shortlisted for her novel The Boundary.
Ali Cobby Eckermann wins the 2012 Deadly Award for Outstanding Achievement in Literature for her novel in verse, Ruby Moonlight, published by Magabala Books. Eckermann also won the inaugural Kuril Dhagun Manuscript Editing Award from the State Library of Queensland.
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples Recognition Bill was passed into law in 2012.
In October, Lionel Fogarty won the annual Scanlon Award for Indigenous Poetry. His most recent collection is Mogwie Idan: Stories of the Land (Vagabond Press, 2012).
21 November – Indigenous writer, poet and storyteller Herb Wharton has been awarded the Australia Council Award for Lifetime Achievement in Literature, a $50,000 award that recognises the achievements of eminent writers who have made outstanding and lifelong contributions to Australian literature.
Anita Heiss was announced as the winner of the Victorian Premier's Literary Award for Indigenous Writing at Bunjilaka Aboriginal Cultural Centre at Melbourne Museum. She will receive $20,000 in prize money.
On 28 August, to coincide with National Literacy Week, Magabala Books and Woodside jointly launched the new Deadly Reads series at the Sacred Heart School in Beagle Bay with more than 70 students and community members in attendance. In a first-of-its-kind, Magabala has created a literacy tool for Indigenous students that is written and illustrated by Aboriginal Australians. The Deadly Reads Series are called Saltwater and consist of four pre-primary readers for Band A and B readers.
January: An Expert Panel - which included Indigenous and community leaders, constitutional experts and parliamentarians - consulted extensively across the nation and reported to the Prime Minister in January 2012.
It recommended that Australians should vote in a referendum to:
• Remove Section 25 – which says the States can ban people from voting based on their race;
• Remove section 51(xxvi) – which can be used to pass laws that discriminate against people based on their race;
• Insert a new section 51A - to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and to preserve the Australian Government’s ability to pass laws for the benefit of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples;
• Insert a new section 116A, banning racial discrimination by government; and
• Insert a new section 127A, recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages were this country’s first tongues, while confirming that English is Australia’s national language.
The Parliament set up a Joint Select Committee on Constitutional Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in November 2012.
It has been asked to consult further on the model, and to help to ensure secure and strong cross-party support so that a proposal can be put to the Australian people at a referendum. (recognise.org.au)
The Stronger Futures legislation, which was an extension of the NT Intervention Legislation of 2007, was passed in the House of Representatives on 27 February 2012 and was passed by the Senate on 29 June.
A co-production with Ilbijerri Theatre Cooperative & version 1.0, Beautiful One Day about life on Palm Island, was presented at Belvoir. The work was created by Sean Bacon, Magdalena Blackley, Kylie Doomadgee, Paul Dwyer, Eamon Flack, Rachael Maza, Jane Phegan, Harry Reuben & David Williams.
Based on the autobiography of the late Ruby Langford-Ginibi, Don’t Take Your Love to Town was adapted by Eamon Flack and Leah Purcell for Belvoir St Theatre. Purcell played the author.
black+write Indigenous Writing Fellowships were awarded to Teagan Chilcott for Rise of the Fallen and Jillian Boyd Bowie (writer) and Tori-Jay Mordey (illustrator) for Bakir and Bi.
National Indigenous Television becomes free to air on Dec 12, 2012.
The Deadly Award for Outstanding Achievement in Literature went Ali Cobby Eckermann for her verse novel Ruby Moonlight.
The Deadly Male Artist of the Year went to Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu.
Jessica Mauboy took out the Deadly Award for Female Artist of the Year
The Deadly Male Actor of the Year was Jimi Bani for his role in the film Mabo, on the life of Eddie Koiki Mabo. The film also took out Deadly Film of the Year. Deborah Mailman was named Deadly Female Actor of the year for her role as Bonita Mabo, Eddie’s wife.
NAIDOC Artist of the Year was choreographer Stephen Page, artistic director of Bangarra.
