First Nations Media News :: Bumper Edition :: We're Hiring :: Digital Inclusion Research

Woah, there's been a lot going on in our sector recently. While COVID-19 has a restricted some of our usual activities, there's still a lot of work happening at our office and at media organisations across the country. This bumper edition of our newsletter highlights just some of the opportunities, information and activities going on around the industry in August.

Some of the things the First Nations Media Australia team has been working on since our last newsletter include:

contributing to the Northern Territory's Public Interest Reference Group
partnering with KPMG to increase financial management support for our members
working with 3KND, Wilcannia River Radio, PAW Media and the University of Melbourne on research about the impact of First Nations media during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic
supporting the launch of the new National Agreement on Closing the Gap for the Coalition of Peaks
contributing to the Community Broadcasting Sector Roundtable discussions
liaising with the NIAA and the Department of Health
supporting our members to grow new production opportunities
responding to member enquiries about a whole list of things. We love hearing from you - keep em coming!

It was great to have our indigiTUBE team in the Northern Territory this month. Jaja and Adam usually work in South Australia, but ventured up to catch up with members in the NT and spend some time in the Alice Springs office. More about indigiTUBE below...

There are a couple of Industry Huddle meetings coming up for you to note:

Thursday 3 September, 2:30pm CST - guest speakers: Kelly Williams & Bronwyn Purvis from the ABC
Wednesday 14 October - guest speaker: Adam Portelli, MEAA

These meetings are open to Managers and relevant staff working at First Nations media organisations. Calendar invitations are issued ahead of each meeting with links to join the online meeting, or dial in. If you're not receiving those invitations and would like to, drop Steph a note at stephanie@firstnationsmedia.org.au

On behalf of our members, First Nations Media Australia has contributed feedback to a number of consultation processes on important discussions that impact our industry. These have included:

News Media and Digital Platforms Mandatory Bargaining Code

You may have seen this mentioned in the news or reported on it yourself. It's about potentially creating laws to force Google and Facebook to pay for news content it uses from Australian news businesses. FNMA has collaborated with the CBAA to make two joint submissions to the ACCC about this proposal, one in response to a Concepts Paper and then another set of comments on the Exposure Draft for the proposed Bill.

ACMA consultation

FNMA has submitted responses to the ACMA's Draft Five-Year Spectrum Outlook and to the proposed principles for the expansion of digital radio to regional Australia.

Consumer Safeguards Review

As part of our leadership on remote telecommunications, FNMA has been contributing to the Consumer Safeguards Review. Most recently this has been responding to the Department of Transport, Regional Development and Communications consultation paper, Part C on choice and fairness.

Each of these submission is available to read here.

We're currently looking for three people to join our team in the following positions:

News Project Coordinator - full time, location negotiable for the right candidate. The ideal applicant will have good communication and stakeholder engagement skills, knowledge of software systems and training resources, working knowledge of relevant journalism Codes and report writing skills. Applications close on 8 September. Read more.
Editorial Coordinator - full time, location negotiable. This role will require experience in journalism and news production to develop user-friendly resources and online tools to support First Nations reporters to upload and share news content. Good time management and communication skills is a must. Applications close on 8 September. Read more.
Digital Training Coordinator - part time or full time, based in the Northern Territory. We're looking for someone to join our inDigiMOB team. The ideal candidate will have experience running workshops or training in remote communities and solid digital skills. Applications close on 18 September. See the position description here.

All positions at First Nations Media Australia are Indigenous identified roles. For more information contact jenni@firstnationsmedia.org.au

It’s time to renew your membership with First Nations Media Australia for 2020-21. We’re running a little later than usual with the renewals because our Board was considering how to approach memberships this year in light of COVID-19. At its last meeting the FNMA Board agreed to support members by making payment of membership fees for this 12-month period optional. This means we will automatically renew all current memberships until 30 June 2021.

Don’t forget that we’re here to support you and your organisation. Some of the benefits you can draw on as a member of First Nations Media Australia at any time through the year include:

- access to webinar resources and professional development opportunities

- HR and business management advice

- technical support for website, streaming and internet connectivity issues

- regular industry huddle catch-ups and online networking opportunities

- support for operational policy and funding applications and agreements

- assistance with responding to arising issues, such as the COVID-19 pandemic and Black Lives Matter reporting

- archiving resources and training for digitisation

- music for airplay through indigiTUBE and First Sounds

- travel subsidies for the Remote Indigenous Media Festival and CONVERGE events (when they can happen again!)

- support for financial management through KPMG

- leadership and representation in a range of policy, funding and industry stakeholder arenas

- and we’re continuing to develop new industry partnerships to expand our member services offerings in 2020-21.

If you're not yet a member, we'd love to have you sign up! There's a membership type for everybody - individual and organisations.

"We need every single person who stands on this sacred Country to be activated, not just on socials, but at the dinner table, at the march, at the workplace, on the stage, in the board rooms, in the Parliament - that's what true reconciliation will look like." Jimblah. About These Demons explores the very real grief and pain that exists within our First Nations communities, a reminder for us to dismantle the oppressive forces of our system and look ahead to a future rooted in healing and growth.

inDigiMOB is undertaking an online survey of First Nations Media Australia members and other organisations working in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. The survey seeks your views and experiences of digital access and use issues in the communities in which you work, especially during these COVID 19 times.

