Reconciliation Council of Tasmania convenor Bill Lawson is pleased to announce the inaugural board of the newly formed organization.
Mr Lawson said the council was committed to real and tangible change and reconciliation within the Tasmanian community.
The Reconciliation Council of Tasmania was launched by the Tasmanian Governor and Premier in Hobart on August 9 and is an incorporated, registered ‘not-for-profit’.
“The Board membership is balanced from the viewpoint of Aboriginality and non-Aboriginality (six each), regionality (four each from North, North-West and South of the State) and gender,” Mr Lawson said.
“The Board’s Aboriginal membership is inclusive of both Tasmanian Aboriginal Centre and Tasmanian Regional Aboriginal Communities Alliance members.
“The RCT Board has been carefully selected to reflect the new organisations’ neutrality and independence without ties to any political, religious or Indigenous organisations.”
RCT has about 80 members and Mr Lawson said he hoped that some future Board members would be younger than the inaugural Board members.
The RCT Board will meet quarterly to set strategic direction and meet fiduciary responsibilities. There board will oversee a series of projects statewide in 2018.
Please see below details and short bios on each board member …
Michael Buck. Flinders Island. Michael grew up on Flinders Island with many Aboriginal classmates before moving to mainland Tasmania and then Melbourne for a lifelong career in team development and coaching as MD of his own consultancy, Searson Buck. Michael has worked across the arts, education, tourism and business sectors and has had a lifelong commitment to helping Aboriginal Tasmanians to develop their personal potential through coaching and mentoring.
Patsy Cameron. AO. Tomahawk. Patsy Cameron grew up on Flinders Island and traces her Tasmanian Aboriginal heritage through her mother’s line to two important Aboriginal leaders of colonial times: Mannalargenna, of the northeast Coastal Plains Nation and Tongalongta of the east coast Oyster Bay Nation.
For over forty years Patsy has been a passionate champion for Aboriginal education and the promotion of cultural heritage and traditional practice. She was an inaugural member of the Flinders Island Aboriginal Community Association and the National Aboriginal Education Committee, a member of the National Museum of Australia Aboriginal Advisory Committee, founder of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Education Advisory Committee and a member of the Tasmanian World Heritage Area Advisory Committee. She is also co-chair of the Queen Victoria Museum and Art Gallery Aboriginal Reference Group and co-chair of the Tasmanian Regional Aboriginal Communities Alliance. Patsy’s commitment to reconciliation is widely known and underpins her work across the wider Tasmanian community.
Patsy has a Bachelor of Arts with major studies in Archaeology and Geography and a Master of Arts in Aboriginal History. Her MA thesis Grease and Ochre: The blending of two cultures at the colonial sea frontier was published by Fuller’s Bookshop in 2011. Patsy was awarded an honorary Doctor of Letters by the University of Tasmania in August 2016. She was inducted into Tasmanian Women’s Honour Roll in 2006 for her outstanding contribution to the Tasmanian community and awarded an Officer of the Order of Australia on the Queen’s birthday honour list in June 2017.
Rodney Dillon. Hobart. Rodney Dillon is a Tasmanian Aboriginal man with a lifelong commitment to overcoming Indigenous disadvantage both in Tasmania and throughout Australia. Rodney is passionate about Aboriginal heritage and culture as well as the rights to practice both. Rodney is an Aboriginal active mentor at both Risdon Prison and Ashley Detention Centre. Rodney was the former Tasmanian ATSIC Commissioner and is currently the National Indigenous Adviser with Amnesty International. He is Chairman of the Tasmanian Aboriginal Heritage Council and of pakana services and a Board member of SETAC and weetapoona.
Debra Hocking, Hobart. Deb is a survivor of the Stolen Generations and descendant of the Mouheneener people of South-East Tasmania. She is a recipient of the United Nations Award for the International Year of the Culture of Peace and the Human Rights Award for Humanitarian Activities in Tasmania. Debra holds a Masters degree in Indigenous Health and was one of the founders and Aboriginal Co-Chair of the Stolen Generations Alliance and the National Sorry Day Committee as well as Deputy Chair of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Healing Foundation.
Debra has contributed chapters to many books including text books for Undergraduate students throughout Australia and New Zealand. She is currently a Lecturer with the University of Wollongong, and coordinates the Postgraduate Indigenous Health subjects. She is a Traditional Owner of her peoples land in South East Tasmania and has recently been featured in a world- wide documentary called ‘Forgiving the Unforgivable’. This will be released in the near future through the Seed and Spark Company from the USA.
Fiona Hughes. Launceston. Fiona Hughes is a grassroots Tasmanian Aboriginal woman from Cape Barron Island. Fiona was raised with her father in Burnie and with her mother on Cape Barron Island. Fiona excelled in sport as a young child and was a state representative in softball in Western Australia.
