The Aunty Pamela Mam Oration; held annually by the Institute for Urban Indigenous Health in partnership with the UQ Poche Centre for Indigenous Health, is a ceremonial act of honouring Aunty Pamela's legacy and all that she taught us. 

The theme of the 2022 Aunty Pamela Mam Oration is Our Voice – Our Governance: Action on Our Terms of Reference.  

Join us as we reflect on not only our learnings from Aunty Pam but the socio-political factors our communities and organisations in South East Queensland will need to consider with the move to embed a Voice to Parliament.  

Our Voice – Our Governance: Action on Our Terms of Reference

Nearly 50 years ago, Community Control Organisations of South East Queensland were birthed in a climate of inequity and a failure of the Government of the day to act. Under the leadership of Aunty Pamela Mam; and other notable Community Members, a political mobilisation occurred to disrupt the status quo and ensure the voices of our people were heard.

But in the succeeding years, have we become accustomed to being service providers rather than governors of our own circumstances?

Orator - Profession Megan Davis

Our Orator for this years event is Professor Megan Davis; a Cobble Cobble Woman of the Barrungam nation.

Prof. Davis is the Pro Vice-Chancellor Society (PVCS) at UNSW Sydney. Professor Davis is also the Balnaves Chair of Constitutional Law, a Professor of Law and Director of the Indigenous Law Centre UNSW Law.

She is a renowned constitutional lawyer and public law expert, focusing on the human rights of First Nations peoples. She has been a leading lawyer on constitutional reform for the recognition of First Nations rights for two decades and has led the Uluru Statement from the Heart work for the past five years. She was a Commissioner on the QLD Commission of Inquiry into Youth Detention Centres in 2016 and was the Chair and author of ‘Family is Culture’, an inquiry into NSW Aboriginal Out of Home care (2017-2019).

She is a globally recognised expert in Indigenous rights and was elected by the UN Human Rights Council to the United Nations Expert Mechanism on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples based in Geneva in 2017 and again in 2019 (2019-2022) and was previously elected by the Economic and Social Council in New York serving for six years as an expert member and Chair of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues, UN Headquarters in New York (2011-2016).

Prof Davis is an Acting Commissioner of the NSW Land and Environment Court, a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law, and a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Social Sciences. She is a Commissioner on the Australian Rugby League Commission, a director on the Cowboys Community Foundation Board, a Commissioner for Western Australia Rugby League Commission and director on the International Rugby League board.