ARTWORK CREDIT: Studio Gilay: Creative Director: Jake Duczynski; Design/Illustration: Jonathon Saunders & Zoe Velonas
Annual History Lecture 2023
Speaker: Thomas Mayo
Understanding the history and significance of the Voice to Parliament
5 September 2023
Western Sydney Startup Hub, North Parramatta Heritage Precinct,
5 Fleet Street, North Parramatta
The Annual History Lecture is an event produced & presented by the History Council of New South Wales every year, which aims to engage and educate the community about the vitality, diversity and meaning of history and its practice through the eyes of historians and others prominent in public history.
In 2023, the Annual History Lecture was presented by Thomas Mayo, Uluru Statement from the Heart signatory and Voice to Parliament campaigner.
At the current moment in history, a Voice for First Nations peoples is front and centre for all Australians in a referendum that will be held later in the year.
Our theme for History Week 2023, ‘Voices from the Past’, invites History Council members to explore how we listen for voices in the historical record and amplify the voices of storytellers.
In the Annual History Lecture, following this theme, Thomas discussed the history and significance of the Voice to Parliament. Thomas will speak about the long journey to this constitutional moment today, when all Australians will face a unique opportunity to answer the invitation in the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
A recording of the Annual History Lecture 2023 will be placed on this page by late September.
About Thomas Mayo
Thomas is a Kaurareg Aboriginal and Kalkalgal, Erubamle Torres Strait Islander man and has been a leading advocate of the Statement from the Heart since its inception in May 2017.
Career & Publications
Thomas Mayo is the Chairperson of the Northern Territory Indigenous Labor Network, advises the Diversity Council of Australia and the From the Heart campaign, is an executive member of the Northern Territory Trades and Labour Council and the National Indigenous Officer of the Maritime Union of Australia. He recently published with co-author and eminent journalist Kerry O’Brien The Voice to Parliament Handbook.
Stay tuned across our socials for other information about History Week, which will be held in the first week of September 2023.
Image credits: Ferne Millen
2023 Annual History Lecture – Historic Venue!
The History Council of NSW is proud to announce that for the first time, the Annual History Lecture will be staged in Western Sydney. We are thrilled to have secured an historic venue (The Main Kitchen in the Lunatic Asylum Parramatta, now called the Western Sydney Startup Hub) in the North Parramatta Heritage Precinct, 5 Fleet Street, North Parramatta.
It’s beautiful! Further details are available via the registration link above.
Interested in finding out more about the location?
Check it out via the map below. (It’s in the same precinct as the Parramatta Female Factory Friends).
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