Bunuru Newsletter 2022
Updated: May 26, 2022
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The Danjoo Koorliny Directors, from left, Dr Richard Walley OAM, Professor Emeritus Colleen Hayward AM, Carol Innes AM andDr Noel Nannup OAM. Photo: Cole Baxter.
A Message from the Co-Directors
Welcome to our first newsletter for 2022!
A lot has happened and there are many changes ahead for Danjoo Koorliny Walking Together. Closing off from the summit in 2021 and moving toward major changes internally, the Danjoo Koorliny Co-Directors spent time together to reflect on what going forward looks like for us. We regrouped in November 2021 and went through our own reflection of where we are at, what is working well for us and what changes we would like to see.
Our topics focused on our purpose, reflecting on the relationship with the Centre for Social Impact at UWA and strengthening our ties. The recognition of all the various skills, capabilities, capacity, knowledge, experience and networks that each of us bring to developing the vision of an Aboriginal-led process.
We spent time talking about, Respect, Recognition, Transparency, Accountability, Governance, Leadership, Representation and Knowledge.
Through this reflection we were able to recognise gaps in what we needed to address. Whilst we have focused on the impact and the highlights, we needed to stop and review ourselves. We felt a need to be more aware of our responsibility as an energy within an entity that we don’t control and don’t manage. This led us to review the way we operate and what changes are needed.
Our commitment is to demonstrate the importance of an Aboriginal led and managed process.
Deep reflection on our sense of purpose and what our commitment to the process feels like, we have made changes and we farewell some team members, and welcome new members to continue the journey.
We say farewell to Katie and John Stubley, Ezra Jacobs-Smith and Shenali Perera and recognise their contribution in the developing stages of Danjoo Koorliny. We would like to welcome Ashley Nissen, Kelly Warden and Jason Barrow.
Our Danjoo Koorliny energy is now moving into developing our applications for support through Lotterywest, the Ian Potter Foundation and Commonland. We are consolidating our foundations and developing a memorandum of understanding with the University of Western Australia.
Boorda/See you later,
The Danjoo Koorliny Walking Together Directors
Celebrating the Season of Bunuru
Danjoo Koorliny Co-Director, Dr Richard Walley OAM, caught up with ABC Perth to talk about the second season of summer.
"The secret about nature is that it doesn't follow a calendar, nature tells us when its ready to go from one season to the next. So some people always say, 'Bunuru has come early this time'. No no, it comes when it's ready, " Dr Walley Said.
With little to no rain, Bunuru is the hottest time of the year, as hot easterly winds continue with a cooling sea breeze most afternoons, along the coast.
Traditionally this was, and still is, a great time for living and fishing by the coast, rivers and estuaries. Because of this, freshwater foods and seafood made up major parts of the diet during this time of year.
Bunuru is also a time of the white flowers with lots of white flowering gums in full bloom, including Jarrah, Marri and Ghost Gums.
Danjoo Koorliny Works with the West Australian
Seeking to embrace the knowledge, and guidance of the co-directors, The West Australian is carving out space to elevate Noongar voices, in collaboration with Danjoo Koorliny. The journey began in December last year, when Danjoo Koorliny’s Co-Directors engaged the editor of the West Australian Newspaper, Anthony De Ceglie, to discuss an exciting opportunity to teach Noongar language through the news cycle.
Each day since January 1, The West has published a Noongar word of the day, supplied by Danjoo Koorliny. The media shapes the dominant narratives that describe the world, and the stories and voices elevated in the media become the dominant viewpoints shaping society’s collective understanding of everything. This new relationship with The West is a welcomed step towards shifting that collective understanding, to one that lifts First Nations voices, knowledge, and worldview.
Danjoo Koorliny Co-Director, Dr Noel Nannup, said, “I think it’s fantastic that The West has embraced this opportunity for it's readers to begin a journey of learning and understanding one of their most ancient languages on the planet Let’s hope people grab the opportunity and take it further by actually attending language classes".
Department of Justice Reconciliation Action Plan Launch
Danjoo Koorliny Co-Direcor, Professor Colleen Hayward AM, attended the launch of the Department of Justice’s Reconciliation Action Plan on February 15. The plan is set to guide the department for the next two years, containing more than 100 actions and deliverables, including measures to improve engagement between the department and Aboriginal stakeholders.
Pictured: Reconciliation WA chief executive Jody Nunn, Aboriginal Justice team member Tiani Dunn, Parliamentary Secretary Matthew Swinbourn, Director General Dr Adam Tomison and Professor Colleen Hayward AM.
(Image Credit: Department of Justice).
