News release
12 August 2003
Quick fix not the answer for Indigenous Australia
Professor Lowitja O’Donoghue will put rights and realities back on the agenda when she delivers the annual Duguid lecture on Wednesday August 13 at UniSA’s City West Campus.
This biennial public lecture organised jointly by UniSA and Flinders University honours the lives of Dr Charles and Mrs Phyllis Duguid who significantly influenced the lives of Aboriginal people including those of the Ernabella Mission.
In her address Prof O’Donoghue will argue that Governments do have an important responsibility to do more to help Aboriginal communities and that an important part of that process is to acknowledge historical truths.
"We need to acknowledge that issues such as Indigenous violence have their roots in history, in colonisation and the subsequent denial of Indigenous rights," Professor O’Donoghue said.
"The grim realities for Indigenous Australians are shocking – our children are dying as babies at the same rate as those in the poorest countries in the world. Our life expectancy is 20 years lower than non-Indigenous Australians. Unemployment rates are more than 50 per cent and most Indigenous people live below the poverty line. Aboriginal women are 45 times more likely to be victims of domestic violence and we have a generation of Aboriginal youth who have come to see gaol as almost a rite of passage into adulthood."
"There is no quick fix to a set of problems that are the complex aftermath of dispossession and marginalisation."
"It is only by acknowledging history that we will find solutions. We do need to address the fundamentals such as Indigenous rights, an official apology from the Australian Government, and a treaty that will deal with the unfinished business between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians."
The Duguid Lecture is free and will commence at 7 pm sharp in the Atrium, Ground Floor, Yungondi Building, City West Campus, North Terrace, Adelaide.
A full copy of Professor Lowitja O’Donoghue’s address will be available after the lecture.
Media contact
Michèle Nardelli (08) 8302 0966 or 041 8823673