OverSixty January 2023 Issue

7 NEWS OVERSIXTY.COM.AU | ISSUE 3 | JANUARY 2023 HELEN SIGNY NEWS M egan Davis was in high school when her family received an envelope from the Queensland State Archives. She and her siblings Alf, Will, John and Lucy gathered round. They lived with their mother in a small housing commission house in Logan, Queensland. Although they lived on a mea- gre income, it was a house full of books and laughter; homework and rugby league. A few weeks previously, they had filled out a form at a NAIDOC week event, where the Queensland archivist had offered a service to track down the long-lost records of Aborig- inal people who had once lived on the mis- sions and reserves. Now they had a file on their grandfather, Fred Davis. “It was extraordinary, right in front of my face we had all these letters written by my grandfather who I never met,” remembers Davis, now a leading international constitu- tional lawyer and Pro Vice-Chancellor Indig- enous at the University of NSW. “But I was so shocked by what I read. It showed the ritual humiliation of Aborigi- nal people. Fred worked his whole life for Queensland Rail, but he didn’t get a salary. It went into an account looked after by the native administrator and he had to write and ask for permission to use it if he needed something like a bucket or a lantern.” Davis’s family are Cobble Cobble Aborig- inal people of the Barrungam nation, from Country in the western downs around the Bunya Mountains in southern Queensland. As young men, Fred and his brother, Rob- ert, were removed from their home in War- ra onto a reserve in Cherbourg, three hours north of Brisbane. They couldn’t leave to go to family funerals, they couldn’t hand down money through wills, explains Davis. “That day, we read the file, sobbing.” Fred and Robert escaped and moved to Hervey Bay, where Fred married Elizabeth, the descendent of South Pacific Islanders from Vanuatu who were forcefully removed and brought to Queensland to work on plan- tations in a practice known as “blackbirding”. Davis and her siblings grew up along the railway lines around Hervey Bay, where her father was a stationmaster. She recalls seeing the deep disadvantage and dysfunction ex- perienced by some in her community: mis- use of alcohol, fighting over resources and fractured families, which she says trace back to the “torment of powerlessness”. “First Nations peoples are not recognised in their own country, and this has mental and physical health flow-on effects,” she says. Davis’s parents separated and her mother Dawn and the children moved to Eagleby. Dawn chose not to work while the children were young, devoting her time to support- ing their studies and sport; the kids went to bed early, ate nutritious meals and discussed current affairs over breakfast before school. Dawn was a fierce advocate for her chil- dren. When Davis’s brothers – straight A stu- dents who never caused any trouble – were stopped by police for no reason other than that they were black, she stood up for them. She fought against injustice and always taught the children to speak up if they had something to say. “All of us felt really deeply, deeply loved,” says Davis. “And that’s the most important thing – knowing there is one person in the world that really loves you.” A former English teacher and prolific reader, Dawn spent any spare money on sec- ond-hand books. One day, she gave Davis a copy of Matters for Judgment , the autobiogra- phy of Governor-General Sir JohnKerr. At the back of the book, Davis read the Australian Constitution, and her passion for the rule of law and legal process was born. Excelling at school, she then studied Arts and Law at the University of Queensland. In her final year, she won a paid United Nations fellowship in Geneva for eight months. “I was terrified, but Mum said, ‘You have got to take new opportunities as they arise, you might be terrified now but you have to push through’.” But Davis need not have worried. Her time in Geneva was an unforgettable experience in which she gained an extraordinary insight into the UN human rights system. She realised that, while Australia had con- tributed to many of the human rights protec- tions enshrined in international law, we were viewed poorly by the rest of the world for our non-recognition of First Nations people. “Most Australians don’t realise that, since first contact in 1788, there has been no recog- Megan Davis: Becoming a People’s Voice Shopping in the Quiet Hour What is the Uluru Statement from the Heart? Released in 2017 following a decade-long consultation with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the Uluru Statement from the Heart is the largest consensus of First Nations Peoples on a proposal for constitutional recognition in Australian history. It calls for constitutional change and reform to have a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution and a ‘Makarrata Commission’ to supervise a process of ‘agreement- making’ and ‘truth-telling’ between governments and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. What will happen now? The Federal Government has committed to holding a referendum on the Uluru Statement, in which Australians will be asked to vote on a fundamental principle: that First Nations people should have a Voice enshrined in the Constitution. If passed, the details will be worked out between the government and First Nations peoples, with extensive consultation, and legislation will be introduced. While the legislation may be amended, the existence of the Voice itself would be guaranteed in the Constitution. Above: Davis’s upbringing and experiences were instrumental in paving her career as an advocate and voice for change Photo: Courtesy UNSW Photo: Getty Images NEWS nition of the First Nations Peoples, and that is quite rare in the world,” Davis says. “InCanada andNewZealand, for example, first contact treaties with indigenous popula- tions were built into the fabric of their legal and political system. But in Australia, there is no formalised way for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to communicate with governments and advise them how best to direct resources. Instead, you get non-Indig- enous bureaucrats in Canberra making deci- sions about policy in the bush.” As a young lawyer, Davis was appointed to the United Nations Permanent Forum on In- digenous Issues, the first Indigenous Austral- ian to sit on a UnitedNations body. She spent 20 years at the United Nations, also sitting on the UNHuman Rights Council. Back in Australia, she was the lawyer lead- ing the Government’s constitutional recog- nition work as a member of the Prime Min- ister’s Referendum Council and the Prime Minister’s Expert Panel on the Recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in the Constitution. This meant she designed the process for consulting with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples around the country onwhat they think constitutional recognition should look like. More than 1200 people were con- sulted – the most significant consultation with Indigenous peoples ever undertaken. “This wasn’t about speaking to the black technocrats and black leaders,” Davis says. “We didn’t allow people who have per- manent roles or politicians or activists. We wanted people who didn’t have a voice. It was about how do we give them a voice.” Her work culminated in the Uluru State- ment from the Heart, a call for the establish- ment of a First Nations Voice to be enshrined in the Australian Constitution. If passed, the First Nations Voice will mean, for the first time, that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people must be con- sulted about issues that affect them. “This is a really significant thing for our nation,” says Davis. “The benefits will flow to all Australians. We are the oldest continuous culture, existing and thriving on this con- tinent for 60,000 years – this connection to deep time is something precious for all of us.” It will also mean Australia takes the first steps toward healing the injustices of the past and addressing the sense of powerless that still pervades many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. “The Voice to Parliament will allow our people to have a view.” Something Fred Davis and all those who have gone before never had. ZOË MEUNIER NEWS L oud music, clanging trolleys, incessant chatter from every angle as bright lights blaze down... it’s no secret that your standard trip to the supermarket can be a case of sen- sory overload. That’s why supermarkets Coles and Wool- worths have been rolling out Quiet Hour – a low-sensory shopping experience designed to assist customers who struggle with a heightened-sensory environment, such as those with Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) and anxiety. Every Tuesday, from10.30-11.30amat par- ticipating stores, the following measures are put in place to assist sensitive shoppers: • Lights and in-store music turned down • Only emergency PA announcements • Store entrance cleared • Roll cages removed from shop floor • Volume reduced on store phones and registers on trading floor • Coles stores also halt trolley collections and provide extra staff to assist customers, while Woolies put the brakes on their bakery oven and chicken cooker buzzers for an hour. These initiatives, which were devised in consultation with Autism Spectrum Austral- ia (Coles) and Life Without Barriers (Wool- worths) and have now rolled out to multiple branches around Australia, are ensuring an inclusive environment to all shoppers. Check with your local store to see if they are partici- pating in the initiative.