Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural heritage and history provides our country with the opportunity to develop the foundations for a shared national identity we can all be proud of. Why aren’t we there yet? What needs to change for us to meaningfully respect and value Indigenous peoples and our heritage? This lecture will explore these issues from the viewpoint of an Indigenous archaeologist.

Dave Johnston is one of the first Indigenous Australians to gain a degree in archaeology—graduating with honours from ANU in 1989. He later completed a Master's degree in London. As a professional archaeologist, Dave has completed over 2000 Indigenous archaeological projects around the country. A passionate advocate for conserving Australia’s Aboriginal heritage, Dave was actively involved in the development and adoption of a Code of Ethics for the World Archaeological Congress. He also drove the adoption of a Code of Ethics by the Australian Archaeological Association in 1990–91 and was the founding Chair for the Indigenous Archaeologists Association. He assisted with the Commonwealth Governments' guidelines for Indigenous heritage: ‘Ask First: A guide to respecting Indigenous Heritage Places and Values’. Dave Johnston was a member of the Australian Government’s Indigenous Advisory Committee from 2006–2014. He holds positions on the AIATSIS Research Ethics Committee and the Canberra Museum and Gallery. In 2014 Dave Johnston was the recipient of the Australian Governments’ Sharon Sullivan National Heritage Award ‘for his outstanding contribution to the Australian Indigenous heritage environment and his continued influence on practice’.

Dave Johnson’s lecture is the keynote address for The Gift of Stone: Heritage and Futures. A workshop on stone artefact collections, 26-27 April 2018, being hosted by the ANU as part of the ARC Linkage project ‘The relational museum and its objects: engaging Indigenous Australian communities with their distributed collections.’ This workshop has been supported by a grant from CASS.