Program

Facilitated by Karen Milward, Co-Chair Victorian Aboriginal Economic Board

Victorian Aboriginal Organisations with an interest in developing tourism are encouraged to attend the ‘Tourism for Aboriginal Organisations’ forum.

The session will draw on the experiences of Aboriginal organisations from around Australia who have succeeded in tourism or are intending to have tourism be a major contributor to their communities.

Damein Bell – CEO, Gunditj Mirring Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation (Budj Bim, VIC)
Vince Coulthard and Craig Wallace, Director, Ikara Wilpena Enterprises (Wilpena Pound Resort, SA) 

Take a break with complimentary refreshments.

A panel of Victorian Aboriginal organisations will share their thoughts and insights into harnessing tourism opportunities now and in the future.

Jamie Lowe, CEO, Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation
Jeremy Clark, Federation of Victorian Traditional Owner Corporations
Janine Coombs, Federation of Victorian Traditional Owner Corporations

AITC 2018 will take place on Gadabanud country, people of the Eastern Maar. The Welcome Reception will include a welcome from Eastern Maar Elders, Eastern Maar Chairperson Jason Mifsud and a performance by Eastern Maar dancers.

Delegates will be welcomed to this years event by the committee

Registration and information for the days events

MC Shelley Ware

Welcome to Country: Jason Mifsud – Chairperson, Eastern Maar Aboriginal Corporation

Opening Address: The Hon John Eren MP - Minister for Tourism and Major Events

Peter Bingeman - CEO, Visit Victoria

Eddie Fry, Chair of Indigenous Land Council and Indigenous Business Australia

ILC and IBA Chair Eddie Fry will speak about tourism as a significant growth area of the Australian economy which often comes with varied success. Eddie will cover some of the foundations for success in tourism, including the combination of hard work and commercial focus coupled with the existence of the right settings and drivers to make opportunities work.

Take a break for half an hour with morning tea

Kia Dowell – Tourism WA Commissioner

Aboriginal tourism in Western Australia continues to be of great interest to visitors (at 78% in 2016-17) and has grown in enthusiasm 19% over the past five years. Participation levels however remain low at 21% in 2016.  There are opportunities to address this gap of interest versus participation and in the session find out what how they are doing it in WA.  Western Australia is growing its Aboriginal tourism sector and here is your opportunity to find out how.

Robert Taylor – WAITOC CEO
WAITOC (the Western Australian Indigenous Tourism Operators Council) is a membership organisation that supports and advocates for the Aboriginal tourism sector in WA.  Through ongoing partnerships with Tourism WA, the City of Perth and Indigenous Business Australia, WAITOC has developed business coaching and mentoring support for Aboriginal operators, along with innovative and successful marketing initiatives, and this session will outline some of WAITOC’s programs.

Renata Lowe - Tourism WA
Also learn how the WA State Government, through Tourism WA, is supporting new Aboriginal tourism product through Camping with Custodians, which is an exciting, Australian-first initiative that builds campgrounds on Aboriginal lands which are open to the public and operated by the community.

This session will finish with Kia Dowell facilitating a panel of Aboriginal tourism operators who have been supported by WAITOC and Tourism WA’s various initiatives and programs.  A wonderful opportunity to hear about the journey and their aspirations for the future.

Nick Morris OAM (Morris Access Consulting), Australia’s Red Dust Heelers, Roelands Village Academy Students

Accessible tourism is focused on building tourist destinations, products and services that are accessible to all people, regardless of their physical limitations, disabilities or age.
Accessible Tourism will make up 25% of the market by 2020. It is an 8 billion dollar industry now.
This session combines a presentation from experts in accessible tourism product, alongside case studies of Aboriginal tourism operators who are embedding accessibility in their tourism business.
Key speakers have presented at the Gold Coast Commonwealth Games Accessible Tourism Forum, and internationally.
Key case study also from Roelands Village in SW WA where youth have built an all abilities, edible bush foods garden to enhance the cultural tourism experience.

Bush Foods Tasting & Coffee/Barista Competition with Outback Academy Linked Young People (WA, Vic, Qld)
Interactive Session
The food and hospitality industry is generating some standout youth for future tourism leadership
Join us for a coffee, with some coffee art you won’t have seen before.
Hear from young people about their aspirations and views about tourism now, and in the future
We’ll be sourcing coffee from different Indigenous coffee suppliers, including OAA’s Red Dust Blend with Jasper Coffee, and Lucky Bean Cafe

Doc Reynolds – Lucky Bean Cafe

Aboriginal Tourism Operator in Parks

Australia’s National Parks agencies are creating strong, economic and social links with Aboriginal groups in some of Australia’s natural treasures. In this session, National Parks agencies from around Australia will provide delegates with an update into engagement activities with Aboriginal people in their States and Territories.

Take a break with complimentary refreshments.

Margret Campbell - Dreamtime Southern X
Walter McGuire - Go Cultural Aboriginal Tours and Experiences
Rob Hyatt - Koorie Heritage Trust
Yarraka Bayles - BlackCard Cultural Tours

A depth of Aboriginal experiences is found right in the heart of our capital cities. In amongst the skyscrapers, Aboriginal guides unravel the Aboriginal history and culture to our cities in a context both pre and post colonisation. Hear how some of Australia’s leading Aboriginal tourism operators present their product in this bustling environment and understand their challenges and opportunities in every day operations and future growth.

