- The Guardian
- Issue #2107
Aunty Muriel Bamblett
Standing for National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee, NAIDOC week celebrates the history, culture, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australia.
The Communist Party of Australia, the first political party in this country to stand with Indigenous people in their struggle for land rights, celebrates NAIDOC week. The theme for NAIDOC this year is ‘Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud’.
Aunty Muriel Bamblett, a proud Yorta Yorta/Dja Dja Wurrung woman, was honoured with the Person of the Year award in the 2024 National NAIDOC Week Awards celebrating First Nations excellence. Muriel Bamblett is an Adjunct Professor, in the School of Social Work and Social Policy La Trobe University and the CEO of Victorian Aboriginal Child and Community Agency (VACCA). Muriel is driven by the desire to give children in out-of-home care a connection to culture – “they have their Aboriginality, they have a genealogy, and they feel a connection to land.
Other NAIDOC awards included Caring for Country and Culture, which went to Alick Tipoti, a fluent Kala Lagaw Ya language speaker, who has significantly revived the art of mask-making in the Torres Strait. He aims to have a book out promoting his language next year. Tiwi Islander descendant Dante Rodrigues who was Youth of the Year. Dante was the first Aboriginal kickboxer to represent Australia at an Olympic level, and runs health and wellbeing programs for youth in the Northern Territory.
The full list of awards and winners can be found at www.naidoc.org.au
