Wentworth Lecture
AIATSIS established the Wentworth Lecture in 1978 to honour the contribution of the Hon W.C. Wentworth AO to the Institute’s establishment and development.
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The 2008 Wentworth Lecture will be presented by AIATSIS Council member, Terri Janke, on Friday 22 August in the Stanner Room, AIATSIS at 12:45 - 2:00 pm
In the past 20 years Indigenous Australians have called for greater recognition of Indigenous cultural and intellectual property rights. The intellectual property system does not acknowledge Indigenous communal ownership of cultural expressions and knowledge passed down through the generations, and nurtured by Indigenous cultural practice. Sacred knowledge is also at risk.
One hundred and fifteen legislative and policy recommendations were made in Terri Janke’s 1999 report — Our Culture: Our Future — report on Australian Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property Rights. Yet, Indigenous cultural and intellectual property rights remain largely unprotected in Australia, and a hotly debated international issue. Now is the time for us to reassess the current framework.
This lecture will sketch out the ground gathered by Indigenous copyright cases and examine international model laws and draft provisions. Ms Janke argues for greater infrastructure to support and defend Indigenous cultural and intellectual property rights. Her vision is for a National Indigenous Cultural Authority to facilitate consent and payment of royalties; to develop standards of appropriate use to guard cultural integrity, and to enforce rights.
Past Wentworth Lectures have been given by:
- Dr Rhys Jones (1978)
- Ms Margaret Valadian (1980)
- Professor R M Berndt (1982)
- Dr L R Hiatt (1984)
- Professor DJ Mulvaney (1986)
- Mr Ken Colbung (1988)
- Dr Nicolas Peterson (1990)
- Ms Marcia Langton (1992)
- Mr Michael Dodson (1994)
- Justice Robert French (1996)
- Ms Raymattja Marika-Mununggiritj (1998)
- Mr Patrick Dodson (2000)
- Dr Peter Sutton (2002) and
- Professor Martin Nakata (2004)
- Emer. Professor Robert Tonkinson (2006)
View our online exhibition of all past Wentworth lectures