Teenage dream leads to congress

Cairns-based nurse Venessa Curnow is one of eight members of the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples’ first elected board of directors.

The board’s initial meeting, in July, has filled her with hope.

“I’m excited,” she said. “Congress has such a good group of board members … from diverse backgrounds. It went really well, the first meeting.”

The congress is to be the new, peak lobby body for Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, representing them at a national level and advocating for their rights.

It was funded initially with a $29 million grant from the federal government but is to be completely independent in its operations. Its agenda is set by Australia’s Indigenous peoples. As a board member, Venessa carries responsibility for the congress staying on task.

“This is a new model and a new way of doing things,” she said. “For starters women have an equal say in the congress and it is mandated that there is equal gender representation for all office holders. This is a first in Australia and just the start of us setting the standards for others to follow.

“My experience and background I come from means I and the board put importance into listening to our members.”

Venessa says her new role is a natural progression of her life’s work to change some of the discrimination faced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

“Even when I was a teenager I wanted to change the way things were,” she said. “One of my inspirations is Nelson Mandela. He was released from prison (in 1990); I remember hearing that and it was around that time that I started to want to make a difference.”

For Venessa, the congress represents the muscle she needs to change life for her people. “All my working life I have talked to government but I was one voice against the machinery of government. I heard about the congress and I wanted to be part of it.”

The congress’s first set of priorities has been guided from the first national meeting of its representatives, held in June in Sydney. To understand that, it’s necessary to look at the congress structure.

Aside from the board, ethics council and staff, the congress has three chambers of delegates who are the representatives of the membership – Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and groups across the country.

Chamber one (for which Venessa is a female representative) is for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander national organisations and national peak bodies.

Chamber two is for all other organisations.

Chamber three represents individuals, 18 years and older.

Each chamber has up to elected 40 delegates, and they meet annually to discuss and guide the congress’s priorities. It is then up to the board of directors to turn the ideas into action and set the policy and advocacy agenda for the organisation.

“It was synergising to have that many Aboriginal leaders together in the one spot,” Venessa said of the meeting.

Venessa says all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders have the opportunity to have a say in the congress’s work but they must first become members. For further information, visit: www.nationalcongress.com.au