Koorie Club News

**WARNING: THIS NEWSLETTER CONTAINS SENSITIVE INFORMATION AND NAMES OF ABORIGINAL PEOPLE WHO HAVE DIED**

Nation Wide News:

This Friday, Traditional Owners, Aboriginal leaders, business figures, academics, and entrepreneurs will gather in Naarm, Melbourne for a major economic roundtable focused on building a stronger, more inclusive Australian economy.

The two-part event will explore how to boost productivity, strengthen economic resilience, and invest in skills, capability, and innovation, specially within Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Senator Jana Stewart, a Mutthi Mutthi and Wamba Wamba woman, says Indigenous businesses are already making a significant impact, generating more than $16 billion annually and employing over 116,000 people. “Our economy is stronger when First Nations people are leading and shaping the solutions,” Senator Stewart said. “Victoria shows what works when you back community-led ideas with real investment.” Additionally, insights from this event will be used to help shape national economic reform discussions in Canberra next week.

The life and legacy of Wiradjuri Elder, land rights pioneer, and Aboriginal Legal Service founder Paul Coe were honoured at his funeral on Erambie Mission, Cowra, on Thursday. Mr Coe passed away on 29 July at the age of 76. Friends, family, and community members remembered him as a “true Wiradjuri warrior” who was fearless in challenging systemic racism and advocating for Aboriginal sovereignty and self-determination. His work in the legal system, including a landmark case against the Commonwealth over land dispossession, helped lay the foundations for the historic 1992 Mabo decision.

Born in 1949 to activist parents Les and Agnes Coe, Paul was the first Aboriginal student at Cowra High School to pass the Higher School Certificate and went on to become one of the first Aboriginal barristers in Australia. He played a leading role in the Aboriginal Tent Embassy and the Redfern Black Power movement, inspiring generations of leaders. Speakers remembered not only his determination and courage, but also his warmth, generosity, and love for family. His granddaughter summed up his influence: “You have changed the trajectory for our people forever.”

A new report, Harm in the Name of Safety, has found harmful and discriminatory police practices in family violence cases are “frequent and widespread” across Victoria. Based on the testimony of 225 frontline workers, the report warns that police responses can sometimes cause further harm, including criminalising victim-survivors, colluding with perpetrators, and failing to act on violence against women. It also found police-perpetrated family violence to be a significant issue, with over half of respondents having encountered it. One key concern is the “misidentification” of the predominant aggressor, where victim-survivors, particularly Aboriginal women, are wrongly labelled as perpetrators. Antoinette Braybrook AM, CEO of Djirra, says this is not simply a mistake but a form of racial targeting that has devastating consequences, including incarceration, family separation, and long-term stigma.

The report calls for urgent reform, including reducing police involvement in first responses, investing in community-based support services, and creating culturally safe pathways for victim-survivors. Ms Braybrook says Aboriginal women must have access to specialist legal services and advocates: “Aboriginal women deserve better. Aboriginal women deserve an advocate.”

School-Wide News:

This year, our St Helena Secondary College proudly celebrated NAIDOC Week with a range of activities that honoured Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture, history, and achievements. The week was filled with colour, creativity, and learning opportunities for all students.

We began with a dot painting workshop, where students explored traditional painting techniques and created their own artworks inspired by Dreaming stories. Around the school, short Dreaming stories were displayed on TV screens alongside social media and TV presentations, helping to share knowledge and deepen cultural understanding.

For the week, our school logo was adapted to include Indigenous design elements designed by a student, and we proudly flew the Indigenous school logo flag to mark the occasion.

We enjoyed music from Indigenous artists such as Baker Boy, Archie Roach, Jessica Mauboy, and Thelma Plum at start of the day, and end of lunch and recess breaks, with the school grounds coming alive.

The library display showcased NAIDOC Week’s significance and history, with colouring activities available for students during recess and lunch.

Outdoors, a new Indigenous mosaic drink tap installation near the canteen was unveiled, adding a lasting and beautiful cultural feature to our school.

We are also looking forward to an upcoming Indigenous Cooking Class, where students will follow a traditional recipe under the guidance of an Indigenous instructor, an experience sure to be both delicious and educational.

Sports News:

West Coast Fever has confirmed they approached star goal shooter Donnell Wallam late last year, hoping to bring her back to her home state for the 2025 Suncorp Super Netball season. However, the club was too late, as Wallam has already committed to New Zealand’s Northern Mystics.

Wallam, a proud Noongar woman, was unexpectedly released by the Queensland Firebirds after three standout seasons. Fever CEO Simone Hansen revealed that the club had contacted Wallam’s management in December 2024, intending to replace departing Jamaican shooter Jhaniele Fowler-Nembhard, the league’s leading scorer for the past three years.Her departure from Queensland came after publicly supporting teammate Remi Kamo’s claims of a toxic culture within the club.

Despite scoring 66 goals in one of her final matches, the Firebirds chose not to renew her contract.Australian Diamonds coach Stacey Marinkovich has expressed disappointment that Wallam won’t be playing domestically this season, but confirmed she remains eligible for international selection.

Netball Australia has announced the return of the First Nations Tournament this August, confirming it will now be a permanent fixture on the sporting calendar. The competition will see the nation’s best under-23 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander netballers represent their states and territories. The inaugural tournament in 2024 was described as a “powerful showcase” of talent both on and off the court. It also created opportunities for Indigenous coaches and umpires, while providing a culturally safe space where players could be themselves, making the event about more than sport. The tournament as a celebration of connection, culture, and opportunity.

Melbourne defender Steven May will miss the next two matches after the AFL Appeals Board upheld his three-game suspension for rough conduct.

The ban stems from a collision during the Demons’ match against Carlton, in which May’s shoulder contacted the head of Francis Evans, leaving the Blues player concussed. Melbourne argued the incident was a genuine contest for the ball and that May could not have reasonably predicted the bounce that led to the clash. However the Appeals Board disagreed, siding with the Tribunal’s original finding that May could have better anticipated the situation and avoided high contact. May has already served one week of the ban after missing the loss to St Kilda due to his own concussion. He will also be absent for upcoming games against West Coast and the Western Bulldogs.

Didge ya know?

The Yirrkala Bark Petitions were the first traditional documents to be formally recognised by the Australian Parliament. In 1963, the Yolŋu people of Yirrkala in Arnhem Land presented two bark paintings, framed with typed text, to protest the removal of their land for bauxite mining without consultation. These petitions brought together Yolŋu law and culture with the processes of the Australian Parliament, creating a powerful statement about the importance of Country, culture, and self-determination. While the mining continued, the petitions became a landmark in the ongoing journey for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander land rights.

On the 14 August 1824, the colonial government declared martial law against the Wiradjuri people in NSW. This was part of violent conflicts as settlers encroached on Wiradjuri lands. Martial law gave soldiers and settlers the power to kill without trial, leading to widespread loss of life and dispossession. On the same date in 1928, the Coniston Massacre began in the Northern Territory. Over several weeks, police and settlers killed dozens of Warlpiri, Anmatyerre, and Kaytetye people in retaliation for the death of a European man. This was one of the last officially sanctioned massacres in Australian history, yet no one was convicted. These anniversaries remind us of the importance of truth-telling and remembering the impact of colonisation on First Nations communities.

Rachel Aden (Koorie Group Leader) – ADE0010@sthelena.vic.edu.au

For any other support needed for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples please visit: https://headspace.org.au/yarn-safe/