Dallas Winmar won the Kate Challis RAKA Award for her play Yibiyung (2008).
The Sapphires wins six awards at the 2nd AACTA Awards. The indigenous musical based on Tony Briggs's play made its debut at the Cannes Film Festival in 2012 and was the top grossing film in Australia in 2012. It was named best film at the ceremony hosted by Russell Crowe in Sydney.
The Sapphires also won for its director (Wayne Blair), lead actress (Deborah Mailman), lead actor (Irishman Chris O'Dowd), supporting actress (Jessica Mauboy) and adapted screenplay (Keith Thompson and Briggs), adding to the five awards it won for technical categories.
Curated by Rhoda Roberts the Boomerang Festival is established in Byron Bay and features an array of music, dance, theatre, comedy, film and visual arts, along with cultural knowledge exchanges and conversations.
Chaired by Professor Michael McDaniel with Hetti Perkins as artistic director, Corroboree Sydney goes for 11 days and nights in November. It includes leading Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists, writers, dancers and musicians and is presented at significant sites around Sydney Harbour.
Following the election of the Prime Minister Tony Abbott in 2013, Warren Mundine (who left the Labor Party in 2012 and joined the Liberal Party, was appointed chairman of the Australian Government's Indigenous Advisory Council.
Written by Andrea James and Giordano Nanni and directed by Isaac Drandic, Coranderrk was presented by Belvoir St Theatre, and starred Jack Charles.
Karla Hart's Fifty Shades of Black directed by Monica Main was performed throughout the Perth Fringe Festival.
Mother Courage and Her Children, Bertolt Brecht’s epic morality tale about the ravages of war, was presented by QTC with an all-Indigenous cast. Directed by Wesley Enoch, starring David Page and Ursula Yovich, the adaptation by Enoch and Paula Nazarski included themes of land ownership, the impact of mining and the Stolen Generation.
Jared Thomas wins the black+write Indigenous Writing Fellowship for his manuscript Calypso Summer. Other winners include Tristan Savage for Rift Breaker and Scott Prince & Dave Hartley for their YA novel Deadly D and Justice Jones: Making the Team.
National NAIDOC Artist of the Year went to Tony Briggs who wrote the award winning play ‘The Sapphires’, which was adapted for screen in 2012. The Sapphires movie version was directed by Wayne Blair and starred Jessica Mauboy, Deborah Mailman, Miranda Tapsell and Shari Sebbens.
During the ‘Indigenous Round’ of AFL as part of Reconciliation Week, a young Collingwood supporter racially vilified Adam Goodes. A fierce anti-racism campaigner and Ambassador for ‘Racism, it’s stops with me’, Goodes challenged the abuse to mixed reaction from media and the community across the country.
The Deadly Awards for Single release of the Year and Female Artist of the Year went to Jessica Mauboy for ‘Something Got a Hold of Me’.
The Deadly Album of the Year went to Archie Roach for ‘Into the Bloodstream’.
Curator and photographer Brenda L Croft took out the Deadly Award for Visual Artist of the Year
Adam Goodes of the Sydney Swans won the Deadly Award for AFL Player of the Year.
The Deadly Award for Female Actor of the Year went to Deborah Mailman for Redfern Now.
The Deadly Award for Film of the Year was The Sapphires written by Tony Briggs.
The Deadly award for Published Book of the Year was the NPY Women’s Council Aboriginal Corporation for the title Traditional Healers of Central Australia: Ngangkari
The drama series Redfern Now took out the Deadly Award for Television Show of the Year.
Radio National’s Indigenous radio show, Awaye, marks 21 years of broadcasting.
Tom E. Lewis and Michael Kantor adaptation of King Lear, The Shadow King wins the Victorian Green Room Award for best writing/Adaptation for the Australian Stage.
Singer Jessica Mauboy wins the prestigious ARIA Award for best female artist.
