Mel Parker
Proud Yorta Yorta woman Associate Professor Summer May Finlay, PHAA Vice President (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) facilitated a webinar on 3 June to mark National Reconciliation Week.
It featured guest speakers Dr Stephen Harfield, a Narungga and Ngarrindjeri man and UQ Poche Centre for Indigenous Health researcher, and Jaki Adams, a proud Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander, and Lowitja Institute Executive Manager – Research and Knowledge Translation.
More than 80 people joined the webinar, and the question and answer session. Here’s a summary of the webinar’s main points.
Everybody’s business
Speakers reflected on “All In”, the theme of this year’s National Reconciliation Week.
Dr Stephen Harfield emphasised how the theme is a call to action, and that reconciliation isn’t a passive spectator sport.
Jaki Adams noted that “ ‘All In’ means that it’s… everybody’s business”.
“So I tend to find that – you know – it’s not just up to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to do the heavy lifting all the time… it’s not actually our problem or our doing that we have to actually reconcile or be in a space of reconciliation.”
“So for me, ‘All in’, that call to action, that challenge to non-Indigenous people to be all in – can you come with us?”
In an email later, Jaki Adams encapsulated her answer with the question: “Will you stand up for us when we are not in the room?”
Jaki also noted the need for the rest of Australia “to pave the way through having those challenging conversations so when we walk in the room it’s not uncomfortable for us every time we walk in the room… Take on some of that uncomfortability for us and … have those heavy conversations”.
Allyship and accountability
A/Prof Finlay asked speakers about the definition of an ally.
Jaki Adams discussed an allyship ‘scale’, noting that people can be ‘tokenistic’, an ‘ally’, or an ‘accomplice’. A/Prof Summer May Finlay, explored this in detail in her Croakey article in 2020, Where do you fit? Tokenistic, ally – or accomplice?
During the webinar, Jaki noted: “What is allyship accountability to you when you think about your spaces as an ally, or your spaces as an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander person experiencing allyship – what’s been successful and what hasn’t?…”
“…What makes you an ally? Who determines you are an ally? Have you asked the people that you’re allying with or for what an ally looks like and what they want you to do as an ally for them?”
When asked his definition of an ally, Dr Stephen Harfield noted the need for non-Indigenous people to know “when it’s your time to step back and to allow Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to take the lead, and to be the voice.”
Allyship in policy and research
When asked about allyship in research, Dr Harfield noted, “I think the role of a non-Indigenous person in this space is really… being a good ally, but I think their role really is around facilitating the involvement of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in research… and ensuring that there is Indigenous governance, leadership and participation of our people and communities in that research”.
“That’s what I would say a good ally would be.”
Jaki spoke on policies in organisations, noting that “from an allyship perspective, it’s about understanding the context, and also appreciating the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who are in that room. So for organisations who employ Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, their voice is just as important if not more than the outside voices that tend to get taken up or tend to get heard above those people that work in these organisations.
“What is a true ally? A true ally is that you actually do what you say you’re going to do, but that the work that you’re doing is led by those people that you’re trying to make a difference for”.
“When we develop policy and we think about policies moving forward within our organisations, we have to have … the voices of employees just as much as the voices of outside people engaged”.
Other points included:
- Truth-telling – A/Prof Finlay emphasised how it’s crucial that, to understand “where were are today, you have to understand how we got here”.
- Reconciliation and allyship – A/Prof Finlay noted “reconciliation is complex, and that everybody has a role to play in that, and that to be true and not tokenistic you have to be there at all times”. She also noted how “Allyship will grow over time”.
- The role of non–Indigenous people – A/Prof Finlay highlighted that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are not a large percentage of Australia’s population. She emphasised that “it’s really non-Indigenous people that need to do the heavy lifting, but you need to make sure you check in with us, and make sure you’re not… going it alone”.
- Workplaces –A/Prof Finlay reminded attendees that “we are all community here – as Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people we bring both our professional expertise as well as our community experiences and understanding… and that has value”.
A/Prof Finlay summarised a major message from the webinar:
“For allyship, it’s about accountability. If you’re not accountable, then… it may not necessarily be more than tokenistic.”
Mel Parker is PHAA’s Policy and Advocacy Officer
Further reading
- Reconciliation Australia runs National Reconciliation Week annually from 27 May to 3 June.
- Where do you fit? Tokenistic, ally – or accomplice? – an article by A/Prof Summer May Finlay.
- Read the 2026 PHAA statement declaring racism in Australia as a public health emergency.