The Aboriginal Tent Embassy – 50 years of ongoing protest for Indigenous sovereignty in Australia

The Aboriginal Tent Embassy – a site of First Nations protest in Canberra, Australia – marks its 50th anniversary this year. In this episode, Carissa Lee, First Nations and public policy editor at The Conversation in Australia, explores its history and hears how the ongoing protest has influenced a new generation of Indigenous activism.

Featuring Bronwyn Carlson, professor of Indigenous studies and director of the Centre for Global Indigenous Futures at Macquarie University in Australia; Lynda-June Coe, a PhD candidate at Macquarie University and her Aunty Jenny Munro, a member of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy protest site in Canberra.

Plus, new research into how the COVID-19 pandemic is affecting the lives of young people born into poverty around the world – and their job prospects. We talk to Catherine Porter, director of the Young Lives study at the University of Oxford. (Listen from 33m46s)

This episode of the The Conversation Weekly is supported by the UK/Australia Season Patrons Board, the British Council and the Australian Government as part of the UK/Australia Season, which centres on the theme Who Are We Now? The season's programme reflects on the two countries’ shared history, explores their current relationship, and imagines their future together.

The Conversation Weekly is produced by Mend Mariwany and Gemma Ware, with reporting from the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra by Ellen Duffy. Sound design is by Eloise Stevens and our theme music is by Neeta Sarl. Full credits for this episode available here.

Further reading

• A short history of the Aboriginal Tent Embassy – an indelible reminder of unceded sovereignty
• Who are the ‘Original Sovereigns’ who were camped out at Old Parliament House and what are their aims?
• Whose sovereignty is really being fought for? What happens when First Nations People are dragged into extremist protests
• Hunger, lost income and increased anxiety: how coronavirus lockdowns put huge pressure on young people around the world