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

[Luke John]

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.

> 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.

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
http://www.flinders.edu.au/staff-development-files/CDIP%20documents/CDIP%20Toolkit%202015/Culturally%20inclusive%20social%20events%202.pdf
http://www.latrobe.edu.au/students/equity/equity-and-diversity-documents/Culturally-Inclusive-social-events.pdf

Information of this sort is already shared between organisers of
different LA events through both formal (ie. ghosts) and informal
channels.