Congratulations to Danjoo Koorliny Co-Director Carol Innes - An Honorary Member of the Order of Australia
A huge congratulations is in order to Carol Innes, one of our Danjoo Koorliny Directors, who has been made an Honorary Member of the Order of Australia for her service to the Indigenous community of Western Australia. Carol Innes AM spoke with ABC Radio Perth about what this recognition means to her and her hopes for the future: ”Whilst we can one day celebrate the good of all of the people who have received these awards, we still have a long way to go for our country to recognise the First People of this country and the contribution we’ve made to the economic, social, cultural and environmental space that we all enjoy,” she said. You can listen to the full interview here: https://www.abc.net.au/radio/perth/programs/mornings/carol-innes/13729084 We would also love to congratulate all receivers of the 2022 Honours List awards but would like to pay special mention to four other Western Australian women for their service to the Indigenous community of Western Australia. Professor Sandra Jean Eades AO for distinguished service to medical research, to Indigenous health, and to professional organisations. Vicki O'Donnell OAM for her work in Indigenous health. Carol Pettersen OAM, one of our welcomed guests at the Danjoo Koorliny summits, received an Order of Australia Medal (photographed above at the Elders Leaders Briefing). Anna Maria Wyatt received a Public Service Medal for outstanding public service to improving education and health outcomes for Aboriginal people in the state of WA.
Carol spoke to ABC Perth's Nadia Mitsopoulos about the meaning of this achievement, and her hopes for the future.
Congratulations to Wesfarmers John Monash Scholarship Winner, Emma Garlett
The Wesfarmers John Monash Scholarship is Australia’s most prestigious overseas postgraduate scholarship, and this year it’s been awarded to Nyungar-Nyiyaparli-Yamatji woman, Emma Garlett.
Emma Garlett is an academic at Curtin Law School, where she teaches Administrative Law. As well as working as a Strategy and Planning Specialist at BHP, Emma conducts legal research relating to Traditional Owner involvement in decisions which affect native title rights, and interests in water.
She plans to attend the University of Oxford in the UK, to commence postgraduate studies in law and business. She is looking forward to research focusing on integrating native title rights and interests into mining strategy, and environmental, social and governance strategies and targets.
Congratulations to Newly Appointed Indigenous Emerging Business Forum, Director of Culture, Barry McGuire
The Indigenous Emerging Business Forum Aboriginal Corporation (IEBFAC) has a vision to grow economic and social wellbeing objectives by creating a forum of cutting-edge technology, business development, corporate networking, business advice and network introductions, to encourage growth in Indigenous owned and operated business.
We would love to extend our congratulations to Barry for his newly appointed role as the IEBFAC Director of Culture.
In their recent congratulatory LinkedIn post, IEBFAC said, "Mr McGuire brings an extensive wealth of cultural knowledge and protocols for the Indigenous Emerging Business Forum team, ensuring we always 'walk straight' and make decisions with our ancestral principals in place.
Mr McGuire is an important addition to our team as we grow in this exciting phase to expansion."
Congratulations to Wungening Aboriginal Corporation CEO, Daniel Morrison, for his 12 Years of Management Leadership
Daniel celebrated twelve years since he began in the role of CEO at the Aboriginal Alcohol and Drug Service (AADS) - now known as Wungening Aboriginal Corporation. Over the years, the organisation has grown significantly from 22 staff across two metro sites, to now over 200 staff across 14 metro sites.
“One thing I am very proud of, is that my role has always maintained its fair share of challenges, barriers, politics, knockbacks, dark days and loneliness. But most of all, and most importantly, the role has allowed me and the organisation to have such an invaluable impact on our community,” said Daniel, on his commemorative LinkedIn post, on January 23.
Danjoo Koorliny is proud to have Daniel as part of the 'extended team' who are helping to shape our vision for a better world beyond 2029.
A Special Mention to the Danjoo Koorliny Leadership Team
The Danjoo Koorliny team is a huge collective of people who work on different projects and portfolio areas. The core team holds a space for people to contribute ensuring that the collective voice is strong. The extended team, whose names have been listed below, have been involved across a number of projects, and support the Danjoo Koorliny Social Impact Festival.
Our networked team ensures that we are working beyond silos and that we are aligning for positive cultural, social, environmental and economic impact.
Thank you!
Jason Barrow
Nicole Crnko
Jade Dolman
Farley Garlett
Elisha Jacobs-Smith
Glenda Kickett
Oral McGuire
Daniel Morrison
Kobi Morrison
Louise O’Reilly
Narelle Thorne
Danielle Thurlow
Sharon Wood-Kenney
Farewell, Congratulations and Thank You, Katie, Ezra, Shenali and John.
We extend our gratitude to Shenali Perera, Ezra Jacobs-Smith, Katie Stubley and John Stubley, for the creativity, passion and experience they brought to Danjoo Koorliny, as we farewell them, and wish them well on their journeys towards new pursuits.
Welcome to the Team, Ashley, Glenda, Jason and Kelly!
We have some new faces joining the Danjoo Koorliny team this year! A warm welcome to Glenda Hickey (pictured top left), our Administration Officer who joined the Danjoo Koorliny team towards the end of 2021. Ashley Nissen (pictured top right) and Kelly Warden (pictured bottom left) have recently come on board as our Communications and Engagement Officers. We look forward to having Jason Barrow (pictured bottom right) join this dynamic team in due course, as our project manager.
Thank you to our supporters and partners!
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