Whilst we know Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia experience digital exclusion, we don’t have a lot of information about just what this looks like in different communities across the country. By completing this survey you’ll be assisting First Nations Media Australia build the evidence base needed to advocate for better and more affordable digital access and improved services and information for communities.

The survey will be emailed to your organisation late August or early September, and it will also be able to be accessed via a web link on our website indigimob.com.au.
More than one person per organisation can complete the survey! It'd be great to get a good mix of responses from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander males and females and other staff.

If you want any further information about the survey you can contact us at
info@indigimob.org.au

FNMA has now developed a First Nations Media archiving hub, using the Mukurtu cloud-based platform. We are currently conducting a trial of the Mukurtu archive platform with pilot sites for three organisations- PAKAM, PAW Media and Umeewarra Media- as well as creating a First Nations media history collection. You can check out some of the great public content that PAW Media and PAKAM have on their sites (click on Browse all Digital Heritage).

Mukurtu is an open-source archiving system designed for First Nations communities to manage their own collections and enable community access according to local protocols. This project is funded through the Indigenous Languages and Arts program. We are now seeking additional funding to expand the rollout of Mukurtu within the sector beyond the ILA-funded trial to September 2020. If your organisation is interested in setting up an online archive on the First nations media hub, or you would like more information, please contact project manager Daniel Featherstone.

We are also nearing completion of the First Nations media archiving toolkit, an interactive online platform for archiving and training resources. This builds on the fantastic FNMA training resources developed by Susan Locke into an archiving manual. This will be launched in September.

We are also working with Charles Darwin University to develop an accredited 3-unit skill set for archive workers to learn how to digitise and catalogue analogue audio, video and photographs. This course will be able to be delivered by any RTO with scope for Cert 3/4 in Screen and Media in 2021.

During COVID-19 shutdown TEABBA made an emergency trip to Gunbalanya after reports the community had no radio services. With all the communities being shut down and no visitor's except essential workers and TEABBA following protocols, they applied for a one-off permit with the Northern Land Council to fix these services. Travel was affected with roads being blocked off due to bio security zones, so TEABBA's tech Kyle Doevendans and General Manager Don Baylis chartered a plane to the airport where a car was left so they could drive into the community without public contact. This included the full kit of masks, gloves and sanitary gear which was used to clean all equipment before leaving. A transmitter was replaced as well as a tele delta, rectifying all TEABBA and ABC services.

Why Warriors are seeking a Communications Specialist for a part-time/casual role. The successful applicant will be responsible for overseeing all external communications of the organisation. This includes overseeing two websites, assisting with funding documents, and editing and proofing of resources (print/video/podcasts). The role is approximately 10-12 hours/week and can be done remotely from any Australian location. For a full position description please email justine@whywarriors.com.au.

An historic agreement that for the first time sees Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people share decision making and take a partnership role with Australian Governments was announced on 27 July. The new National Agreement is a pledge from all governments to fundamentally change the way they work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and organisations through four Priority Reforms.

FNMA is pleased to see the National Agreement includes a new commitment to see First Nations media, particularly community-controlled media, having a central role in communicating activities under the Agreement.

"It is significant that our First Nations media sector has been recognised for the vital role we continue to play in improving the life outcomes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people," FNMA Chair Dot West said, "We have pushed hard to make sure our language and culture is prioritised in this new Agreement and its implementation. We are very proud to be part of this new Agreement and recognised as important providers of services that enable Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to access information that can make a difference to their lives."

View the Agreement here.

The ABC will be screening the world-premiere of Freeman at 7:40pm on Sunday 13 September. In this documentary, Cathy Freeman shares her full story for the first time on the race that brought Australians together, 20 years on. If you miss the live broadcast, it will also be available on demand on iview for a limited time. Check out the trailer here.
Interviews are available with Director, Laurence Billet and Co-Director, Stephen Page. Email Steph to coordinate a time if you're interested in speaking with them.

The House of Representatives Standing Committee on Communications and the Arts is hearing evidence on the benefits the arts bring to Australia and the impacts of COVID-19 on the industry. Committee Chair, David Gillespie MP says, "It's time to reflect on and re-think the way we create and interact with art, as we react to the pandemic and the challenges we need to overcome."
This is an opportunity to highlight to Government the impact of COVID-19 on all creative industries (such as screen media). Information is being collected via written submission and/or a short online survey. Read more.

Support Act, a charity delivering crisis relief services to artists, crew, music and media workers, has appointed Cerisa Grant in the newly created position of First Nations Community Engagement / Social Worker. Cerisa is a proud Walpiri, Jawoyn and Gurrindji woman from Katherine who now resides in Melbourne. She is an artist manager, events manager and liaison / case support worker who has worked with the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency (VACCA), Barpirdhila Foundation and Territory Families.

The organisation is also looking to appoint a new Director. The Support Act Board helps oversee things like its Wellbeing Helpline and COVID-19 Response Fund. They're particularly interested in people with a passion for music for this voluntary role. Expressions of Interest can be sent via email to admin@supportact.org.au by Friday 18 September. Read more.

The RISE Fund provides targeted funding assistance for sector organisations seeking to restart, re-imagine or create new activities. The program is intended to assist by providing funding for the presentation of new or re-shaped cultural and creative activities and events including festivals, concerts and tours. The program aims to assist companies in the arts and entertainment sector to present new or re-imagined activities which have been disrupted by the COVID-19 restrictions. This opportunity is open to not-for-profit organisations and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander corporations. Applications are open anytime between now and May 2021. Read more.