Fiona became a young mum and raised her only child whilst developing her career. Fiona has worked at the TAC as the Legal Field Officer and Health Promotion Officer, for Housing Tasmania and Launceston College and then for Colony 47 as a Justice Mentor Officer and as the Site Manager for the Aboriginal Information Referral Service in Launceston. Fiona wrote a children’s book ‘Jack the Wallaby’ and co-wrote a book on substance abuse book with Anglicare while working with Colony 47. In 2015, Fiona became co-chair of ‘Tasmanians for Recognition’ in which capacity she works closely with Bill Lawson. Fiona has a broad knowledge of Aboriginal issues and communicates passionately with both the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal Tasmanians.
Bill Lawson. AM. Hobart. Bill is a retired engineer following a 43 year engineering career in both the public and private sectors working throughout Australia and NZ. Bill is the Founder of the national NFP Beacon Foundation which has worked against youth unemployment since 1994 in Tasmania and nationally since 2000. In 2015, Bill resigned from Beacon after 27 years as Chairman and took a seat on the Board of Reconciliation Australia.
Bill has worked nationwide in the Indigenous sector both on engineering and community projects and in 2010 was appointed to PM Gillard’s Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition after which he established ‘Tasmanians for Recognition’ to help prepare the State for constitutional reform. In 2003 Bill was made the Australian Professional Engineer of the Year by the peak engineering body, Engineers Australia. In 2006, Bill was made Member of the Order of Australia.
Sharni Maisey. Launceston. Sharni is a Course Facilitator within the mental health sector. Prior to this, she worked for 18 years for HKU School of Business in various roles including, course content writing, course delivery and peer mentoring. Sharni has received awards from both Tsinghua University for Professional Excellence in Teaching and from National Speakers Australia for services to the West Australian Leadership Team.
Sharni has volunteered for a variety of NFP indigenous organisations both in Australia and mainland China. She is passionate about the preservation of languages, cultural diversity, and learning from the wisdom of elders and service to others.
Mark Redmond, Hobart. Mark is currently self-employed horticulturalist working in landscaping and hospitality after working for two decades with Colony 47 in addressing Aboriginal disadvantage through close working relationships with Tasmanian Aboriginal Leaders statewide.
Mark has worked extensively at Risdon Prison and Ashley Detention Centre and was responsible for the establishment and leadership of Colony 47’s Aboriginal Reference Group. Mark is strongly empathetic with social disadvantage, particularly in Aboriginal communities and is highly regarded by community members statewide. He is experienced in multi-disciplinary project management and stakeholder engagement across diverse stakeholder groups utilizing his strong partnership and relationship building skills.
Russell Reid. Launceston. Russell was born and educated in Tasmania before moving to Adelaide to study Economic Geology at Adelaide University. He worked as a geologist in South Australia and Western Australia before becoming a teacher and regional science adviser in the South Australian Education Department. Russell joined BHP in Whyalla and continued a career in the minerals industry until moving back to Tasmania and taking the position of CEO with Business North, based in Launceston. In Whyalla, Russell became active in local government, both as a Councillor and Mayor.
During his career, Russell has always been involved in community activities, with many opportunities to work with local aboriginal people. Through which Russell has undertaken broad management and community engagement roles with a wide range of organisations. In recent years, Russell has become committed to see all Australians develop an understanding and respect for the long history of aboriginal culture. Russell believes that this understanding will not only facilitate reconciliation but also necessitate it.
Margaret Shearer, Devonport. Margaret has been a secondary teacher in legal and history studies for 26 years and is closely involved in Aboriginal Student support. Margaret’s childhood was spent in the NT where she witnessed the effects of Aboriginal disadvantage leading to a lifelong personal commitment to reconciliation. Margaret is a recipient of a National Excellence in Teaching Award. Margaret is a founding member of Tasmanians for Recognition.
Erica Short-Maynard. Burnie. Erica was born on Flinders Island and grew up in the Cape Barron Island and Penguin communities. Erica has had a lifelong commitment to working with Tasmanian Aboriginal Communities and has worked in many key roles for over 40 years with TAC, TALSC, TAEA as well as in the National Indigenous Leadership Program.
In 2006 Erica worked in Aboriginal Aged Care at Wadeye in NT. She was Chairperson of the ‘ya pullingina kani’ Family Violence Working Party and has been a member of the NATSIWG National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Women’s Working Group. Erica is passionate about overcoming young Tasmanian Aboriginal disadvantage through education and mainstream employment.
Norm Richardson. Smithton. Norm was born Somerset and educated in Yolla into a rural lifestyle which has in many ways remained a lifetime influence. Norm has worked in retail sales in the rural and retail electrical sectors in the NW, Melbourne and Hobart, including some stints as self-employed. He has also worked extensively with disadvantaged young people in Tasmania, Melbourne, Brisbane and the UK before settling in Smithton in 2000 where he confirmed his Aboriginal heritage. He has since lived and worked in Smithton and worked there with CHAC and on the Board of Rural Health Tasmania.
Today he is works with CHAC in Drug and Alcohol programs. Norm has had a lifetime passion for helping young people overcome social disadvantage through education/training and employment. Norm also yearns for meaningful reconciliation between all Tasmanians.
For more information: https://www.facebook.com/ReconciliationTasmania/
Reconciliation Council of Tasmania convenor Bill Lawson
