In early June, Dr Gretel Taylor and Laki Sideris from Informit were thrilled to deliver a presentation with Dr Blayne Welsh (Wailwan man and theatre academic) at AIATSIS Summit on Yugambeh Country in the Gold Coast. AIATSIS Summit 2026 is a large and high-profile forum for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders and representatives ‘to come together and collaborate on the issues that matter most to First Nations peoples.’
In the presentation titled ‘‘Indigenous Scholars You Should Know’ interview series – a platform celebrating current First Peoples’ research’, Laki introduced Informit’s First Peoples’ Lens program. Gretel discussed the popular ‘Indigenous Scholars You Should Know’ series and screened excerpts of some of the video interviews. She also raised an incident whereby some of the interviewees had been targeted by a ‘genealogical organisation’ and requested to ‘verify’ their Indigenous identities. Gretel called this out as a form of underhand racism, lamenting that this is a risk of platforming First Peoples’ excellence in contemporary Australia.
Dr Welsh shared his perspective as a descendent of the Stolen Generations, where even ‘Aboriginal’ was a loaded term, and outlined his creative response to this incident: drawing from specific text used by the perpetrator in his forthcoming verbatim theatre work.
Informit is determined (and has been advised by our First Peoples’ Lens Steering Committee and participating scholars) to continue to amplify First Peoples’ research and Knowledges through Indigenous Scholars You Should Know and other initiatives. You can check out the interviews here: https://about.informit.org/indigenous-scholars/
The team witnessed many other inspiring presentations at the Summit, made new contacts and strengthened existing ones. It was indeed a privilege to be part of this important gathering.
