BLISSBriansLocalIndigenousServicesSunraysia Pty. Ltd.  ACN:139 768 835ABN: 74 273 397 141

Hello everybody and thankyou for your time and consideration today.

My name is Brian Hunt and I would like to present myself and my

business to you and tell you what I can provide to improve the

planning & management of Aboriginal Culture & Heritage at “Tar-Ru”

Lake Victoria.

Some of the first things I would like to tell you about is who I am ,

where I have come from and what I would like to do.

I am a Barkindji man who has been passionate about my Aboriginal

Culture & Heritage since I was a boy and will always be passionate.

Some years ago I had decided to stop drinking alcohol and needed to

do something to stay away from the fulla’s that kept on drinking and

keep my mind occupied so that I would’nt miss the fun times we all

had shared together and avoid all temptations.

At that time I had no qualifications to get a decent job so I learned

about an educational course called Conservation & Land Management.

Conservation & Land Management is a great qualification to get to be

involved with Natural Resource Management and I knew that Natural

Resource Management meant working on the land in natural

environments across Australia.

Back then I didn’t ever believe that I would have a Diploma and I had

a lot of doubt in my mind because I had only just stopped drinking

alcohol at that time , but I knew I had to do something.

I had committed two years of my life to study and got myself a

Diploma in Conservation & Land Management because I have always

wanted to work in the bush and enjoy doing rural fencing because

my grandfathers and great grandfathers had done it on various

stations throughout N.S.W and Victoria.

I had also learned of another qualification called the “Certificate 4 in

Assessment & Workplace Training” which would enable me to be a

nationally accredited trainer. So then I had started my business which

allows me to get paid to teach people.

I had seen a great opportunity when I had started my business

because local organizations including some government departments

were paying people from other regions to come to our district and

teach about Aboriginal Culture & Heritage.

I believe that it is unfair & disrespectful to local Aboriginal people to

pay people from another district to come and teach about Aboriginal

Culture & Heritage when there is already a local Aboriginal person

qualified & experienced to provide this service.

It has taken some time for me to learn more about our rights as

Aboriginal people and which government representatives we need to

consult with to promote change for the better , but I know I have

made achievements.

It has been very tough for me at times because I do not receive any

financial support from the government or anywhere else , but I have

hung in there because for me it isn’t about making lots of money ,

it’s more about the principle of standing up for our rights.

When I was working in different positions throughout Sunraysia I had

learned a lot more about legislation & policy in regard to Australian

Aboriginal people and I had disagreed with some of the policies &

legislation.

What I have been committing more time to is making contact with

government representatives that have a job to make sure that

Aboriginal people are being consulted.

As Aboriginal people we’ve got the right to question how our

Aboriginal Culture & Heritage is managed , because it is ours.

The primary focus of BLISS is “Natural Resource Management” and

“Education & Training”. I am a local Barkindji Aboriginal man who is a

qualified “Trainer & Assessor” and has worked with local environmental

government departments and educational institutes such as TAFE.

I have been involved in education & training for several years , & it

has enabled me to determine some of the issues which restrict

Aboriginal people from gaining mainstream employment.

I would like to help create education & employment opportunities for

Aboriginal people who would like to be involved in working in

natural resource management .

I am the sole director who has total control of how the company is

managed which helps to avoid conflict of decisions.

Being a man from the Barkindji tribe I am not always invited to work

in areas which are not traditional Barkindji lands.

The environmental industry is vital to the survival of mankind , which is

why there is much more education these days about the importance of

our natural environment.

There are many government initiatives which are provided for

Aboriginal people to participate in educational & employment

opportunities , but it is extremely important that everybody involved in

these have some cultural awareness.

Teaching Aboriginal men how to fence on Noola Station

The Aboriginal cultural heritage sites that I speak of are very significant

to Australian Aboriginal people and are also very sensitive issues

because they are the last remaining traditional cultural heritage sites

with evidence of occupation of the ancestors of Australian Aborigines.

