2022 Solomon Lecture
Later this month OIC will host the 2022 Solomon Lecture which will be delivered by Ian Hamm, Chair of the Stolen Generations Reference Group at The Healing Foundation. Ian’s keynote is titled ‘The importance of truth through Aboriginal eyes’.
The Solomon Lecture has become an integral part of activities marking International Access to Information Day (IAI Day in short), which both fall on 28 September 2022.
This year’s IAI Day UNESCO-appointed theme is ‘Artificial intelligence, e-governance and access to information’.
Ian’s keynote lecture will highlight the role that access to information plays in decision-making, truth telling and building trust and transparency in government and society. An overview of Ian’s lecture is below:
The importance of information has never been greater and universally it is interpreted as the transparency and accountability of government. This is incredibly important given the amount of information and data that exists and continues to expand in the modern world. But what information matters, beyond the accepted situation, to Aboriginal people? What is the information unknown that Aboriginal people want to hear and need heard? In this talk, Ian will look information through the eyes of the Aboriginal community at a macro and micro level. He will discuss truth telling and its implications for Australia as a nation and what benefits it brings us all (macro), and also discuss the importance of knowing your own story through the eyes of the stolen children (micro) in trying to make sense of your life.
The speaker event will be emceed by journalist and broadcaster Rhianna Patrick and afterwards she will moderate a panel discussion between Ian, Rose Barrowcliffe (First Nations Archives Advisor, Queensland State Archives) and Patricia Thompson AM (CEO of Link-Up Queensland).
The event is free to attend in-person at 10.30am at the State Library of Queensland, or alternatively you can also watch the livestream.