Children’s television series Dance Academy directed by Ian Watson, Cherie Nowlan, Jeffrey Walker, Ian Gilmour, Daniel Nettheim, Catriona McKenzie, Lynn-Maree Danzey, Michael James Rowland, and Ben Chessell, picked up another Logie Award for the Most Outstanding Children’s Program.
Highly distinguished Dr Mandawuy Yunupingu AC dies at the age of 43. He was also known as the front man of the Aboriginal rock group Yothu Yindi as a singer-songwriter and guitarist.
In 2014, Yirra Yaakin celebrates 21 years as Western Australia’s leading Aboriginal performing arts company.
The late Dr Yunupingu from Aboriginal band Yothu Yindi posthumously receives the Companion of the Order of Australia, one of Australia’s highest honours. The award recognises the highest degree of service to humanity.
Directed by Wesley Enoch and written by Tom Wright, the play Black Diggers is the culmination of painstaking research into the lives and deaths of the thousand or so Indigenous soldiers who fought for the British Commonwealth in World War I. It will be presented in 2014 by QTC at the Sydney Opera House, and the Qld Performing Arts Centre.
Sydney Swans AFL player Adam Goodes is named Australian of the Year.
Produced by Michaela Perske and directed by Adrian Russell Wills, the documentary 88 presented on ABC TV reflects on the activism around the national ‘celebrations’ for the Bicentenary in 1988.
The founder of the Deadly Vibe Magazine and the Deadly Awards, Gavin Jones, dies shortly after the announcement of the cut to funding for the awards and the magazine. He had worked tirelessly towards the advancement and health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Singer Jessica Mauboy performs as a guest singer at the 59th Eurovision Song Contest in Copenhagen, becoming the first guest singer from a non-European Union country.
Mother and daughter Lesley and Tammy Williams win the David Unaipon Awards for their work Not Just Black and White: A Conversation Between a Mother and Daughter.
David Gulpilil wins Best Actor award at the Cannes Film Festival for his role in Charlie’s Country directed by Rolf de Heer. Gulpilil also picked up the Best lead Actor award at the AACTA Awards.
Alexis Wright wins the ALS Gold Medal award for her outstanding literary work The Swan Book.
Whilst Ivan Sen wins Best Director and Best Screenplay for his film Mystery Road, in the AFCA Film Awards, the film also wins Best Film.
Television series Redfern Now wins a Logie Award for the Most Outstanding Drama series.
Melissa Lucashenko wins the prize for Indigenous Writing in the Victorian Premier’s Literary Awards for her novel Mullumbimby.
Henry Reynolds wins the Victorian Premier’s Literary Award for his non-fiction Forgotten War.
Fiona Paisley wins the Magarey Medal for Biography (ASAL Awards) for her biography The Lone Protestor: A M Fernando in Australia and Europe.
The Ngaanyatjarra Pitjantjatjar Yankunytjatjara Women’s Council Aboriginal Corporation (NPY) wins best Published Book of The Year at the Deadly Sounds Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music, Sport, Entertainment and Community Awards.
Tristan Savage wins the Kris Hembury Encouragement Award at the Aurealis Awards for Excellence in Australian Speculative Fiction, for his science fiction novel Rift Breaker.
Award-winning football player Scott Prince, along with his co-author Dave Hartley wins his first literary award for his book Deadly D and Justice Jones: Making the Team: the Best Book for Language Development – Indigenous Children at the Speech Pathology Australia Book of the Year Award.
Poet Jessica Hart wins the Nakata Brophy Short Fiction and Poetry Prize for Young Indigenous Writers for her poem Land Mountain.
National Indigenous Human Rights Awards saw Rosalie Kunoth-Monks receive the Dr Yunupingu Award for Human Rights; Eddie Murray (posthumously awarded to his family) the Eddie Mabo Award for Social Justice; and Barbara McGrady the recipient of the Anthony Mundine Award for Courage.
The Federal government, without consultation, announces a stoppage on providing funding to remote homeland communities from 1 July 2015, prompting Western Australia and South Australia threaten to close “unviable” communities.
