SIMONE Jordan has attended NAIDOC Week marches and celebrations ever since she was a small child.
"Being children in the Aboriginal community you're always part of everything, so if your parents went to a land council meeting, you went, if they went to a NAIDOC march, you went, if they went to a rally, you went," said Ms Jordan, a Wiradjuri descendent who grew up on Awabakal and Worimi country and is now Awabakal's communications officer.
"[NAIDOC Week] is the time of the year Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people come together to celebrate the journey of those who fought for our rights; celebrate culture; enjoy catching up with the wider community and show and pay respect to the elders and generations before us that marched, advocated and fought for our rights and institutional reform.
"It is the opportunity to educate people on some of the historical aspects that have played a part in generational trauma and disadvantage and actively promote the process of reconciliation."
Awabakal has postponed its march and community event due to COVID-19, but will host a livestream on its Facebook page from 12pm with traditional dancing, didgeridoo playing and entertainment.
This year's theme is Heal Country, which Ms Jordan said meant listening to the land, using Indigenous cultural knowledge to improve management and care of the environment and ensuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and values are respected as equal to those of all Australians.
"We have a long way to go to heal country," she said. "Recent destruction and desecration of our sacred lands or ancient sites - some of the oldest human occupation sites on the planet - is an enormous loss for both our nation and the world. We continue to seek protection for our land, sacred sites and waters as a fundamental right. Through our languages and songs, we speak to country; through our ceremonies and traditions we sing to - and celebrate - country and country speaks to us. We will continue to burn from bushfires and droughts will continue to destroy our livelihoods without [us] using traditional practices that have protected this country for centuries.
"For our people it means finally resolving many of the outstanding injustices which impact on our lives in a fair and equitable way. While we can't change the past we can change the way it has been viewed and create better lives for our future generations."
This year's NAIDOC Week, Ms Jordan said, is being held at an auspicious time in Australian race relations.
"I think we're starting to see small changes in attitude definitely within the last few generations, particularly around Indigenous issues and the history of our country, because some of these people have grown up being taught differently in schools," she said. "There's a whole different human rights outlook on the world and the Black Lives Matter movement in America just raised that awareness. It's something we've been fighting for a long time in this country and while [the BLM movement] is certainly giving us support, we still have a long way to go and we'll keep fighting."
Ms Jordan said Australia had one of the highest rates of deaths in custody in the world and Aboriginal people were overrepresented in prison, at 13 times the rate of non-Indigenous people.
She said a large number reoffended due to drug and alcohol issues, mental ill health and a lack of support when they return to their communities.
Ms Jordan said four years after it was issued, the Uluru Statement from the Heart's call for a First Nations Voice to Parliament had not been enacted.
"We were asked what we wanted and when we put that forward it was not considered a suitable solution, so we continue with the discussions," she said. "[It] calls for structural reform that includes constitutional change, healing the relationship between First Nations [people] and the Australian nation and the support of self determination moving forward.
"A voice in Parliament provides empowerment and a first-hand account of the issues [that] can be put forward for consideration when making decisions that affect us."
"This can only be successful if it is recognised that Indigenous people have been dispossessed, and by ensuring that specific steps are taken to redress the grave social and economic disadvantage that followed that dispossession."
