| First Contact | |
|---|---|
| Genre | Reality television Documentary |
| Written by | Jacob Hickey |
| Directed by | Ronan Sharkey Dora Weekley |
| Presented by | Ray Martin |
| Narrated by | Hugo Weaving |
| Composers | Matteo Zingales Russel Thornton |
| Country of origin | Australia |
| Original language | English |
| No. of seasons | 2 |
| No. of episodes | 6 |
| Production | |
| Executive producer | Rachel Perkins |
| Producers | Ronan Sharkey (Associate Producer) Darren Dale, Jacob Hickey |
| Cinematography | Nicola Daley Bonnie Elliott Micah Walker |
| Editors | Steven Robinson Mark AtkinASE |
| Running time | ≥ 52 minutes [1] 60 minutes (inc.adverts) |
| Production company | Blackfella Films |
| Original release | |
| Network | SBS One |
| Release | 18 November 2014 – 1 December 2016 |
First Contact is an Australian reality television documentary series that aired on SBS One, SBS Two and NITV. [2] [3] It documents the journey of six European Australians who are challenged over a period of 28 days about their pre-existing perceptions of Indigenous Australians. [4] [5]
First Contact shows some of the cultural divisions that exist between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, and highlights the lack of awareness many non-Indigenous Australians have about Indigenous Australians and the various different cultures and lifestyles they currently maintain. A stated premise is that 60% of European Australian have never had any contact with Indigenous people, a statistic that may explain the prevalence of the racist, unsympathetic and generally prejudicial attitudes that are often directed towards Indigenous Australians. [6]
In making their 'first contact' with Indigenous Australia, the selected six participants are taken to Aboriginal communities both in the city and the country, and are even processed into a regional prison at Roebourne in Western Australia, where social problems are particularly acute, resulting in incarceration of large numbers of Indigenous Australians, often for quite minor offences. The relationships between Indigenous people and local police in Roebourne are notoriously poor. [7] [8] [9]
First Contact was filmed and set in New South Wales, home to the largest Indigenous Australian population of any state/territory, the Northern Territory, where Indigenous Australians make up a higher percentage of the population than in any other state or territory and Western Australia. [10] [11]
After the series aired, First Contact was the topic of an Insight episode, hosted by Stan Grant and featuring a discussion involving many of the people who were involved in the show. [12] [13]
| No. | Original air | Consolidated Australian viewers (Mainland Capitals) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | 18 November 2014 | 508,000 [2] |
| 2 | 19 November 2014 | 401,000 [14] |
| 3 | 20 November 2014 | 452,000 [15] |
The show is estimated to have had a cumulative reach of 1,847,000 Australian viewers. [16]
| Season | Episodes | Originally aired | DVD release | DVD features | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Season premiere | Season finale | Region 4 | + | |||
| 1 | 10 | 18 November 2014 | 20 November 2014 | 3 December 2014 [1] |
| |
| No. | Title | Directed by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | "Episode 1" | Ronan Sharkey and Dora Weekley | 18 November 2014 |
| 2 | "Episode 2" | Ronan Sharkey and Dora Weekley | 19 November 2014 |
| 3 | "Episode 3" | Ronan Sharkey and Dora Weekley | 20 November 2014 |
| No. | Title | Directed by | Original air date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 4 | "Episode 1" | Ronan Sharkey and Dora Weekley | 18 November 2016 |
| 5 | "Episode 2" | Ronan Sharkey and Dora Weekley | 30 November 2016 |
| 6 | "Episode 3" | Ronan Sharkey and Dora Weekley | 1 December 2016 |
(As themselves)
Mother Nature
The series was adapted for Canadian television by APTN, which premiered First Contact in 2018. [17]
Stan Grant is an Australian journalist, writer and radio and television presenter, since the 1990s. He has written and spoken on Indigenous issues and his Aboriginal identity. He is a Wiradjuri man.
