Since the announcement of the new Albanese cabinet in June this year, distinguished Professor Tom Calma is feeling very positive about the future for First Nations people.
“We have quite a number of mixed cultures now going to be on the front bench, as well as the number of women," he said.
“It’s great to see people like Linda Burney get up as the first female Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs.”
The former Co-Chair for the Senior Advisory Group on the Indigenous ‘Voice to Government’ has participated in numerous political proceedings throughout his storied career.
From working in foreign diplomacy, to advising a former minister, to holding dual portfolios with the Australian Human Rights Commission, Tom Calma has dedicated his life to advancing the rights of Indigenous people.
It has been a long and often difficult journey, but one the Kungarakan and Iwaidja man has been determined to undertake with empathy and compassion.
He spoke recently to Living Black about his inspirations, achievements, and moving forward as the nation looks towards a referendum on the Voice to Parliament.
Professor Tom Calma AO speaking with Journalist Karla Grant on 'Living Black' (Source: Living Black)
A wonderful upbringing
Growing up near his mother’s Country, on the outskirts of Darwin, Professor Calma experienced an idealistic childhood.
“We spent a lot of time with my grandmother and other relatives down there,” he said.
“That was about skill, hunting on Country. We were able to really enjoy living off the land.”
Being surrounded by family and the freedom to explore and connect to culture was something he didn’t take for granted.
“It’s a grounding, it’s the understanding of who you are, your relationship with the land, and that’s why I really value that.”
It wasn’t until later in life, after the passing of his father, that he discovered the significant financial strain his parents had been labouring under.
Tom, sister Lenore and Mother, Ada on Kungarakan country circa 1955 (Source: Supplied)
The family’s old chequebook revealed their account balance was always at zero.
“I really [was] always astounded how poor we were because it wasn’t really evident. You know, the sort of struggles that happen as adults that you as children don’t realise,” he said.
This discovery taught Calma an important life lesson: “that you shouldn’t necessarily judge everything on face value but try and get a bit of understanding and appreciation and have a bit of empathy for other people."
“That sort of thing has prevailed throughout my life.”
Professor Tom Calma's parents; Tom Calma Senior and Ada Calma in 1979 (Source: Supplied)
The glass ceiling
While in Darwin, a chance meeting at a community gathering led Calma towards an academic career.
In the early 1980s, he was appointed Program Coordinator and Senior Lecturer at Darwin Community College, working on a higher education course that was aimed at bringing an Aboriginal perspective to Aboriginal studies.
It was his hope that the program would demonstrate, “that many people can achieve if they're given the opportunity.”
The program quickly expanded into a Department which offered five full-time courses and had close to 300 students enrolled.
Following this success, he received an Aboriginal Overseas Study Award and spent time researching overseas, before eventually being appointed as a Diplomat, stationed in both India and Vietnam.
Tom Calma working in the Northern Territory during the 1980's (Source: Supplied)
It was a life-changing experience for Calma, but one that was hindered by what he has described as a ‘glass ceiling’ for Indigenous people.
“There’s attitudes, I think, within foreign affairs,” he said.
“Their frame of reference was their peers that they’d always grown up with, and they hadn’t seen Aboriginal people being able to excel.”
Upon returning to Australia, he accepted a position as Senior Adviser to the then-Minister for Indigenous Affairs, Philip Ruddock.
Accompanying the Minister on his trips into community proved to be a “very revealing” experience.
“We get into the community, you see a different perspective of the minister,” Professor Calma reflects, “and he was almost universally liked by people.”
The two men have maintained a relationship to the present day.
Tom Calma in his time as a Senior Adviser to Indigenous Affairs Minister Philip Ruddock, 2003. (Source: AAP - Alan Porritt) Source: AAP
Closing the Gap
Professor Calma began working with the Australian Human Rights Commission in 2004, both as the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner and the Racial Discrimination Commissioner.
His tenure saw him faced with pressures from the emerging far-right, as well as the highly controversial Northern Territory Intervention, introduced by the Howard government in 2007.
“They're just massive numbers of things happening at the same time,” he said.
“It used to irk me … when you’d see these young, half-tanked whitefullas going, ‘Go back to where you came from,’ and I said, ‘Friend, just have a look in the mirror'.
"'If you’re not an Indigenous Australian, you’ve come here from somewhere. So, let’s not just go and suggest that somebody who’s a new entrant is any less valued than somebody who is an old entrant.’”
It was during this time that Calma released the Social Justice Report, which would lay the foundation for the Close the Gap campaign.
“The 2005 report, I think, was really one of my legacies, because it was all about saying … let’s look at health as a right, that everybody should be entitled to enjoy.”
Professor Tom Calma is a strong advocate to Close The Gap for Indigenous Australians (Source: University of Canberra)
“We were dying 17 years younger than the rest of the population. Why should that be? We live in a very rich country.”
Despite several changes in government over the past decade, resulting in a lack of consistent policy, Professor Calma believes we are gradually seeing some improvements in health targets for First Nations people.
“If we can get governments to stay focused, we will see the changes,” he affirms.
Constitutional reform and a Voice to Parliament
A Voice to Parliament was at the heart of the Labor Party’s campaign for the 2022 Federal Election, and the new Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has pledged a constitutional referendum.
When asked if his work towards a Voice to Government with the Senior Advisory Group could now be construed as a wasted effort, Professor Calma was quick to refute.
“Don’t throw the baby out with the bathwater, recognise that a lot of work’s gone [before],” he said.
In his role as Co-Chair, Professor Calma spent time consulting with grassroots community groups, which he sees as an integral part of the co-design process.
“Throughout the consultations, it was very clear from people they wanted something to happen now. They wanted it to happen on the ground, and they wanted to be inclusive.”
“Co-design is about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people working with government on major reforms but also making sure that we’re in the box seat.
"We’re driving the process and being supported by the bureaucrats.”
Although he would, in theory, support a referendum, he is also wary about how that may look and wants to ensure that it is done the right way, in consultation with communities.
“A referendum? That’s fine to have it, as long as we know what the question is in the referendum,” he said.
Professor Tom Calma speaking with Karla Grant on 'Living Black' (Source: Living Black)
“My concern is that if we go in not fully prepared … we lose all opportunity for a voice, and all opportunity to develop the work that’s been called for.”
While he remains cautious about the referendum, Professor Calma looks toward the future with a great amount of optimism for First Nations people.
“You look at all the professions, you look at the university graduates,” he said with a smile.
“We’re making it.”
You can hear more from Professor Tom Calma on Living Black, tonight at 8:30pm on NITV or catch up on SBS On Demand.
