Producer: Kirstyn Lindsay
Current conversations on Treaty are being facilitated by the New South Wales Treaty Commission. With a focus on what an agreement could look like, an important element of the process is creating an intergenerational reset for a growing young Aboriginal population.
Speaking with Koori Radio News, Treaty Commissioner Aiden Ridgeway says Treaties aren’t to be rushed and that all of the steps made are part of a cycle that sets a foundation for any negotiations moving forward with the New South Wales Government.
He says some of the key themes reoccurring in the conversations are around recognition that sovereignty has not been ceded. First Nations peoples in community are seeing country as the foundation of law, identity and governance and that would be an important basis in any negotiations of an agreement.
Self-determination and cultural authority are also considered a priority of the bigger conversation where all discussions and working groups will contribute to developing an intergenerational reset, particularly with a young growing Aboriginal population and how they’d engage in the process knowing that this might be some years off.
Commissioner Ridgeway says capacity building is important and both himself and Treaty Commissioner Naomi Moran are exploring mechanisms with communities that will give young people capacity and skills that will support them as part of a future process.
For more information: https://www.treatynsw.info/
