Tag: community storytelling

Kiama’s museum shows what truth telling looks like

Kiama’s Pilot’s Cottage Museum has been recognised on the state stage, collecting a Highly Commended award at the Museums and Galleries of NSW Imagine Awards this week. It is an achievement that says a great deal about the calibre of work quietly happening in this town.

Out of 114 entries, only 28 awards were given. Major institutions with full time staff, curators and budgets many times larger than Kiama’s, including the Australian Museum, the National Maritime Museum, Powerhouse and UNSW, walked away empty handed. Kiama Historical Society was the only organisation across the Illawarra, Shoalhaven and South Coast to receive an award.

The prize acknowledged the museum’s transformed Aboriginal history displays, a project developed in partnership with respected Wodi Wodi Elder Dr Aunty Joyce Donovan. Over the past year, the Society has rethought the entire museum through a simple question, whose history is missing?

The answer reshaped everything.

A volunteer team quadrupled the space dedicated to Aboriginal stories and placed them at the centre rather than the margins. The result is far more than an updated display. It is a shift in how Kiama tells its past, moving away from a settler only lens and towards a shared story that invites honesty, awareness and reconciliation.

When I sat down with Tony Gilmour, he described the outcome as a “living museum”. Stories are not fixed behind glass. They are open to the ongoing knowledge, guidance and correction of Aboriginal people. Visitors are encouraged to see the whole landscape of Kiama, from long before colonisation through to the present, as one continuous story.

It matters. It shows what can happen when a community organisation chooses curiosity over defensiveness, partnership over tokenism, and truth over comfort. It also shows what happens when volunteers believe in the work enough to carry it through.

In a year where heritage debates have become louder and more divisive, Kiama has been recognised for doing something far more generous. Listening. Learning. And making room.

An award was not the goal, yet it confirms what many already know. Good things grow here when people work together.

#KiamaPilotsCottageMuseum #Aboriginalhistory #ImagineAwards2025, #KiamaHistoricalSociety #Communityleadchange #TruthTelling, #LivingMuseum #Illawarraheritage #SouthCoaststories, #ListeningLearningMakingRoom #Sharedhistory #Volunteerpower #Culturalrecognition #NSWmuseums

The best journalism isn’t national – it’s local, and it’s written by people who live the story

I subscribe to The Guardian and the Sydney Morning Herald, and like many Australians I also read The Conversation and ABC online content . On paper, that should feel like a rich, informed mix. Instead, these days, it feels like hard work.

I am worn down by the relentless presence of Donald Trump. What a dreadful individual. Why does the world keep giving him so much oxygen. There are real crises unfolding across the globe, yet the headlines keep circling back to the same man as if nothing else deserves attention. It is exhausting, and it has very little to do with journalism and everything to do with spectacle.

Then there is the cost of living. Every day brings another headline about strain, pressure, hardship. We know. We live it. What is missing are the solutions. Journalism should help us understand the world, and understanding has to include ideas worth trying, not a daily loop of despair.

And what can Australians say about the Liberal Party and the National Party. They have become the comic relief in their own narrative. The Sydney Morning Herald faithfully reminds us of this almost every day, sometimes in pieces so long  (TL:DR) that you lose the argument halfway through and wonder why none of it lands anymore.

It does not have to be like this. Jenna Price manages to write with impact and precision, without burying her message beneath unnecessary weight. Clarity is still possible. Good journalism is still possible.

And here is the moment of honesty. When I log into my Guardian subscription now, I often log out again almost immediately. It feels tired. It feels like a lecture I did not ask for. In contrast, every time I open The Conversation, I feel grateful. The arguments are grounded in science. The writing respects we want the science presented in a language we all understand.  The tone respects its readers. It gives you space to think. It remembers why journalism matters.

Maybe this is the moment to ask for better. Journalism that expands the world instead of shrinking it. Journalism that tells the truth without drowning us in noise. Journalism that treats readers as citizens, not consumers.

#Media #AusPol #Journalism #NewsFatigue #QualityMedia #GuardianAus #SMH #ABCNews #TheConversation #MediaReform #NewsCulture #AustralianPolitics #PublicInterest #MediaAccountability #TLDR

Finding My Voice on as Lifelong Journey to Share My Values and Drive Change

I don’t hold a degree in journalism, and while I scored in the top 1% for English in the HSC, I’ve never considered that achievement a defining marker of my career. At best, it was proof that, for one brief moment, I could meet an examiner’s expectations. Oddly enough, instead of following that path, I chose a science-based degree at university. Now, as a person in their  sixties, I find myself reconnecting with the part of me that existed at 18, that young person who had a drive to express their values, communicate clearly, and—hopefully—contribute to meaningful change.

At this stage in life, I’ve traded in traditional credentials for something I value even more: a clear voice, a passion for justice, and a commitment to my community. I am not a journalist, but I have a desire to use whatever tools I can to amplify voices and perspectives often overshadowed or misunderstood. This journey has brought me back to writing, not as a career milestone but as a path to share thoughts and advocate for change.

In a way, my lack of a traditional journalism background feels like a strength. I’m not confined by rigid structures or prescribed formulas; instead, I can engage directly with issues that matter to me, particularly those around social justice, environmental advocacy, and community-building. Every article or post I create is an opportunity to speak authentically, reaching others who may feel the same pull toward positive change.

In essence, I consider myself a “values-based communicator.” This title resonates with my desire to express principles that matter, to bridge divides, and to build a more understanding world. It’s not about the credentials I lack; it’s about the passion and purpose I bring to my words. I hope that sharing these thoughts will inspire others who, like me, feel called to use their voice—even if they, too, don’t quite fit the traditional mould.

#ValuesBasedWriting #CommunityStorytelling #AdvocacyWriting #FindingMyVoice #DrivingChange #PassionForJustice #ExpressingValues #LifelongLearning #AuthenticCommunication #PositiveChange #StorytellingForGood