Dr Evelyn Scott Memorial Lecture
Queensland Teachers' Journal, Vol 127 No 5, 19 July 2024, page 4.
The QTU is proud to be hosting the 2024 Dr Evelyn Scott Memorial Lecture, which this year will be held in Parliament House.
The lecture aims to bring people together and to call Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous peoples to action in the pursuit of justice.
The event takes place in the Parliament House Undumbi Room on Friday 9 August at 5.45pm for a 6.30pm start (to close by 7.30pm).
This year’s speaker is Dr Janine Gertz, whose cultural heritage is drawn from her connections to both the Gugu Badhun in the Upper Burdekin region and the Ngadjonji on the Atherton Tablelands.
In 2023, Dr Gertz was awarded the prestigious Stanner Award for her PhD thesis Gugu Badhun Sovereignty, Self-Determination and Nationhood, which was described by the judging panel as “exciting,” “beautifully written,” and something that “imagines otherwise.”
Dr Gertz is a Research Fellow at University of Queensland’s Centre for Indigenous Futures. She has international experience within United Nations policy forums and her research interests lie in the practical application of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples at the local level as it relates to the political governance and representation of Indigenous Nations.
Entry for the event is via the Parliamentary Annexe, on the corner of William and Alice Streets. All visitors to Parliament Buildings are required to undergo screening that includes movement through security screening similar to airport departures. You will need photo ID, e.g. a driver’s licence or a passport.
An RSVP to services@qtu.asn.au is essential.
The lecture is named in honour of Dr Evelyn Scott, an activist and campaigner for First Nations rights and social justice.
Dr Scott was born in Ingham in 1935 on the traditional lands of the Nywaigi People. By the 1960s, she was working with the Townsville Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Advancement League, and went on to become one of the leading campaigners for a “yes” vote in the 1967 referendum. Dr Scott later served as Vice-President and then General Secretary of the Federal Council for the Advancement of Aboriginals and Torres Strait Islanders (FCAATSI). She was a strong voice with the Cairns and District Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Corporation for Women and the National Aboriginal and Islander Women’s Council, and from 1997 to 2000 was chair of the National Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation.