NAIDOC Week represents a long history of First Nations people getting up, standing up and showing up - from the frontier wars to today as we continue to call for systemic change. So what better theme for 2022?

This NAIDOC Week, Future Women, premier partner Maurice Blackburn Lawyers, and Witchery will collaborate for a very special celebration. Join us as we look ahead and honour the past in conversation with an exceptional panel of First Nations women.

Executive General Manager of Inclusion and Social Policy at the AFL, Tanya Hosch; Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service CEO, Nerita Waight; lawyer and Co-Chair of the Uluru Youth Dialogue, Bridget Cama; and writer, director and National NAIDOC Committee member, Kimberley Benjamin, will discuss the importance of speaking truth to power and putting words into action to ensure a more equitable country for all.

10% of every ticket and table sold will be donated to our charity partner, the Australian Indigenous Education Foundation.

SPEAKERS

Tanya Hosch is the Executive General Manager of Inclusion and Social Policy at the AFL and 2021 South Australian – Australian of the Year. Ms. Hosch has a long and distinguished history in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander policy, advocacy, and governance. Before joining the AFL as the first ever Indigenous person and 2nd woman in their Executive ranks in August 2016, Tanya was the Joint Campaign director of the Recognise movement for constitutional recognition.

Bridget Cama is a Wiradjuri First Nations and Pasifika Fijian woman who was born and grew up in Lithgow, New South Wales and has connections to the Cudgegong River near Mudgee NSW. Bridget is currently a graduate lawyer at Gilbert + Tobin and is the Co-Chair of the Uluru Youth Dialogue, working with the Uluru Dialogue since March 2019. Bridget works closely with Allira Davis to provide a national platform for First Nations youth voices to be heard in the Uluru movement and in First Nations affairs more broadly.

Nerita Waight is CEO at the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service. In 2016 she established Balit Ngulu, a specialist legal service for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children. Nerita is completing her Masters of Law and is passionate about social justice, equity and discovering innovative ways to solve the justice issues plaguing her community.

Kimberley Benjamin is based in Naarm/Melbourne and is a proud Yawuru, Bardi and Kija woman from Rubibi/Broome, WA. Kimberley has worked as a researcher, writer, director and story producer for both television and documentary film. Currently, she works for First Nations-owned and led creative agency, Garuwa. Having previously worked for many community organisations in Boorloo/Perth, Kimberley’s diverse work and passion for telling stories is informed by her connections and relationships with communities across the Country.

HOST

Madison Howarth is a proud Wonnarua and Yuin woman. Madison is Future Women's Community Content Coordinator and recently completed her Bachelor of Media with Distinction at UNSW. She has a passion for storytelling through a First Nations lens and has written for NME, The National Indigenous Times, Women's Agenda and 9Honey.

Artwork by proud Kalkadoon and Waanyi woman, Kylie Hill @kjhartworks

Date: Monday, July 4 2022
Time: 7:30am - 9:00am
Venue: W Naarm | Melbourne, The Great Room, 408 Flinders Ln, Naarm | Melbourne VIC 3000
Tickets: $130 for individuals and $1,100 for tables of 10 (inc. GST and excluding booking fee), includes breakfast

Directions from the Collins Arch Entry:

Exit the tram (#11, #12, #48 or #109) on Collins Street / walk along Collins Street (in between William and Queen street). You will see a path underneath a building archway, with a lit up ‘W’ in the window at the end of the path. Enter the glass doors and head up the escalators where you will enter level 1 of W (the event floor).

Directions from the Flinders Lane/Market Street Entry:

Exit the tram (#58) on Market Street, short walk (1 minute) from the tram stop to W (located on the corner of Flinders Land and Market Street). Enter the glass doors on Flinders Lane and walk past the Living Room (welcome desk) towards the lifts. Head to Level 1 (event floor). Directional signage will guide from there.

For further venue details and accessibility information, please visit the hotel website here. If you have accessibility requirements, please reach out to us at hello@futurewomen.com

Photos will be taken at the event. If you do not agree to your photo being used by Future Women in promotional material covering the event, please email hello@futurewomen.com

Future Women acknowledges the land on which our team members live and work. From the wet and windy lands of the Kulin nations, to the Kaurna people’s rolling Adelaide plains, to Gadigal and Gumbaynggirr land where the sun always shines, the first owners of our national capital, the Ngunnawal people, and across the seas to the land of the Maori people of New Zealand. We pay our respects to elders past and present. We recognise that the Aboriginal land on which many of our team work has never been ceded and the work of reconciliation is not yet done. Future Women are committed to continuing the conversations about women and their work that have taken place on this land for tens of thousands of years.

Contact the host of Future Women celebrates NAIDOC Week 2022