Tania Major | |
|---|---|
 Tania Major, the first torch bearer at the 2008 Olympic torch relay in Canberra | |
| Born | 13 June 1981 |
| Nationality | Australian |
| Education | Clayfield College |
| Alma mater | Griffith University |
| Occupation | Aboriginal activist |
Tania Major (born 13 June 1981) is an Australian Aboriginal activist who first came to prominence in 2004 as the youngest person elected to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC).
Born in Cairns, Queensland, to Peter Taylor and Priscilla Major, Major was educated at Clayfield College and Griffith University in Brisbane, where she graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in criminology and criminal justice. [1]
The Cairns-based indigenous youth advocate used her profile to draw attention to domestic violence in the Aboriginal community. [2] Her forthright way of addressing the problems focused national attention on the issue. She spoke to opinion makers, the public and government about sexual violence and rape in the Aboriginal community, asking Prime Minister John Howard to help lift the "blanket of shame"[ citation needed ] that was preventing such assaults being reported. "I'm proud to be an Aboriginal Australian and to have been recognised and acknowledged for the work I'm involved in," Major said.[ citation needed ]
In 2007, Major was named as the Young Australian of the Year, having been earlier named as the Queensland Young Australian of the Year. [3] She is currently the Youth Development Project Officer for the Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership, and a Regional Councillor for the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC). [1]
The Torres Strait Islands are an archipelago of at least 274 small islands in the Torres Strait, a waterway separating far northern continental Australia's Cape York Peninsula and the island of New Guinea. They span an area of 48,000 km2 (19,000 sq mi), but their total land area is 566 km2 (219 sq mi).
The Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) (1990–2005) was the Australian Government body through which Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders were formally involved in the processes of government affecting their lives, established under the Hawke government in 1990. A number of Indigenous programs and organisations fell under the overall umbrella of ATSIC.
Torres Strait Islanders are the Indigenous Melanesian people of the Torres Strait Islands, which are part of the state of Queensland, Australia. Ethnically distinct from the Aboriginal peoples of the rest of Australia, they are often grouped with them as Indigenous Australians. Today, there are many more Torres Strait Islander people living in mainland Australia than on the Islands.
Lowitja O'Donoghue, also known as Lois O'Donoghue and Lois Smart, was an Australian public administrator and Indigenous rights advocate. She was the inaugural chairperson of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) from 1990 to 1996. She is known for her work in improving the health and welfare of Indigenous Australians, and also for the part she played in the drafting of the Native Title Act 1993, which established native title in Australia.
Yarrabah is a coastal town and locality in the Aboriginal Shire of Yarrabah, Queensland, Australia. It is an Aboriginal community. In the 2021 census, the locality of Yarrabah had a population of 2,505 people.
The Office of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health, often known by its acronym OATSIH, was a division of the Australian Government's Department of Health and Ageing. It was set up in 1994 in the then Department of Human Services and Health to give a greater focus on the health needs of Indigenous Australians in mainstream health programs.
Sue Gordon is an Aboriginal retired magistrate from Western Australia who has been locally and nationally honoured for her work with Aboriginal people and in community affairs. She is known for being chair of the Gordon Inquiry in 2002.
Indigenous Australians are people with familial heritage from, and/or recognised membership of, the various ethnic groups living within the territory of present day Australia prior to British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups, which includes many ethnic groups: the Aboriginal Australians of the mainland and many islands, including Tasmania, and the Torres Strait Islanders of the seas between Queensland and Papua New Guinea, located in Melanesia. The term Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples or the person's specific cultural group, is often preferred, though the terms First Nations of Australia, First Peoples of Australia and First Australians are also increasingly common; 812,728 people self-identified as being of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander origin in the 2021 Australian Census, representing 3.2% of the total population of Australia. Of these Indigenous Australians, 91.4% identified as Aboriginal; 4.2% identified as Torres Strait Islander; while 4.4% identified with both groups. Since 1995, the Australian Aboriginal flag and the Torres Strait Islander flag have been official flags of Australia.
Henrietta Marrie is a Gimuy Walubara Yidinji elder, an Australian Research Council Fellow and Honorary Professor with the University of Queensland.
Jacqueline Gail "Jackie" Huggins is an Aboriginal Australian author, historian, academic and advocate for the rights of Indigenous Australians. She is a Bidjara/Pitjara, Birri Gubba and Juru woman from Queensland.
Mick Miller was a notable Aboriginal Australian activist, politician, and statesman who campaigned for most of his life seeking greater social justice, land rights, and improved life opportunities for Aboriginal Australians in North Queensland and the rest of Australia.
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.
Great Palm Island, usually known as Palm Island, is the largest island in the Palm Islands group off Northern Queensland, Australia. It is known for its Aboriginal community, the legacy of an Aboriginal reserve, the Palm Island Aboriginal Settlement. The original inhabitants of the island were the Manbarra people, also known as the Wulgurukaba, who were removed to the mainland by the Queensland Government in the 1890s. The island is also sometimes referred to as Bwgcolman, which is the name given to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from disparate groups who were deported from many areas of Queensland to the reserve in 1918, and their descendants.
Indigenous health in Australia examines health and wellbeing indicators of Indigenous Australians compared with the rest of the population. Statistics indicate that Aboriginal Australians and Torres Strait Islanders are much less healthy than other Australians. Various government strategies have been put into place to try to remediate the problem; there has been some improvement in several areas, but statistics between Indigenous Australians and the rest of the Australian population still show unacceptable levels of difference.
The Aboriginal and Islander Sports Hall of Fame was established in 1994 to recognise Indigenous Australians that have achieved at the highest level of their chosen sport. It was a joint project of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC) and Macquarie University, under the management of Colin Tatz. Inductees are sometimes referred to as "Black Diamonds", being the name of the first book of the project, published in 1996.
Solomon David Bellear was an Aboriginal Australian public figure.
Eleanor Harding was an Indigenous Australian from the Torres Strait Islands who worked to attain civil rights for Aboriginal Australians. She advocated for women's rights and adequate educational opportunities, as well, serving with numerous organizations to attain equality for indigenous people. In 2012, she was inducted into the Victorian Aboriginal Honour Roll by the State of Victoria.
Rose Richards is an Australian healthcare worker and human rights advocate. Also known as Mookai Rosie she is an Aboriginal community leader, a Kuku Yalanji and Tagalaka elder from Far North Queensland. She advocated for culturally safe health care for Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islander maternity patients and established Australia's first Indigenous community-controlled corporation that specialises in health care services for women and children.
Vanessa Lee-AhMat is an Australian scholar who was the first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander PhD graduate from Griffith University School of Medicine. In 2005, Lee-AhMat was recognised by the Parliament of Australia for her dedication and commitment to Thursday Island community, in the Torres Strait.
Gail Mabo 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.
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