The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) (1987–1991), also known as the Muirhead Commission, was a Royal Commission appointed by the Australian Government in October 1987 to Federal Court judge James Henry Muirhead , to study and report upon the underlying social, cultural and legal issues behind the deaths in custody of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, in the light of the high level of such deaths in the 1980s.
Roebourne is a town in Western Australia's Pilbara region. In the Ngarluma language, Roebourne is called Yirramagardu (Ieramagadu). It is 35 km from Karratha, 202 km from Port Hedland and 1,563 km from Perth, the state's capital. It is the only town on the North West Coastal Highway between Binnu and Fitzroy Crossing; over 2,000km. It is located within the City of Karratha. It prospered during its gold boom of the late 19th century and was once the largest settlement between Darwin and Perth. At the 2016 census, Roebourne and the surrounding area had a population of 981.
Aboriginal deaths in custody is a political and social issue in Australia. It rose in prominence in the early 1980s, with Aboriginal activists campaigning following the death of 16-year-old John Peter Pat in 1983. Subsequent deaths in custody, considered suspicious by families of the deceased, culminated in the 1987 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC).
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 Update, with programming including other news and current affairs programmes, sports coverage, entertainment for children and adults, films and documentaries covering a range of topics. Its primary audience is Indigenous Australians, but many non-Indigenous people tune in to learn more about the history of and issues affecting the country's First Nations peoples.
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Racism in Australia comprises negative attitudes and views on race or ethnicity which are related to each other, are held by various people and groups in Australia, and have been reflected in discriminatory laws, practices and actions at various times in the history of Australia against racial or ethnic groups.
The Marngrook Footy Show was a sport panel show broadcast in Australia focusing on Australian rules football and aimed at Indigenous viewers. Debuting on television in 2007 after 10 years on radio, the show first aired on NITV and on Channel 31 Melbourne, moving to ABC2 during 2011 and 2012 before moving back to NITV. The show was cancelled in October 2019, replaced by Yokayi Footy in March 2020.
Indigenous Australians are both convicted of crimes and imprisoned at a disproportionately higher rate in Australia, as well as being over-represented as victims of crime. As of September 2019, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander prisoners represented 28% of the total adult prisoner population, while accounting for 2% of the general adult population. Various explanations have been given for this over-representation, both historical and more recent. Federal and state governments and Indigenous groups have responded with various analyses, programs and measures.
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The Tall Man is a 2011 Australian documentary film directed by Tony Krawitz. It is about the death of Cameron "Mulrunji" Doomadgee in police custody on Great Palm Island, Palm Islands, Queensland on 19 November 2004.
Gerry Georgatos is a university researcher and social justice and human rights campaigner based in Western Australia. He has campaigned for prison reform, as well as championing the rights of the impoverished and marginalised and the homeless.
The National Indigenous Human Rights Awards are annual Australian awards that recognise the contribution of Indigenous Australians to human rights and social justice. The ceremony takes place in Sydney, New South Wales.
The Yindjibarndi are an Aboriginal Australian people of the Pilbara region of Western Australia. They form the majority of Aboriginal people around Roebourne. Their traditional lands lie around the Fortescue River.
A Custody Notification Service (CNS), sometimes referred to as a Custody Notification Scheme, is a 24-hour legal advice and support telephone hotline for any Indigenous Australian person brought into custody, connecting them with lawyers from the Aboriginal legal service operating in their state or territory. It is intended to reduce the high number of Aboriginal deaths in custody by counteracting the effects of institutional racism. Legislation mandating the police to inform the legal service whenever an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander person is brought into custody is seen as essential to ensure compliance and a clear record of events. Where Custody Notification Services have been implemented, there have been reductions in the numbers of Aboriginal deaths in custody.
Allery Sandy is an artist from Roebourne, in Western Australia's Pilbara region, and a Yindjibarndi elder.
True Colours is an Australian drama miniseries broadcast from 4 July 2022 on SBS TV and NITV. The four-part miniseries was created, written and directed by Erica Glynn and Steven McGregor, and stars Rarriwuy Hick as a detective in a remote community in the Northern Territory.
