Anthony Mundine at the National Indigenous Human Rights Awards

The National Indigenous Human Rights Awards are annual Australian awards that recognise the contribution of

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

to human rights and

social justice Social justice is justice in terms of the distribution of wealth, Equal opportunity, opportunities, and Social privilege, privileges within a society. In Western Civilization, Western and Culture of Asia, Asian cultures, the concept of social ...

. The ceremony takes place in Sydney,

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

History

The National Indigenous Human Rights Awards were launched at the end of June 2014 at

New South Wales Parliament The Parliament of New South Wales is a bicameral legislature in the Australian state of New South Wales (NSW), consisting of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly (lower house) and the New South Wales Legislative Council (upper house). Each ...

, at the instigation of NSW parliamentarian Shaoquett Moselmane.

Description

The award ceremony is first national Australian award ceremony dedicated solely to Indigenous human rights achievements. There are three categories of awards: *The Dr Yunupingu Award for Human Rights, in honour of musician and educator

Mandawuy Yunupingu Mandawuy Djarrtjuntjun Yunupingu , formerly Tom Djambayang Bakamana Yunupingu; skin name Gudjuk; also known as Dr Yunupingu (17 September 1956 – 2 June 2013) was an Australian musician and educator. An Aboriginal, in 1989 he became assista ...

*The Eddie Mabo Award for Social Justice, in honour of

Indigenous land rights Indigenous land rights are the rights of Indigenous peoples to land and natural resources therein, either individually or collectively, mostly in colonised countries. Land and resource-related rights are of fundamental importance to Indigeno ...

campaigner

Eddie Mabo Edward Koiki Mabo (''né'' Sambo; 29 June 1936 – 21 January 1992) was an Indigenous Australian man from the Torres Strait Islands known for his role in campaigning for Indigenous land rights in Australia, in particular the landmark decision o ...

*Anthony Mundine Award for Courage, in honour of boxer

Anthony Mundine Anthony Mundine Jr. (born 21 May 1975) is an Australian former professional boxer and rugby league footballer. In boxing he competed from 2000 to 2021, and held the WBA super-middleweight title twice between 2003 and 2008. He also held the I ...

2014 awards

The inaugural National Indigenous Human Rights Awards were held on 24 June at

Parliament House, Sydney The Parliament House in Sydney is a heritage-listed complex of buildings housing the Parliament of the state of New South Wales, Australia. The building is located on the east side of Macquarie Street in Sydney, the state capital. The façade ...

. Indigenous leaders from all over Australia travelled to Sydney for the event. The ceremony was emceed by Deputy Leader of the Opposition,

Linda Burney Linda Jean Burney (born 25 April 1957) is an Australian politician and is an Australian Labor Party member of the Australian House of Representatives, representing Barton since the 2016 federal election. She is Minister for Indigenous Australi ...

, with a keynote speech by Yalmay Yunupingu. The presenters of the awards were Yalmay Yunupingu, the wife of Dr

, founder and lead singer of

Yothu Yindi Yothu Yindi ( Yolngu for "child and mother", pronounced ) are an Australian musical group with Aboriginal and '' balanda'' (non-Aboriginal) members, formed in 1986 as a merger of two bands formed in 1985 – a white rock group called the Swam ...

, and

Gail Mabo Gail Mabo (born 1965) is an Australian visual artist who has had her work exhibited across Australia. She is the daughter of land rights campaigner Eddie Mabo and educator and activist Bonita Mabo . She was formerly a dancer and choreographer ...

, daughter of

, and world champion boxer

. The awards were founded by NSW Labor Parliamentarian, Shaoquett Moselmane. The inaugural recipient of the Dr Yunupingu Award for Human Rights was Rosalie Kunoth-Monks. The inaugural recipient of the Eddie Mabo Award for Social Justice was family of Eddie Murray. The inaugural recipient of the Anthony Mundine Award for Courage was Barbara McGrady.

2015 awards

The 2015 awards were emceed by SBS journalist and Arrernte woman Karla Grant. The keynote speech was delivered by Narungga elder Tauto Sansbury. The recipient of the Dr Yunupingu Award for Human Rights was Tauto Sansbury. The recipient of the Eddie Mabo Award for Social Justice was

Jenny Munro Jenny Munro (née Coe) is an Australian Wiradjuri elder and a prominent activist for the rights of Indigenous Australians. She has been at the forefront of the fight for Aboriginal housing at The Block in Sydney, and started the Redfern Aborig ...

