2007 AIDA Symposium

AIDA's Annual Symposium was held in Adelaide on 29 September 2007. The theme for this year’s Symposium was "Referendum, Rights, Respect". As always, the Symposium was a wonderful opportunity to showcase Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander strength, leadership and culture as invited speakers, AIDA members and guests from across the country converged to share their views in a respectful and supportive space.

It was an honour to have Dr Charles "Chicka" Dixon as a special guest speaker at the Symposium. Uncle Chicka's personal story as a long-time campaigner for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights was an inspiration to all present. Uncle Chicka's timeline of the Aboriginal political struggle – which reflected his own special brand of humour and generosity of spirit – was an important reminder that the struggle for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander rights and respect is ongoing and one that we can't afford to take for granted. This was particularly timely given the backdrop of the Northern Territory Intervention. As Uncle Chicka said, "While I breathe I’ll struggle".

The Northern Territory Intervention was also a key theme in Professor Larissa Behrendt's speech. Larissa's presentation, which debunked some of the myths of the 1967 Referendum, provided a very useful framework for understanding the current political landscape in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs. Following on from Uncle Chicka's words on the importance of fostering Indigenous leadership, it was fantastic to see Larissa, as an embodiment of the new Indigenous leadership sharing space with AIDA's up and coming new leaders.

The AIDA Student Members made a very valuable contribution to the Symposium. They did a fantastic job of introducing speakers, and also provided a valuable insight into their own individual journeys into medicine. This, alongside some inspiring presentations on success stories in Indigenous health, examples of clinical best practice and the challenges of racism in the Australian health system were discussed and reflected within a context of healing, culture, community and goodwill.

The wonderful dancing and entertainment that followed the Symposium was a testament to the energy and empowerment that resulted from the speeches, wisdom and lessons of the day. Uncle Chicka's personal motto was still fresh in everyone’s minds: