Truth-listening: Readying Australia for truth
Description
Online livestream link (will go live at 10 am).
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'Real change – lasting change – isn’t measured by how loudly we speak, but by how deeply we listen, and by how much we let the words that we hear move us to action.' – Blake Alan Cansdale
What does it take to be ready for truth – and why has truth about Australia’s colonial past been spoken for decades, yet gone largely unheard? The answer lies in truth‑listening: the active, uncomfortable and deeply relational work required before meaningful change can occur.
Truth-listening acknowledges that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have long spoken truth through community spaces, Royal Commissions, national movements and landmark statements – often to audiences who are unprepared to listen. This raises a critical question: how can non‑Indigenous people and institutions meaningfully embed the practice of truth‑listening before moving to action?
Join us at UTS during Reconciliation Week for a keynote address by Blake Alan Cansdale followed by a panel discussion with Michael Rose AM, Professor Lorena Allam, Professor Anna Clark and Amy Persson (moderator), where they will explore what it means to listen to with integrity – and how listening must precede, shape and sustain action.
This event will also be live-streamed, so you can attend in-person or tune in online. Online event registrants will receive the Zoom link closer to the date.
Keynote Speaker
Blake Alan Cansdale
Blake Alan Cansdale is a First Nations lawyer and National Director of ANTAR. He also chairs Just Reinvest NSW, advocating for justice reinvestment and community-led solutions to incarceration. With a background across law, policy and Aboriginal community organisations, Blake is a leading voice on treaty, truth-telling and systemic reform.
Panellists
Michael Rose AM
Michael Rose is the Chancellor of UTS and co Chair of Reconciliation Australia. Over the last 20 years he has worked on policy issues involving First Nations communities and Indigenous rights, employment, education and reconciliation. In 2016, he served as a member of the Referendum Council on Constitutional Recognition.
Professor Lorena Allam
Professor Lorena Allam is the Industry Professor of truth-telling research at Jumbunna, UTS. She is a multiple Walkley award winning journalist descended from the Yuwalaraay and Gamilaraay people of northwest NSW. After 30 years with the ABC, she became the first Indigenous Affairs Editor at Guardian Australia in 2018, and led news reporting on Indigenous issues.
Professor Anna Clark
Professor Anna Clark is currently Professor of History at UTS. She is an award-winning historian, author and public commentator, and an internationally recognised scholar in Australian history, history education and the role of history in everyday life. Her most recent books are The Catch: Australia’s Love Affair with Fishing (Penguin 2023) and Making Australian History (Penguin 2022).
Amy Persson (moderator)
Amy Persson (moderator) is the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Social Justice and Inclusion) at UTS. Amy is a public policy specialist who has worked across the private, public and not-for-profit sectors. Previously, she held senior executive roles in the NSW Department of Premier and Cabinet and also ran the Behavioural Insights Unit and Office of Social Impact.
Event Hosts
This event is jointly hosted by UTS's Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research and the Centre for Social Justice & Inclusion.
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