. The recipient of the Anthony Mundine Award for Courage was

Adam Goodes Adam Roy Goodes (born 8 January 1980) is a former professional Australian rules footballer who played for the Sydney Swans in the Australian Football League (AFL). Goodes holds an elite place in VFL/AFL history as a dual Brownlow Medallist, d ...

2016 awards

The recipient of the Dr Yunupingu Award for Human Rights was Dameyon Bonson. Dameyon Bonson handed back the award in February 2018 in protest of

homophobic Homophobia encompasses a range of negative attitudes and feelings toward homosexuality or people who are identified or perceived as being lesbian, gay or bisexual. It has been defined as contempt, prejudice, aversion, hatred or antipathy, m ...

comments by Anthony Mundine in a TV reality show. The recipient of the Eddie Mabo Award for Social Justice was Mervyn Eades. The recipient of the Anthony Mundine Award for Courage was

Lex Wotton The trial of Lex Wotton relates to the events surrounding the Townsville, Queensland proceedings in the Federal Magistrates Court concerning the actions taken by Palm Island Aboriginal Shire Council member Wotton during the 26 November 2004 Palm ...

2017 awards

The 2017 awards night was emceed by former international journalist and filmmaker

Jeff McMullen Jeffrey John McMullen AM, is an Australian journalist and author and television presenter. He was a foreign correspondent for the Australian Broadcasting Corporation for almost two decades (1966–1984), international reporter for the investigat ...

. The keynote was presented by Senator

Malarndirri McCarthy Malarndirri Barbara McCarthy (born 19 April 1970) is an Australian politician and former journalist who has been a Senator for the Northern Territory since 2016. She is an Assistant Minister in the Albanese Government, and previously served i ...

. There was a judge's toast speech by Narrungga elder, Tauto Sansbury. There were 12 finalists for the three categories; For the Dr Yunupingu Human Rights Award, 4 finalists,

Rachel Perkins Rachel Perkins (born 1970) is an Australian film and television director, producer, and screenwriter. She directed the films ''Radiance'' (1998), ''One Night the Moon'' (2001), ''Bran Nue Dae'' (2010), and ''Jasper Jones'' (2017). Perkins is an ...

, award winning filmmaker, Dr Mark Wenitong, a medical doctor in Cape York, Mervyn Eades, founder and CEO of Ngalla Maya and Dr Kerry Arabena, early childhood academic. For the

Social Justice Award, 4 finalists, Dr Kim Isaacs, a medical doctor in the Kimberley, Gayili Marika Yunupingu, suicide prevention campaigner, Richard Weston, CEO of The Healing Foundation and Noeletta McKenzie, youth suicide prevention worker. For the

Courage Award, 4 finalists, Dr Meg Wills, justice reinvestment campaigner, Professor

Chris Sarra Chris Sarra is an Australian educationalist, and the founder & Chairman of the Stronger Smarter Institute. Sarra grew up in Bundaberg, Queensland as the youngest of ten children to parents of Italian and Aboriginal heritage, and he experienced m ...

, founder of Stronger Smarter Institute, Joe Williams, suicide prevention advocate and Clinton Pryor, who walked across Australia to raise awareness to continuing injustices to Indigenous people. The recipient of the Dr Yunupingu Award for Human Rights was Mervyn Eades. The recipient of the Eddie Mabo Award for Social Justice was Gayili Marika Yunupingu. The recipient of the Anthony Mundine Award for Courage was Professor

2018 awards

The 5th National Indigenous Human Rights Awards were held on 18 October at

. The ceremony was emceed by

NITV 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 half-hourly nightly ''NITV News'' ...

journalist Karla Grant and with a keynote speech by

Noongar The Noongar (, also spelt Noongah, Nyungar , Nyoongar, Nyoongah, Nyungah, Nyugah, and Yunga ) are Aboriginal Australian peoples who live in the south-west corner of Western Australia, from Geraldton on the west coast to Esperance on the so ...

person, lawyer and National Indigenous Critical Response Service advocate Megan Krakouer. The recipient of the Dr Yunupingu Award for Human Rights was Megan Krakouer. The recipient of the Eddie Mabo Award for Social Justice was Keenan Mundine. The recipient of the Anthony Mundine Award for Courage was Clinton Prior.

References

{{Indigenous Australians Human rights awards Awards established in 2014 Australian humanitarian awards Australian Aboriginal culture 2014 establishments in Australia