Learn more about First Nations’ peoples: ideas on what to read, watch and listen to

At Australian Red Cross we are on our own journey to learn more, to stand up to racism and cultural ignorance and work harder to build a more equitable country. And while we’ve been supporting First Nations peoples for decades, we know we could have done better and done more to address systemic discrimination and disadvantage.

We hope our list of suggestions for what to read, watch and listen to, might help you in your own journey to know more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, culture and peoples.

Together we can listen and learn. Together we can heal the hurt, build trust and empower First Nations’ peoples. Together we must.

* This web page may contain the names and/or images of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples who are now deceased.

• Blood – by Tony Birch. Set on the back roads of Australia, Blood is a boy’s odyssey through a broken-down adult world.
• Talking To My Country – journalist Stan Grant’s book talks to every Australian about their country - what it is, and what it could be. It is not just about race, or about indigenous people but all of us, our shared identity. Winner of the 2016 Walkley Book Award and the 2016 National Trust Heritage Award.
• Royal Commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody – in 1987 a royal commission investigated Aboriginal deaths in custody over a 10-year period, giving over 330 recommendations. Its recommendations are still valid today, but very few have been implemented. Every year, Aboriginal people continue to die in custody.

Documentaries

Zach’s Ceremony – watch on YouTube, Google Play, Apple TV, Vimeo and Fetch. One boy’s transition to manhood, in both the modern world and his ancient culture. SBS reviewer Stephen A Russell says this should be mandatory viewing for all Australians.

• First Australians – watch on SBS On Demand. Seven-part series chronicling the birth of contemporary Australia from the perspective of its first people.
• The Australian Dream – watch on ABC iView. This documentary about Indigenous AFL legend Adam Goodes explores race, identity and belonging in Australia today.
• Stuff Everyone Should Know About Australia – watch on 10play. A documentary web series about busting myths and celebrating truths.

Movies​

Mabo – watch on YouTube. This docudrama is the story of Eddie Koiki Mabo who spearheaded the High Court challenge that overthrew the fiction of terra nullius.

Rabbit Proof Fence – watch on Stan. In 1931, three Aboriginal girls escape after being taken from their families to be trained as domestic staff, and set off on a journey across the Outback. Based on the true story.

• From lawyer to jester, the grain of truth in every joke. Leon Filewood, an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lawyer, shares his journey from law to comedy. Throughout his career, he has been searching for a platform to leverage important conversations that, as Australians, we all need to have.
• Mentoring Indigenous inmates. Uncle Jack Charles is an actor, musician, potter and gifted performer, but he has also been homeless, a heroin addict and in prison. A member of the Stolen Generation, Jack has spent his life in between acting gigs, caught in the addiction/crime/doing time cycle. Today — no longer caught in the cycle — he lives to tell the extraordinary tale. Uncle Jack made headlines when he was refused a taxi unless he paid the fare upfront, just moments after he was named Victorian Senior Australian of the Year.

• Australia, we need to talk. Is reconciliation between Australia's Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples possible? Cally Jetta maintains that it is not. Instead, she proposes that to build a harmonious future, we need to think differently and address our nation's history honestly.
• Systemic racism: Australia's great white silence. Jonathan Sri shows how Australia's white supremacist history continues to influence present-day political, legal and cultural institutions. A son of a Tamil migrant, Jonathan has lived and worked in remote Aboriginal communities in north-east Arnhem Land.

• My stolen childhood, and a life to rebuild. As a child Sheila Humphries was taken from her parents and placed in an orphanage by authorities who thought they knew best. One voice of the Stolen Generation, Sheila suffered cruelty and neglect that has shaped her as an adult, for good and for ill.

• What is it like to be Aboriginal? Tui Raven gives her perspective on growing up as an Aboriginal person in the city and in country Western Australia.
• Do we own the land? Yankunytjatjara elder Bob Randall is one of the Stolen Generations and is a traditional owner of Uluru. He has worked as a teacher and leader for Aboriginal land rights, education, and cultural awareness.

Drama and comedy

• Redfern Now – watch it on Stan. A highly celebrated and multi-award-winning series about contemporary inner-city life, following the lives of six families who live in this inner-city Sydney suburb.
• Black Comedy – watch on Stan, Google Play, and iTunes. The irreverent, provocative and just a little bit wrong, award-winning sketch comedy, Explore what it means to be black in contemporary Australia in this show written and performed by some of the funniest blackfellas in the country.

Also…

Ask us anything: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Is it ever okay to ask how someone how Aboriginal they are? University of Sydney students and staff answer anonymously submitted questions to confront myths and stereotypes.

• National Apology to the Stolen Generations. On 13 February 2008, then Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made a formal apology to Australia’s Indigenous peoples, particularly to the Stolen Generations whose lives had been blighted by past government policies of forced child removal and Indigenous assimilation.

Podcasts

• Healing Our Way – by the Healing Foundation, featuring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices and experiences, to promote truth-telling and inspire listeners to learn more about the Stolen Generations and the impacts of colonisation. A space for young people to share their ongoing healing needs, aspirations and discuss healing and intergenerational trauma.
• Word Up – with Daniel Browning from ABC Radio National looking at the diverse languages of black Australia from Anmatyerre to Arrernte, from Yankunytjatjara to Yorta Yorta and beyond – one word at a time.
• Awaye – a weekly show from ABC presenting diverse and vibrant Aboriginal arts and culture.
• Tiddas 4 Tiddas – a Mamamia podcast. Candid conversations with Indigenous sisters, hosted by Kamilaroi and Dunghutti woman, Marlee Silva.
• Deadly Voices from the House – by Sydney Opera House and featuring prominent Indigenous leaders from the music, arts and culture sector. A platform to discuss critical issues facing the Indigenous community and giving voice to a variety of upcoming indigenous music, arts and cultural projects.
• A Cuppa and A Yarn – by the New South Wales Aboriginal Land Council.
• Blacademia – yarns with First Nations academics in Australia.
• Take It Blak – from SBS's NITV news online team.

Radio

• NITV Radio and Living Black Radio – from SBS. NITV Radio covers news, events and issues that affect Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. It is broadcast nationally three times a week; you can listen any time online. Living Black Radio is a current affairs program.

Music

• NITV’s Playlist and Top 40 Survival Day Songs on Spotify.
• Triple J Unearthed Indigenous.
• First – Apple Music’s monthly playlist showcasing First nations artists.
• Stack Magazine’s 20 of our fave tracks by Indigenous Australian artists.