2023 Solomon Lecture keynote speaker announced
This year’s Solomon Lecture, held as part of celebrations marking International Access to Information Day (IAID) later this month, will be delivered by Ms Talei Elu, Seisia community member and 2023 Young Australian of the Year for Queensland.
The IAID theme in Queensland this year is ‘Digital inclusion: connecting people to information’. It is a reminder of how digital inclusion can impact an individual’s right to access information, including government-held information.
Ms Elu is well placed to address this theme. Growing up in the remote Torres Strait Islander community of Seisia, she is a community advocate and change-maker, especially when it comes to improving digital inclusion and accessibility.
She is a proud Saibai Koedal woman and a member of the First Nations Digital Inclusion Advisory Group (federal) and Queensland Government First Nations Consultative Committee.
Ms Elu’s keynote is titled ‘The story of Seisia – How access to information in remote Indigenous communities can help to solve complex problems’.
She will share her story about how the people of Seisia harnessed the information and contacts they had to lobby for better telecommunications infrastructure, ultimately securing a $1.09 million tower through the Regional Connectivity Program. Seisia is building on their access to information and contacts across government processes, health, media, and a range of fields to ultimately learn how to go about solving these complex issues, to secure investment, and improve community liveability.
Register to attend Ms Elu’s thought-provoking Solomon Lecture at 10:30am, on Tuesday 26 September at The Edge, State Library of Queensland, South Brisbane.
For those unable to attend in-person, the event will also be livestreamed.
The keynote will be followed by a panel discussion focusing on bridging the digital divide and real life case studies.
Journalist Ms Kim Skubris will emcee the event and moderate the panel featuring:
- Ms Talei Elu
- Mr Chris McLaren (Chief Customer and Digital Officer, Queensland Government Customer and Digital Group)
- Mr Chatur Zala (CEO, Cherbourg Aboriginal Shire Council)
- Professor Michael Dezuanni (Program Leader, Digital Inclusion and Participation, Digital Media Research Centre, QUT)
