The Conference Committee are delighted to announce that Professor Eleanor Bourke, Wergaia/Wamba Wamba Elder and Chair of the Yoorrook Justice Commission, will be the opening keynote speaker for our 2023 conference, Rising to our challenges: archives at the ‘G.
Professor Bourke has held a number of executive positions in state and federal government agencies, including Co-Chair of Reconciliation Victoria, Victorian Aboriginal Heritage Council Board Member and Board Member of Native Title Services Victoria where she participated in Victoria’s first positive native title determination for the Wotjobaluk, Wergaia, Jardwa, Jardwajarli and Japagulk peoples. She also has a distinguished academic career including as Professor of Aboriginal and Islander Studies, Director of Aboriginal Programs at Monash University, and Associate Professor and Director of the Aboriginal Research Institute in the South Australia University.
Professor Bourke’s dedication and leadership across her career to advancing Aboriginal education and communities has seen her inducted into the Victorian Honour Roll for Women and the Victorian Aboriginal Honour Roll and in 2022 was honoured as a Member of the Order of Australia.
Professor Bourke described her role as Chair of the Yoorrook Justice Commission, at a recent hearing as ‘the most important thing I will ever do in my life’. Set up to investigate the systemic injustices experienced by First Peoples in Victoria from the start colonisation up to today, Yoorrook is both a truth telling process tasked with creating an official public record of the true history of Victoria, and a royal commission – a colonial legal structure that comes with significant powers, and responsibilities.
We are honoured and privileged that at as our opening keynote she will speak about ‘Records and recordkeeping in Australia’s first formal truth telling inquiry’ and discuss the challenges in ensuring the Commission meets its reporting requirements under the law, while ensuring its archives not only respect and reflect the voices and experiences of First Peoples, but are also held and controlled by First Peoples. She will explore the new path Yoorrook is forging for other states, territories and the Commonwealth to follow, in creating an immersive, living archive that helps all Victorians better understand the history of the lands upon which we all live.
Registrations are now open with early bird rates available until 7 July 2023.
Visit our conference website for more information.
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