Aboriginal people have been maintaining, enhancing and sharing their unique culture for thousands of generations. This has always been governed through a wide range of protocols for ways to do cultural business through the guidance and direction from those with cultural authority such as Elders, cultural knowledge holders and keepers. This resulted in the longest living and continuous cultures in the world, a fact that is widely celebrated today.

Today, Aboriginal artists and cultural practitioners continue that important role in maintaining, enhancing and transmitting culture as they seek to develop their own practice and find inspiration through their culture and environment. However, these artists and cultural practitioners must now navigate a variety of issues and new environments that impact on not only their abilities but the need to ensure that this work continues with strong foundations of cultural authority, agency and relevance for Aboriginal communities.

This means that we need to continue to work out the right way for cultural business in our contemporary society by championing Aboriginal self-determination in the cultural space. It means that the rights of Aboriginal people need to be understood in developing and sharing cultural work and then acted on. Questions such as why we are doing this work and who will benefit from it need to be asked and answered.

Through this direction, we can ensure that the NSW Aboriginal cultural sector will continue to grow and thrive built on the foundations of authority, agency and relevance.

Create NSW acknowledges that it must play a strong role in supporting the right way for cultural business and has worked with the NSW Aboriginal cultural sector to develop these NSW Aboriginal arts and cultural
protocols.

Download the Aboriginal Arts and Culture Protocols

Image: Warruwl (detail) by Lucy Simpson.