14/10/2026
OUR LANGUAGES. OUR CULTURE. OUR STORIES. OUR FUTURE. ❤️💛🖤💚💙🤍
What an incredible privilege it has been to attend the very first Living Languages Platform Network gathering, brought together by the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation (ALNF) in Darwin.
I am leaving this gathering feeling incredibly proud, inspired, emotional and, most importantly, hopeful.
To have the opportunity to sit alongside our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander brothers and sisters from across this country, listening to their stories, their struggles, their achievements and their determination to keep their languages and cultures alive, has been an experience I will carry with me for a very long time.
And I have to say, there were moments that really touched my heart.
Growing up knowing the history of what happened to our own Adnyamathanha people, I think there was a part of me that believed some of those experiences were unique to us.
But sitting in that room, hearing the stories of other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, I realised just how widespread these experiences were.
It wasn’t just our people. It was happening right across this country.
Different Countries, different languages, different communities, but so many shared experiences of dispossession, forced removals, punishment for speaking our languages and being denied the right to practise our cultures.
That was heartbreaking.
To hear how colonisation, government policies and the genocide experienced by our First Nations peoples have impacted generations of families, languages and cultural knowledge was incredibly confronting.
Our people were punished for speaking the languages of their ancestors. Children were removed from their families and Country. Cultural practices were forbidden, and knowledge that had been passed down for thousands of generations was deliberately interrupted.
Some of our people were made to feel ashamed of the very things that should have been celebrated.
And what really stayed with me was hearing how these experiences had affected so many different communities across Australia.
While it was deeply saddening to hear these stories, there was also something incredibly powerful about being together, sharing those experiences and knowing that we are not alone in the work of reclaiming what was taken from us.
Because despite everything our people have endured, we are still here.
Our cultures are still strong, our stories are still being told, and our languages are being reclaimed.
One of the most inspiring parts of this gathering was seeing and hearing about the incredible relationships between our Elders and younger generations.
Young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people stepping forward, sitting alongside their Elders, listening, learning and taking responsibility for carrying their languages and cultural knowledge into the future.
That was something really special.
Our Elders hold so much knowledge, and to see young people recognising the importance of that knowledge, working alongside them to record languages, develop resources, create learning opportunities and encourage others to speak their languages was absolutely inspiring.
There is something incredibly powerful about seeing our younger generations not only learning their languages, but becoming the next generation of language champions.
It gives me hope.
Hope that the voices of our Elders will continue to be heard long after they are gone.
Hope that our children and grandchildren will grow up with opportunities that many of our parents, grandparents and great grandparents were denied.
And hope that the work being done today will ensure our languages remain living languages, not simply something recorded in history.
I was particularly inspired by the many dedicated people working tirelessly within their communities. Elders, young people, educators, language workers and community leaders who are creating books, songs, learning resources, playgroups and opportunities to bring language back into everyday life.
There are so many powerful, passionate and knowledgeable people across this country doing extraordinary work, and I feel incredibly fortunate to have been able to sit among them, listen to their journeys and learn from their experiences.
What an extraordinary gathering of people and cultures.
I want to acknowledge the many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language groups and communities represented at this gathering:
Larrakia and Kungarakan, our hosts in Darwin and Batchelor in the Northern Territory.
Adnyamathanha, Ngaparlaru Yarta, the Flinders Ranges in South Australia.
Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara, from the APY Lands in South Australia.
Dhuwala and Djambarrpuyngu, from Yirrkala and Nhulunbuy in the Northern Territory.
Erub Mer, from Erub Island in the Torres Strait Islands.
Kalkatungu, from Mount Isa in Queensland.
Karajarri, Nyangumarta, Yulparija, Juwaliny and Mangala, from the Bidyadanga community in the Kimberley, Western Australia.
Mapoon Lingo, from Mapoon in Queensland.
Nyikina, from the Broome and Derby region of Western Australia.
Thaynakwith, from the Weipa and Napranum region.
Tweed Bundjalung, from Tweed Heads in New South Wales.
Waramiri, from Elcho Island and Gawa in the Northern Territory.
Warumungu, from Tennant Creek in the Northern Territory.
Every community brought its own experiences, its own knowledge, its own challenges and its own aspirations.
And while our languages, identities and cultural practices are different, there was a shared understanding of just how important this work is.
To sit among so many people who are working to ensure their languages survive and thrive was something I will never forget.
Language is so much more than words.
It carries our identity, our kinship, our relationship with Country, our ancestors, our stories, our Muda and our ways of understanding the world.
When a language is silenced, it is not simply words that are lost. It impacts identity, belonging and the connection between generations.
Hearing Professor Tom Calma AO speak about the importance of our languages and the opportunities created through the Living Languages Platform was a powerful reminder of why this work matters.
I was also incredibly proud to hear from Ngami (aunty) Glenise Coulthard AM speak about the importance of living our languages and encouraging our people to speak it, sing it and be proud of it. 🤎🤍💙
It was wonderful to see Anne Hollonds AO and the ALNF team supporting this important work and bringing our communities together.
For me personally, this gathering has given me so much to think about, particularly in relation to Ngawarla, our Adnyamathanha language.
I have come away with so many ideas and so much inspiration about how we can continue strengthening our language through art, storytelling, songs, cultural resources and activities that bring our younger generations and Elders together.
From creating resources about our animals, plants, places and seasonal knowledge to finding ways of sharing our Muda and cultural teachings, there are so many possibilities.
And I keep coming back to one thought.
Everything begins with Ngawarla.
Our language belongs in our homes, our communities, our conversations, our art and, most importantly, in the voices of our children.
I also recognise that language revitalisation is not something that can be achieved by one person or one generation.
It requires our Elders, our young people, our families and our communities working together, respecting the knowledge that has been entrusted to us and ensuring it is passed on in the right way.
And after this gathering, I feel even more determined to contribute to that journey.
I want to acknowledge every Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person who shared their journey, their knowledge and, at times, their pain during this gathering.
It takes courage to speak about the injustices our people have endured, but it takes extraordinary strength to turn that pain into something that creates hope and opportunity for future generations.
To the Australian Literacy and Numeracy Foundation, thank you for bringing us together and creating a space where our voices, our experiences and our aspirations could be shared.
This was so much more than a gathering.
It was about connection, understanding, healing, learning and recognising the incredible strength that exists within our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
I came away feeling emotional about our shared histories, but equally inspired by the people who are determined to change the future.
And I cannot express enough how wonderful it was to be surrounded by so many passionate people who are doing such important work.
We cannot change what was done to our ancestors, but we can honour their strength by ensuring that what they fought so hard to keep alive continues through us.
Seeing our young people walking alongside their Elders gives me every reason to believe that our languages have a strong future.
Our languages deserve to be heard.
Our children deserve to know them.
And our Elders deserve to see them living on.
So let us keep those fires burning. 🔥
Because every word spoken in our languages is another log placed upon the fire, keeping it burning brighter and stronger for the generations yet to come.
Speak it. Sing it. Teach it. Be proud of it.
Our ancestors kept the embers alive.
Now it is our responsibility to keep the fires burning. ❤️💛🖤💚💙🤍