Running the country from his campsite, Prime Minister Tony Abbott spends a week at Gulkula, north-east Arnhem Land, meeting with Aboriginal leaders and community members.
Recognised for her work Follow the Rabbit-Proof Fence, Doris Pilkington Garimara dies on the 10 April.
Former Prime Minister of Australia Gough Whitlam dies on 21 October; his legacies extend from Australia’s first national health insurance system established in 1975 and the announcement of a royal commission into Aboriginal land rights.
2015
The National Indigenous Times newspaper is up for sale due to mounting legal bills in two law suits against the paper.
Aboriginal activist and leader of the campaign for the 1967 referendum for Aboriginal Australians, Faith Bandler dies on 13 February, she was 96.
Leeanne Enoch MP is the first Aboriginal woman to be elected in Queensland Government.
Filmmaker and writer Pauline Clague was awarded the Stanley Hawes Award for her work in producing works of Australia’s emerging and Aboriginal filmmakers.
Thousands of people rally nationally protesting against the planned closure of around 150 remote Aboriginal communities in Western Australia. A second international day of action, occurred on the 1 may, with more than 85 rallies across Australia, New Zealand, Canada, Germany, Hawaii, Hong Kong, China, UK and the USA.
Dr Robert Isaacs PO AM JP PhD won the Western Australian of the Year Award for his outstanding achievement and his contributions to the Western Australian community and recognition as an inspirational role model for the Aboriginal community.
Former Prime Minister of Australia Malcolm Fraser dies 20 March; he was a fierce opponent of apartheid in South Africa, and an advocate of multiculturalism, and Aboriginal land rights.
Film the King’s Seal directed by Quenten Agius and Kim Mavromatis wins the Best Indigenous Film at the 2015 People of Passion International Film Festival, Melbourne.
Tom Wright wins the Nick Enright Prize for Playwriting, for his musical theatre drama Black Diggers.
A star is named in honour of Eddie Koiki Mabo at a naming ceremony at the Sydney Observatory. Co-ordinates for location of the SSSC star Koiki: sssc803504 RA 12:12:21.9 Dec -62:57:03.0 Mag: 5.97 Constellation: Crux GSC 9878:5899 SAO 251790
Singer songwriter, teacher and activist Bob Randall dies on 13 May, he is best known for his “anthem” for the Stolen Generations, My Brown Skinned Baby.
Prime Minister Tony Abbott visits the grave of land rights campaigner Eddie Koiki Mabo on Murray Island, Torres Straits. Abbott is the first Prime Minister to visit the grave.
Alison Whittaker wins the Kuril Dhagun Indigenous Writing Fellowships award for her work Lemons in the Chicken Wire.
One of the signatories on the Yirrkala Bark Petitions 1963, Wulanybuma Wunungmurra dies on the 7 August. He was an Aboriginal leader of high degree.
Director and writer, Nicole Ma’s film Putuparri and the Rainmakers wins the CinéfestOz Film Prize.
Author Libby Connors wins the Queensland Premier’s Award for a Word of State Significance for her work, Warrior: A Legendary Leader's Dramatic Life and Violent Death on the Colonial Frontier.
Andrew Booth wins the David Unaipon Award for his unpublished novel The First Octoroon or Report of an Experimental Child.
Rising film-maker Dylan River won the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts Award for best short fiction film for his work Nulla Nulla.
Malcolm Turnbull becomes the 29th Prime Minister of Australia on the 15 September.
Tony McAvoy becomes the first Indigenous Australian appointed silk; he is the first Indigenous person to be appointed to the revered position.
Western Australian Aboriginal MP Ken Wyatt becomes the first Indigenous Member of Parliament to reach the frontbench.
National Indigenous Human Rights Awards saw Tauto Sansbury receive the Dr Yunupingu Award for Human Rights, Jenny Munro the Eddie Mabo Award for Social Justice; and Adam Goodes the recipient of the Anthony Mundine Award for Courage.
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