I don’t believe that we should have so called European Academic

Experts “Telling” us how to manage our Aboriginal Culture & Heritage.

I believe that they should be “Asking” us , if it is being managed

appropriately.

 

Making Artifacts in my shed

  

 I had chosen the name

“Brian’s Local Indigenous Services Sunraysia” , because as an acronym

“BLISS” gives a good feeling to the business. It’s enjoyment ,

happiness , delight & pleasure.

I had initially started the business as a sole trader then had

incorporated my business to become a registered company and be

eligible to apply for various government funding and work with

government departments to develop initiatives

BLISS is different from local competitors because it is an Indigenous

owned & operated business which is very passionate about Aboriginal

Culture and Heritage and the creation of education & employment

opportunities for Aboriginal people in Natural Resource Management.

Some Aboriginal cultural heritage sites are already protected and only

need ongoing maintenance , but some are not protected which need to

be protected starting with a plan of management & involving different

levels of manual labor which is part of what BLISS provides.

There are multiple opportunities for BLISS as there are many areas of

the land which have culturally significant sites which could be

managed by Aboriginal people who have the essential qualifications.

The skills, knowledge and resources that are required to operate a

business of this nature could not just be easily obtained from text

books but also by a lot of firsthand experience.

BLISS is focused on working with the departments which have a

responsibility to manage properties that have existing evidence of

Aboriginal cultural heritage sites on them.

This is the only Indigenous business that is based locally, which is

qualified & licensed to provide such products & services to the local

community.

The natural environment & its health will always need to be a part of

humanity, and therefore the management of the natural environment

will be an everlasting issue. I am confident that this business will be

successful on a long term scale , because what I intend to do is help

with the management of the land.

There are opportunities within the education and employment industry

for training and support services in regard to Cross Cultural

Awareness training to create an awareness of cultural diversity within

employment & education.

There are many mainstream educational and employment programs

that are designed for Aboriginal people , but there are issues which

arise that relate to a lack of understanding of cultural differences , some

of these issues are :

• Cultural Diversity

• Engagement with Aboriginal Communities

• Kinship

• Aboriginal Traditions

• Aboriginal Lore

• Heritage Identification

• Aboriginal Heritage Protection Legislation

• AHIP responsibilities , obligations and consequences

In various regions and organisations there are programs that have

been designed to provide Cross Cultural Awareness Training to :

• Employers

• Teachers in schools

• Staff working in Human Services

• Case managers

• Work colleagues of where there are Indigenous staff members

I develop my own Cross Cultural Awareness training programs

through my knowledge and personal experiences. I do this because I

believe it is very important for an Aboriginal person to be teaching

about Aboriginal Culture & Heritage.

This needs to be done tactfully and with a process which I recognize

as the 3 E’s – Educational , Entertaining and Enjoyable

I have worked in jobs within government departments and various

other organisations but had realized that I could only do what I was

told by my managers.

If I was to disagree with the management of something or wanted to

suggest how it should be done I just had to accept it or lose my job.

I cannot work in that type of situation and that is just one of the

reasons why I do what I do.

For many years in Australia there have been systems in place where

government departments and various other organizations were able to

apply for government funding to create projects for Aboriginal people

and they did it just the way that they wanted to do it.

These days these systems have been changing and will continue to

change because they cannot say that various things cannot be

achieved with Aboriginal people when there is existing evidence of

what can be achieved , such as myself.

I cannot describe everything that I have done and how I have done it ,

in this brief presentation.

But , as I had mentioned earlier I am not concerned about making lots

of money but concerned about the protection and survival of our

Aboriginal Culture & Heritage.

I would also like to encourage other Aboriginal people to get

involved in the planning & management of our Aboriginal Culture &

Heritage. I look forward to being a guide for our younger generation

and be happy to be a Tutor / Mentor for them.

Construction of fence at Ned’s Corner

I would like to thank everyone for giving me your time &

attention to learn about myself and my business and hope that

you have gained something from it.