Summer May Finlay
Referring to people in the way they prefer is an important way of showing respect, including toward Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It seems simple, right? Unfortunately, it hasn’t always been the case.
Since colonisation, how we, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, have been described, categorised, our actions and motivations framed, culture articulated, and our histories documented by people other than us. The legacy created is a distortion of who we have been, and who we are as Peoples. Often framing us to the broader public as merely deficit problems to solve, or even a lost cause.
Even the labels assigned to us have very rarely been dictated or directed by us. And in many ways, they still aren’t. Over time, many of the terms used about us have evolved, driven by other people, and include terms that many of us have found offensive.
While we rarely see Indigenous spelt with a lowercase “i,” and while some still use “ATSI”, it has become less common. Despite not being seen as appropriate by most Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, they were often commonplace. You would see the terms used in the media, academic articles, reports, and publications. With the terms being so common, may non-Indigenous people weren’t sure what they should or shouldn’t use. How we felt about the terms was often never considered, and if it was, their priorities were given preference over ours.
Challenging the terms used to describe us is something that I have been passionate about for a long time. In 2016, I recorded a video on this very issue, which was posted to the Croakey Health Media YouTube account. I recorded it in my parents’ lounge room after being pissed off with so many people using “ATSI” on Twitter.
Croakey Editor, Melissa Sweet, made a passing comment that I record a video and post it in the comments every time someone uses the acronym to save time. So, I did just that. To date, it has received over 71, 000 views.
When I first became formally involved in the Public Health Association of Australia (PHAA) as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Special Interest Group Co-convener, I realised there was an opportunity to continue to promote appropriate terminology in the public health space.
What I felt was needed were clear guidelines that respected the diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people around the country, and the context within which policy, practice, and research was occurring. With that in mind, and with the support of the then Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Co-Convener, Dr Yvonne Luxford, and then CEO, Dr Michael Moore, I wrote the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Terminology Guide, which the PHAA published in 2019.
Since it was first published, we have actively promoted appropriate terminology among public health professionals, including in the Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health (ANZJPH), to foster respectful communication in the field. [Assoc. Prof Finlay’s Intouch blog post about the first edition of the guide has been viewed just shy of 3,000 times since it was published in Nov. 2020, making it our second most read article on our site – Editor].
Subsequently, with Kootsy Canuto, we co-wrote an article for the ANZJPH further exploring the need for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to define the terms used to describe us: “I am not here for your convenience”. It outlined WHY terminology is so important through sharing our own perspectives as an Aboriginal woman and Torres Strait Islander man.
Since the terminology guide was first published, it has been reviewed and updated twice. This most recent iteration was reviewed by the recently established PHAA First Nations Collective, which includes Professor Tom Calma AO, Professor Catherine Chamberlain, Dr Stephen Harfield, Dr Alana Gall, and Professor Karla Canuto.
The terminology guide is one of the most accessed elements on the PHAA website. Its widespread success is due to the support of many people in the public health space, including the current CEO, Adj Prof Terry Slevin, demonstrating the power of collective effort.
What may seem like a small action- supporting or using appropriate terminology-can empower you to make a meaningful difference in how Indigenous peoples are respected and understood.
If you’re unsure how to refer to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, I encourage you to read the terminology guide can help promote respectful language and understanding.
To our allies who already refer to us in ways that align with the guide, I encourage you to share the document with your friends, colleagues, family, and students until they are redundant.
Summer May Finlay is a proud Yorta Yorta woman who is based at the University of Wollongong where she is Associate Professor (Aboriginal Health) and also Associate Dean (Equity, Diversity and Inclusion). Assoc. Prof Finlay is Vice President (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) of the Public Health Association of Australia.
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