National Close the Gap Day 2024
Published on Thursday 21 March 2024
Today is National Close the Gap Day 2024. Closing the gap refers to the meaningful action that is required by governments, organisations, communities and individuals to address inequity experienced by First Nations peoples in Australia.
Here at MHNSW we are committed to our partnership with the NSW Aboriginal Languages Trust to deliver a project over the next three years that addresses target 16 identified in the National Agreement on Closing the Gap that aims to see Aboriginal Cultures and Languages strong, supported and flourishing. The target is that by 2031 there will be a sustained increase in the number and strength of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages being spoken.
This partnership project, called the First Nations Community Access to Archives project, is currently in its search and discovery phase. As the team unearths cultural and language materials that exist within the NSW State Archives Collection, we know the impact and benefits these materials could potentially have for communities who are doing the work to see their languages strong, supported and flourishing.
Learn more about the team working on this close the gap project: First Nations Community Access to Archives team.
To learn more about other First Nations projects at MHNSW, why not visit our First Nations Hub.
Gulwanyang Moran
Manager, First Nations Community Access to Archives
Gulwanyang Moran is a proud Birrbay and Dhanggati woman of the Gathang language group and Manager of the First Nations Community Access to Archives team at MHNSW. Gulwanyang is a power-conscious and experienced leader with over 20 years’ experience in Cultural Capability education and praxis. A passionate advocate of cultures and languages, Gulwanyang brings a wealth of knowledge working on the ground in her own peoples’ language and cultural reclamation work. Truth-telling, rematriation, anti-colonialism and supporting First Nations archivists centres the work she does within the galleries, libraries, archives and museums (GLAM) sector. Through facilitating statewide language education and cultural programs, she maintains her understanding of the aspirations and needs of language revitalisation communities. Gulwanyang holds a Master of Indigenous Languages Education and informs national policy through the National Language Policy Partnership group as an independent community representative.