The 2015 Narrm Oration

'From hunting to contracting: economic development in Indigenous Australia'
The 2015 Narrm Oration will be presented by Professor Marcia Langton.

Synopsis:
In the 2015 Narrm Oration, “From hunting to contracting”, Professor Marcia Langton addresses Indigenous economic development: "The gates have been opened. Indigenous Australians have been formally allowed into the Australian economy. First the iron ore miners, then many of the top 200 Australian corporations, and now the Commonwealth government, have created an Indigenous supply chain by procuring goods and services from Indigenous businesses. This follows the history of economic exclusion from colonial times to the 21st century. In many ways, Indigenous people remain locked out of normal economic participation. So, with one gate open, we should now think about removing the fences.”

About the orator:
Professor Marcia Langton AM PhD Macq U, BA (Hons) ANU, FASSA is an anthropologist and geographer, and holds the Foundation Chair of Australian Indigenous Studies at the University of Melbourne. She has produced a large body of knowledge in the areas of political and legal anthropology, Indigenous agreements and engagement with the minerals industry, and Indigenous culture and art. Her role in the Prime Minister and Cabinet sponsored Empowered Communities project, as member of the Expert Panel on Constitutional Recognition of Indigenous Australians and the Forrest Review is a recent demonstration of Professor Langton’s academic reputation, policy commitment and impact, alongside her role as a prominent public intellectual (e.g. her 2012 Boyer lectures titled ‘The Quiet Revolution: Indigenous People and the Resources Boom’), and her influence and reputation in government and private sector circles.
In the private sector Professor Langton serves on a number of boards, including as Chairperson of Guma ICRG JV Pty Ltd, as a director of Indigenous Construction Resource Group Pty Ltd, and as a Co-Chair of Cape York Partnership.
Awarded B.A. (Hons) from the Australian National University and a PhD from Macquarie University. She is a Fellow of Trinity College, Melbourne, a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences of Australia, and a member of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies.

About the Narrm Oration:
The Narrm Oration is presented by the University of Melbourne in collaboration with our foundation corporate partner Rio Tinto Australia.
The vision for the Narrm Oration is to profile leading Indigenous thinkers from across the globe in order to enrich our ideas about possible futures for Indigenous Australia.