We’re about to enter a very busy time for the Don Dunstan Foundation – and all of our work will be focused on changing the policy discussion in South Australia.
Last week we host our first revamped Dunstan Dialogue – reimagined as a forum where people from across the community, including decision-makers, the social services sector, professional bodies, and people with lived experience – can talk openly about solutions to our thorniest policy problems. Our first discussion was on climate justice – meaning how can we as a community look after people already suffering from climate extremes. Heatwaves are causing illness, even death; the unsettled climate is also putting pressure on the cost of living. The discussion was insightful and helpful in defining the key policy issues. Watch this space for more action as our ideas develop. Later in the year we’ll be focusing on youth justice, particularly the shameful incarceration rates of Aboriginal children and young people.
During Reconciliation Week next month, we’ll host the annual Lowitja O’Donoghue Oration with its focus on justice and recognition for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. We're thrilled that respected leader Romlie Mokak will be this year's Orator (see below for more details). In June, our annual housing symposium will focus on the thorny issue of renting in Australia. Private rentals have become mostly unaffordable, while the share of households relying on renting is increasing. Something needs to change.
For those interested in the history and fabric of the city, we’re hosting a History Festival event in May (see full details below) with a very special guest from Penang. Adelaide and Penang's capital, George Town, share an historic bond which will be explored on the night.
It’s a big agenda and we’re a relatively small organisation. Thankfully, we’ve been gratified to receive so many offers from volunteers to help us with our program. Thanks to those of you who have come forward, those who donate to support our work, and our many partners in the community.
12 May 2025, 5:30 PM - 8:00 PM Ayers House, 288 North Terrace, Adelaide
The 'House of History' is a History Festival initiative presented by the National Trust of South Australia, History Trust of South Australia, & Ayers House Function Centre.
The Don Dunstan Foundation is contributing our own event to the series, called 'Shared Opportunities'. The lecture will discuss the opportunities presented by the shared history of Penang, Malaysia, and Adelaide.
Join Dato’ Dr Ooi Kee Beng, Executive Director of the Penang Institute, and Dr Jane Lomax-Smith, Lord Mayor and chairperson of the Don Dunstan Foundation, for the lecture and discussion.
In 1973, Premier Don Dunstan suggested the council consider a sister city relationship between Adelaide and Penang’s capital George Town. It was a natural connection - George Town was founded in 1786 by Captain Francis Light. Fifty years later, Adelaide was founded by his son, Colonel William Light.
Join us from 5.30pm at Henry's Bar, followed by the event at 6.30pm, to explore these connections through the eyes of a skilled historian and thinker.
Elder Hall, North Terrace, Adelaide, Kaurna Country
18th Annual Lowitja O'Donoghue Oration with Romlie Mokak
The Don Dunstan Foundation is honoured to present this significant Reconciliation Week event dedicated to the legacy of the late Dr Lowitja O'Donoghue AC CBE DSG.
This oration serves as a platform to highlight critical issues facing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, continuing Dr O'Donoghue's lifetime of work pursuing social justice and equality. This year, Romlie Mokak will deliver the address, reflecting on pressing challenges and inspiring action for positive change.
Romlie Mokak is a Djugun man and a member of the Yawuru people. In early 2024, Rom completed his five-year term as the first Aboriginal Commissioner at the Productivity Commission. He led a body of work including reviews of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap and National Housing and Homelessness Agreement, an inquiry into Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Visual Arts and Crafts and an Indigenous Evaluation Strategy.
Prior to his work at the Commission, Rom led key national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations as CEO of the Lowitja Institute and the Australian Indigenous Doctors’ Association. He previously worked for the Australian Government where he had policy and program responsibility in areas such as substance use, male health and eye health, within the Office for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health. At state level, he was the first Aboriginal policy officer appointed to the New South Wales Department of Ageing and Disability.
Rom was a past chair of the Indigenous Governance Awards, National Health Leadership Forum, the Canada–Australia Indigenous Health and Wellness Working Group and the Pacific Region Indigenous Doctors Congress CEOs’ Forum. He is patron of Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health and Community Services and a member of the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare board.
Join us for an evening of insightful discourse and reflection as we honour Dr O'Donoghue's legacy.
Australia’s refusal to name and confront racism has prevented meaningful progress on eliminating it, the nation’s Race Discrimination Commissioner has told an Adelaide forum.
Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman was in Adelaide during “Harmony Week”, and addressed an event hosted by the Multicultural Affairs Commission of South Australia, in partnership with the Don Dunstan Foundation and Reconciliation SA.
The commissioner pointed out that the occasion – March 21 – was globally recognised as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination.
In Australia, however, the Howard Government rebadged the event as “Harmony Day” in 1999 and it has remained that way – uniquely in the world.
“The 21st of March has been a date globally recognised as the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination,” Sivaraman (pictured below with Equal Opportunity Commissioner Jodeen Carney) told the event at UniSA. The date was set by the UN in 1966 as a day of mourning after the Sharpeville massacre in South Africa where 69 people were murdered by police at a peaceful demonstration against apartheid.
“For me, it is somewhat jarring that a day recognising a massacre born of racism, is replaced with a day of celebration under the banner of Harmony Day,” he said.
“Harmony is a wonderful ideal. But we have to ask ourselves, as a country, why we are to loath to talk about racism? Because to get to a harmonious society, we first need to address racism.”
The Commissioner argued that the “refusal to name and confront racism has prevented meaningful progress on eliminating it”.
He said while government had a key role to play – despite approached to racism being disjointed and ad hoc – everyone in the community could also take action in their own workplaces, for example.
Farewell Gerrie
There has been another change in the management oversight at the Foundation.
After farewelling our longstanding and brilliant Committee of Management chair Cathie King earlier in the year, committee member Gerrie Mitra has also decided to move on.
Gerrie has been an invaluable member of the foundation, chairing the finance sub-committee and providing skilled oversight in that area and many others.
Thanks Gerrie and good luck for your future.
LISTEN: More Than Pink Shorts
If you missed Executive Director David Washington in conversation with AGSA Deputy Director Emma Fey in the gallery’s Radical Textiles exhibition, audio of the event is now available.
The pair discussed Don Dunstan's legacy and the 50th anniversary of the decriminalisation of homosexuality in South Australia. And, yes, those pink shorts which have been on display in the exhibition.
The History Festival is hosting 'An Audience with Don Dunstan' but not as you might imagine it.
The performance is a fictional theatrical take on the life of Don Dunstan. Set in a late-night cabaret bar in Adelaide, the play weaves the story of Don's remarkable legacy using stories, poetry and song.
Directed by Alicia Benn-Lawler and starring Alec Gilbert, Ag Johnson and Isabella Gilbert, the season will run from May 8-16 at 7.30pm at Ayers House.
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