Enjoy a delicious meal with fellow guests.

Registration and information for the days events

TBC

TBC

WAITOC member Outback Academy Australia (OAA) has supported the development of the East West Alliance (EWA) movement.
EWA is a collaboration between Aboriginal leaders in SW WA (Noongar Land Enterprises – Australia’s first Aboriginal led land based business cooperative) and an emerging Murray Corridor based leadership (NSW, Victoria and SA).
EWA leaders are focused on building ethical, sustainable and authentic Aboriginal led business in bush foods, botanicals, nutraceuticals and linked cultural tourism.
They are passionate about the protection of traditional knowledge and sustainable commercialisation that brings benefits to communities and the environment.
EWA leaders are committed to cooperative business models that embed the principle of the greatest good for the greatest number and country.

This session shares the story this emerging network, being mentored by Australia’s first Fairtrade Coffee Company Jasper Coffee and global environmental management services Veolia.
The purpose is to share knowledge from Jasper Coffee owner Wells Trenfield about Fairtrade style business, and EWA leaders about why and how they are pursuing cooperative business models to achieve increased economy, social and environmental outcomes as a connected supply group.

Take a break for half an hour with morning tea

Jill Abel, CEO - Australian Cruise Association
Chris White - Head of Product and Familiarisations, Visit Victoria
Toby Biddick, Cruise Ambassador, Akorn Australia & New Zealand

In 2016-17 the cruise sector contributed $5,280.3 billion to the Australian economy and supported 21,260 jobs – how can you get involved?    In this session you will hear from cruise industry specialists about the current state of the sector and the framework of working within this growing part of the Australia tourism industry. Also hear from Aboriginal tourism operators who are currently servicing cruise passengers, and learn about the challenges and benefits that they have experienced.

Tahn Donovan - Creator, Max's Black Sauce and Director, WAITOC
Mikaela Jade – CEO and Founder, Indigital
Leanne Miller – Executive Member, Koorie Women Mean Business and Chairperson, Outback Academy Australia

In the NAIDOC Year of Because of Her We Can, this session is dedicated to the challenges, achievements and aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in tourism.
The session will be facilitated by Shelley Ware, and showcase some tourism product owned and delivered by Aboriginal women from across Australia.
A panel session will follow for questions and comments on increasing the engagement of women in tourism business.

EWA leaders are committed to cooperative business models that embed the principle of the greatest good for the greatest number and country.

This session shares the story this emerging network, being mentored by Australia’s first Fairtrade Coffee Company Jasper Coffee and global environmental management services Veolia.
The purpose is to share knowledge from Jasper Coffee owner Wells Trenfield about Fairtrade style business, and EWA leaders about why and how they are pursuing cooperative business models to achieve increased economy, social and environmental outcomes as a connected supply group.

Nick Henderson, Global Manager, Social Media, Tourism Australia

Hear from Tourism Australia on: Social media and the 5 hour selfie. How social media is changing the tourism industry and how you can capitalise on it. 

Sponsored by Tourism Australia

Professor Cheryl Kickett-Tucker PhD
Research Fellow, Curtin University
Founding Director, Pindi Pindi Ltd, Centre for Research Excellence in Aboriginal Wellbeing

Cultural security is a relatively new concept but is fast appearing in the general literature within the health and education domains and is exploding in the workforce as a means for cultural competence training for workers.  Yet, within the tourism field and especially in Aboriginal tourism, the concept is new.

According to Coffin (2007) cultural security is a measure of how well a service can effectively deliver its programs to Aboriginal people.  It is comprised of the building blocks of cultural awareness and cultural safety but requires “brokering” with the service and those the service is intended for.  A result of brokerage is the protocols for cultural security.  If protocols are developed and monitored effectively, then the service can achieve cultural sustainability for its services to the Aboriginal population.

Using Coffin’s framework of cultural security, this presentation will explore cultural intellectual property of Aboriginal services and products that are built on Aboriginal cultural knowledges and wisdom and what this means for certification of Aboriginal tourism in the future.

Sarai Roe - Owner/Operator of TAG Traditional Aboriginal Games
Ashley Farrall – Chef, 2015 NAIDOC Apprentice of the Year

This workshop will focus on hearing from young people who are studying, delivering, or aspiring to own their own tourism businesses.
We will also explore how to better support succession building for existing Aboriginal tourism operators.
Key questions are who is coming up behind me to run the business? How do we get young people interested and engaged in tourism?
Case studies from across Australia will show what some communities are doing to build training and experience for tourism careers and business.

Presenters will include Aboriginal Chef, Ashley Farrall (NAIDOC Apprentice of the Year 2015), Ashley aspires to own his own mobile bush foods kitchen and
Sarai Roe (Owner/Operator of TAG Traditional Aboriginal Games) alongside their peers from across Australia.
Sarai will also run an interactive TAG session for participants during the Conference.

A key outcome will be young people themselves sharing their interests, challenges and advice to building better engagement with young people in this growing industry.

World Indigenous Tourism Alliance (WINTA) Secretariat Johnny Edmonds and Aurelie Debusschere will present an update on the World Indigenous Tourism Summit held in NZ as well as an intro to the 2020 World Summit in Perth