[LA-Policies] [Linux-aus] Acknowledgement of country

[Luke John]

On Thu, Nov 5, 2015 at 4:42 PM, Russell Coker <russell at coker.com.au> wrote:
> On Thu, 5 Nov 2015 05:25:59 PM Luke John wrote:
>> On Thu, Nov 5, 2015 at 1:01 PM, Russell Coker <russell at coker.com.au> wrote:
>> > On Thu, 5 Nov 2015 11:49:59 AM Luke John wrote:
>> >> Linux Australia currently has an excellent value statement and a
>> >> proven track record of being open and welcoming to newcomers and
>> >> embracing diversity.
>> >
>> > The Wikipedia page you cited states that "In Federal Parliament, both
>> > houses start each day with the Lord's Prayer and the Welcome to
>> > Country".  I don't think it's unreasonable for Linux Australia to take
>> > the standards of Federal Parliament as minimum standards.
>>
>> I don't think any standard that includes a prayer can be
>> called reasonable.
>
> I agree that the prayer should be removed.  But this isn't a discussion of
> outdated features of parliament.  The mention of parliament was regarding a
> change that was made recently.  We can copy the good things they do without
> copying the bad stuff.

Sure but to use the Federal Parliament's standards as a minimum you
are left with the task of working out which are both "good things" and
make sense in the context of events run by LA.

>
>> > To provide a "fun, welcoming" environment regardles of race (when race
>> > means Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people) I think that again
>> > we need to acknowledge who was here first.
>>
>> The current policy is sufficiently worded for organisers of LA events
>> who feel similarly to you to include an "Acknowledgement of Country".
>> Likewise at events where organisers do not feel it is appropriate to
>> include, they may choose not to.
>
> Why would someone object to an Acknowledgement of Country?  It's already been
> done with LA events in the past without problem.  It's done at most
> universities without issue and even when it was added to the start of
> parliament it didn't get much notice (I didn't even know they did that until
> today).

*I would object to a mandated "Acknowledgement of Country"*.

You have provided no real evidence that having a mandated
"Acknowledgement of Country" would encourage participation in the LA
community. Other people are doing it is not a reason to do it.  Many
people write closed source software, that's not a good reason for LA
to mandate it.

>> I think having a guide available to organisers discussing ways to help
>> make their event culturally and socially inclusive would be of benefit
>> to the LA community.
>>
>> The following documents seem like a good starting point.
>>
>> https://www.unimelb.edu.au/diversity/downloads/Inclusive-Events.pdf
>
> That has some interesting ideas about a separate area for non-alcoholic
> drinks, separating out beef and pork dishes from other food with separate
> utensils, and using separate BBQ plates.  I don't think that LCA has done too
> badly in this regard, but I know that some other Linux events in Australia
> haven't done so well.
>
>> http://www.flinders.edu.au/staff-development-files/CDIP%20documents/CDIP%20
>> Toolkit%202015/Culturally%20inclusive%20social%20events%202.pdf
>> http://www.latrobe.edu.au/students/equity/equity-and-diversity-documents/C
>> ulturally-Inclusive-social-events.pdf
>
> The first page of each of those demands an Acknowledgement of Country.  Apart
> from that they seem to have much the same content as the first document.

>From my reading they certainly do not *demand* an "Acknowledgement of
Country". They are guidelines and they provide suggestions and
background.

> Given that most of the documents you have referenced have mandated an
> Acknowledgement of Country your argument doesn't seem sustainable.

My position is that the current LA value statement and code of conduct
are sufficient to allow for an "Acknowledgement of Country" at the
discretion of individual organisers.