On Sunday the 14th April, Terri opened the exhibition Punu – Living Wood, a recent collaboration between Maruku Arts and the Sturt Gallery that sits on Gundungurra country in Mittagong. Maruku Arts represents over 20 Indigenous communities across the Central and Western desert regions of Australia and is made up of 900 Anangu artists. Among these are senior artists Billy and Lulu Cooley whose Punu (wood) work is nationally and internationally acclaimed and featured in this sh

Cultural institutions, such as museums, galleries, libraries and archives, are tasked with representing the contemporary cultural landscape and the history of the nation. This often involves the collecting, archiving and showcasing of Indigenous cultural materials and objects, or Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property (ICIP). This cultural heritage is the means through which the vast history of the First Australians is depicted and understood. A large amount of Indigen

National Close the Gap Day? We recognise today as National Close the Gap Day and shout out to all that there is important work to be done. According to the 2019 Closing the Gap Report[1] Australia is not meeting its targets around closing the gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous Australians.[2] The Report highlighted that the targets for closing the gap in school attendance and life expectancy have not been met. Child mortality, reading

2019 is the United Nations International Year of Indigenous Languages. [1] This puts the spotlight on the work of the Indigenous language and cultural centres. This celebration provides a platform to showcase the different ways to revitalise Indigenous languages around the world. Many projects involve the recording of Indigenous languages, and for this reason, it is important to consider how copyright laws apply to the development of languages. Whilst copyright doesn’t protec

Businesses can benefit from organising part of the work they have been hired for to be completed by an independent contractor. This is called “subcontracting”. Subcontracting is a common way of collaborating with other businesses. The model allows businesses to increase capacity by combining resources, knowledge and talent. Rather than entering a more permanent employment arrangement, the subcontractor is engaged temporarily as a consultant. Benefits of subcontracting Many In

Introduction Fake Aboriginal Art has been the bane of the Indigenous Arts Industry. Rip-offs take opportunity and money away from Indigenous artists. However, even worse, stylised faux objects demean the cultural heritage of Indigenous Australians. In October 2018, the Federal Court delivered an important judgement against souvenir manufacturer, Birubi Art Pty Ltd[1] finding that they had mislead consumers under Australian Consumer Law (ACL) .[2] This case has ramifications

Introduction Joint ventures (JVs) are a common feature in the Indigenous business sector. A joint venture refers to a collaboration between two businesses for strategic or commercial purposes. 100% owned Indigenous businesses looking to bid for contracts under the Commonwealth Government’s Indigenous Procurement Policy (IPP) may lack capacity to carry out large projects. Many are forming JV companies with larger non-Indigenous businesses, in order to reach scale, build skills

Wills are all about planning and handing on prosperity to the next generation. Although the thought of death can be frightening, it is important that individuals, especially business owners, express their wishes regarding their belongings and other arrangements after their death using a will. What is a Will? A will is a legal document that clearly sets out the wishes of an individual in terms of the distribution of their belongings (this is called an ‘estate’), the guardiansh

Managing a business can be hard. When the bills stack up and the money coming in slows down, steering a path through the hard times can be difficult. Not being able to pay your debts can have serious consequences. Taking your eye off tax and superannuation payments can also lead to further debt. What do you when the creditors - the people you owe money to - come knocking at your door? In situations like this, you may consider bankruptcy, but what are the consequences? Declar

The NAIDOC theme this year is 'Because Of Her, We Can'. Our team put together a short message to our boss, Terri Janke. We are so proud to have a boss who is an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander woman & an absolute legend. "In respect of this year's NAIDOC theme, our team wanted to share with you all what it's like to work for the incredible Terri Janke: Because of her, I can wake up everyday inspired to help others. Because of her, I am challenged to do more, and do it b

This week is a very exciting time for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across Australia, it’s NAIDOC Week. NAIDOC Week is a time to celebrate our culture and our community. This year the NAIDOC theme is ‘Because of her we can’. I wanted to use this time to recognise some of the amazing Indigenous women working in the law that have inspired me throughout my career as a Solicitor. The first Indigenous woman to become a magistrate was Pat O’Shane, she also was the fi

On Tuesday 29th of June, Terri presented the inaugural National Reconciliation Week Address at the University of Wollongong as part of their Reconciliation Week event. Photo: Michelle Chandler The event was hosted by UOW’s Woolyungah Indigenous Centre and office of the Pro Vice-Chancellor (Inclusion and Outreach), Professor Paul Chandler. In respect of the NRW theme ‘Don’t Keep History A Mystery’, Terri presented her paper titled ‘Indigenous Knowledge is not a Terra Nullius’.

Businesses use social media to promote themselves. These days most businesses have websites, blogs, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn. These platforms are used regularly, therefore, it is important that the message is meeting the standards of the law including copyright, defamation and trade practices. Copyright protects images, music, films and text on the internet. You cannot just copy the content from other people’s websites. To copy and repost text or photographs

My presentation at the WIPO Seminar in Geneva This June, I travelled to Geneva to attend the WIPO Seminar on Intellectual Property and Traditional Cultural Expressions. The seminar was held by WIPO, the World Intellectual Property Organisation and it focused on policy issues for Indigenous Intellectual Property and Traditional Cultural Expressions. I spoke in the Roundtable discussion on Key Policy Issues and I was able to present my ideas. A big problem with existing intelle

The best thing about Cairns Indigenous Art Fair (CIAF) is that it showcases the authentic works of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists from all over Queensland including the Cape and the Torres Strait. In a tourist town, where there have been so many reported fake souvenir arts and craft items such as bamboo didgeridoos, hand painted backpacker boomerangs and copycat t-shirts, it’s good to see the crowds flocking to CIAF. This year the message that Fake Arts Harms C

Terri has been featured in an episode of NITV's Living Black called 'Cultural Crusader'. The episode documents Terri's journey from growing up in Far North Queensland to being a world leading expert in Indigenous law. The episode was aired on NITV on Wednesday 15 March 2017, but don't worry if you missed it, you can click here to watch it online. Picture by Nancia Guivarra, NITV. #Terri

For more than 60,000 years Indigenous Australians lived in harmony with the Australian environment. Over this time through years of intergenerational transfer of knowledge, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities have developed knowledge of our land, seas and the environment that is useful in managing our future challenges such as climate change, land erosion, species management and coastal care. Scientists are now seeing the value in the contributions Indigenous pe

We are excited to announce the release of Terri’s TEDxCairns talk. Terri brings her knowledge to the international TEDx platform. One aspect of Terri’s talk discusses how Indigenous cultures are steeped in thousands of years of heritage and continuing practice. Using and reproducing traditional cultural expression within new works requires consideration of Indigenous cultural protocols. The protocols created by Terri are known as the True Tracks: Respect Self-determination Co

Earlier this month I attended the 2016 Indigenous Business, Enterprise & Corporations Conference (IBECC) in Perth Western Australia. The conference was attended by participants from all over Australia. There were many Indigenous entrepreneurs, Aboriginal corporations, government officers and corporate representatives from mining, health and consulting. Social Impact UWA / IBECC16 The Conference highlighted the growth of the Indigenous business sector, now expanding in the wak

Indigenous Procurement Policy: Legal challenges On Wednesday 9 November, we held our second Law Way Workshop. The Law Way workshop is a business development workshop specifically designed in response to the needs of Indigenous Entrepreneurs and Government Departments procuring their services. We covered issues relating to joint ventures, black cladding, shareholders deeds, directors duties, sub-contracting agreements and protecting intellectual property. The Workshop was held