Presented by Emanuel Synagogue and Plus61J

The Voice. Treaty. Truth. Advocacy course will introduce you to the history of the First Nations peoples’ struggle; the Uluru Statement of the Heart; techniques to advocate on behalf of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders when participating in an event or campaign; the skills required to build your confidence to handle objections; and messaging and mapping in a targeted campaign.
 
The course is especially designed for educators. It will be run online via two 3 hour sessions over two days and presented by Thomas Mayor, a Torres Strait Islander man born on Larrakia country in Darwin.
 
At the end of the course participants will be able to:

• Understand the history of the First Nations peoples’ struggle 
• Explain the Uluru Statement of the Heart and the three key points of the Voice. Treaty. Truth. campaign
• Learn techniques to advocate and campaign on behalf of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander industrial workplace issues
• Develop skills and confidence to handle objections 
• Learn effective messaging and mapping actions, including social media

Our presenter

Thomas Mayor is a Torres Strait Islander man born on Larrakia country in Darwin. As an Islander growing up on the mainland, he learned to hunt traditional foods with his father and to island dance from the Darwin community of Torres Strait Islanders.

In high school, Thomas’s English teacher suggested he should become a writer. He didn’t think then that he would become one of the first ever Torres Strait Islander authors to have a book published for the general trade. Instead, he became a wharf labourer from the age of seventeen, until he became a union official for the Maritime Union of Australia in his early thirties. Quietly spoken in character, Thomas found his voice on the wharves. As he gained the skills of negotiation and organising in the union movement, he applied those skills to advancing the rights of Indigenous peoples, becoming a signatory to the Uluru Statement from the Heart and a tireless campaigner.

Following the Uluru Convention, Thomas was entrusted to carry the sacred canvas of the Uluru Statement from the Heart. He then embarked on an eighteen-month journey around the country to garner support for a constitutionally enshrined First Nations voice, and a Makarrata Commission for truth-telling and agreement-making or treaties.

Thomas’s journey continues, both in person and through the pages of his book; Finding the Heart of the Nation: The Journey of the Uluru Statement towards Voice, Treaty and Truth. The book is his gift to the campaign for Voice, Treaty and Truth. Like the Uluru Statement from the Heart, he hopes that all Australians will accept it.