Many of WA’s First Nations languages are at risk of becoming extinct if State Government legislation is not introduced to protect them, according to the chief executive of a Goldfields language organisation.
This week the Goldfields Aboriginal Language Centre launched its WA Aboriginal Languages Legislation Alliance in line with NAIDOC Week.
The campaign calls for WA’s First Nations languages to be protected under State legislation to ensure the culture, information and knowledge they contain is not lost.
GALC chief executive Sue Hanson said the centre hoped to bring the need for such legislation to the attention of the WA Premier, Members of Parliament and policy makers.
Ms Hanson said First Nations languages remain unrecognised and unsupported by State policy or legislation.
“First Nations languages are living libraries, they’re treasures, they’re full of information and knowledge,” she said.
“Every language carries a wealth of knowledge and information and if you lose that knowledge, it’s gone forever.
“We are at a very critical phase; the next 10 to 20 years will see a very drastic loss of language if we don’t take very serious steps now.”
The call for State legislation was sparked during GALC’s inaugural Wangka Kanyilku, Wangkawa Language Conference last October.
The GALC said First Nations language speakers, workers and linguists at the conference called on the State Government to enact protective legislation similar to NSW’s Aboriginal Languages Act 2017.
Among them was conference keynote speaker and Yawuru Elder Professor Peter Yu.
“Language was, and always will be, about politics and power,” he said.
“Preserving language sustains the integrity of our native title rights and interests.”
The call for legislation includes the establishment of a WA Aboriginal languages Trust which recognises First Nations languages as official languages of the State and the development of a 10-year strategic plan.
Organisations are invited to support the campaign.
Ms Hanson said the centre had received positive interest since launching the campaign on Monday.
“We’ve had letters and emails of congratulations from a number of organisations and people saying ‘we’ve been waiting for this’,” she said.
“For the next six months we invite organisations to ally with the campaign and … (raise) awareness with the public that our First Nations languages are not recognised and not protected.”
Ms Hanson said the centre aimed to start a funding campaign to engage a writer who would draft legislation and a background paper for presentation to the State Government.
She said the campaign directly addressed Closing the Gap priority reforms.
“The best way to Close the Gap is to start at the highest level, to start at legislative level; running small projects on the ground will not make large systemic change,” she said.
“In WA, we’re still not recognising language and culture … this is one of the most achievable and critical things that can bring about positive change in Closing the Gap.”
More information on the WAALLA campaign can be found on the Goldfields Aboriginal Language Centre’s website.