The Deadly Awards, formally titled National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music, Sport, Arts and Community Awards and commonly known simply as The Deadlys, was an annual celebration of

Australian Aboriginal Aboriginal Australians are the various indigenous peoples of the Mainland Australia, Australian mainland and many of its islands, excluding the ethnically distinct people of the Torres Strait Islands. Humans first migrated to Australia (co ...

and

Torres Strait Islander Torres Strait Islanders ( ) are the Indigenous Melanesians, Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal Australians, Aboriginal peoples of the res ...

achievement in music, sport, entertainment and community. The event was hosted by Vibe Australia, founded by Gavin Jones in 1993, and was held from 1995 to 2013, when government funding was cut. The Dreamtime Awards are a successor in recognising Indigenous achievements.

Description

The National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music, Sport, Arts and Community Awards, commonly known as The Deadlys, were an annual celebration of

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of contemporary Australia prior to History of Australia (1788–1850), British colonisation. The ...

achievement in music, sport, entertainment and community. The word " deadly" is a modern colloquialism used by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders to indicate "great or wonderful".

History

The Deadly Awards stemmed from the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-op's 1993 '' Deadly Sounds'' music and culture radio show, and were driven by Gavin Jones. Jones created Vibe Australia, a management agency which ran The Deadlys, among other events, and the first Deadlys (then the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music, Sport, Arts and Community Awards) were held in 1995 at the Boomalli Aboriginal Artists Co-op in the Redfern suburb of Sydney. Over the next few years, their venue shifted through

The Metro Theatre The Metro Theatre (commonly the Metro) is a music venue located on George Street, Sydney, George Street, in the city centre of Sydney, Australia. The venue was redeveloped, from two former cinemas, by property developer Leon Fink. The foyer of ...

, the Hard Rock Café,

Home A home, or domicile, is a space used as a permanent or semi-permanent residence for one or more human occupants, and sometimes various companion animals. Homes provide sheltered spaces, for instance rooms, where domestic activity can be p ...

Darling Harbour Darling Harbour is a harbour and neighborhood adjacent to the city centre of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia, that is made up of a large recreational and pedestrian precinct that is situated on western outskirts of the Sydney central busines ...

, Fox Studios, and others. Then 2001 began The Deadlys residency at the

Sydney Opera House The Sydney Opera House is a multi-venue Performing arts center, performing arts centre in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Located on the foreshore of Sydney Harbour, it is widely regarded as one of the world's most famous and distinctive b ...

, from where the annual gala was broadcast by

National Indigenous Television National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the six-day-a-week ''NITV News Updat ...

. The Deadly Awards earlier growth continued, along with widening regard as a community and Australian institution. Anchored by their annual event held at the Opera House (hosted by Jones' Vibe Australia), later years added venues in other states. Expansion also happened beyond their original music focus to include sport, entertainment, the arts, health, education and training in the Indigenous Australian community, and candidates began to be nominated and voted on by the public. The last Deadlys were held in 2013.

Cancellation

In June 2014 it was announced by the

Abbott government The Abbott government was the federal executive government of Australia led by the 28th Prime Minister Tony Abbott. The government was made up of members of the Liberal–National Coalition. The Leader of The Nationals, Warren Truss, served ...

that funding for the Vibe Project would be cut from 1 July, in measures designed to reallocate funding to Indigenous education programs and other frontline services. Deadly funding in that year was phased back to $1 million and no funding provided for future years. All Vibe projects, including The ''Deadly Sounds'' radio show concluded on 30 June 2014. On 12 July 2014, Gavin Jones was found dead. After a story was run on

Triple J Triple J is an Australian government-funded national radio station founded in 1975 as a division of the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC). It aims to appeal to young listeners of alternative music, and plays far more Australian conten ...

's Hack program on 15 July 2014, a groundswell of community support for saving the Deadly Awards began. A petition on Change.org attracted over 26,000 signatures"Reinstate the Deadly Awards in memory of Founder Gavin Jones." at Change.org and a

Kickstarter Kickstarter, PBC is an American Benefit corporation, public benefit corporation based in Brooklyn, New York City, that maintains a global crowdfunding platform focused on creativity. The company's stated mission is to "help bring creative project ...

campaign reached . Vibe Australia announced on 14 July 2014 that the 20th edition of the event, due to be held at the

on 30 September 2014, would not occur. In November 2017, the National Dreamtime Awards were launched to fill the void in recognising Indigenous achievements as a result of the cessation of the Deadly Awards.

References

External links

*
Photographs of the Deadly Awards, 19 October 1998-10 September 2013, by Jamie James
held at the State Library of New South Wales (catalogue entry) {{DEFAULTSORT:Deadly Awards Indigenous Australian mass media Australian television awards Defunct organisations serving Indigenous Australians Australian music awards 1995 establishments in Australia Awards established in 1995 2013 disestablishments in Australia Awards disestablished in 2013

Description

History

Cancellation

See also

References

External links