In this final episode, we explore what it means to be colonisers on colonised lands.

If we’re migrants from a colonising country like Japan, are our perspectives and connections to First Nations peoples different?

We hear from two Japanese Australians, whose ancestors were involved in the Pacific War.

How does carrying this personal history shape their sense of belonging? What can we all do to foster a more responsible or ethical sense of belonging?

Guests

Tofa Amanda Moors-Mailei is a Sāmoan educator, strategist and nationally recognised equity leader in Australian higher education. Her work includes shaping the UTS Humanitarian Scholarship Program, leading the design of the UTS Indigenous Outreach Strategy, advancing Pacific student success initiatives, and co-designing UTS’s first Women in IT Leadership Mentoring Program. Amanda is the Founder of the Australian Pasifika Educators Network, a founding member of the UTS Multicultural Women’s Network, and Executive Lead, Pacific for Equity Practitioners in Higher Education Australasia.

Fainu'ulelei Unasa Moors is Amanda’s father.

Mayu Kanamori is an independent artist working in Australia and Japan. She works across mediums including photography and performances to tell stories of Japanese experiences in Australia. She is a founding member of Nikkei Australia.

Mariko Smith (Yuin/Japanese) is Senior Specialist (Research & Publications) at the Australian Museum. Born in Sydney and growing up on the NSW Central Coast, her work explores Australian national history, historiographical practice, and the integration of Indigenous knowledge systems into museum and academic frameworks.

Benjamin Oh is a Malaysia-born, multilingual leader in human rights and community development. He works across faiths, cultures and communities to advance dignity, equality, justice and inclusion, bridging faith, multicultural engagement, while fostering dialogue, understanding, and belonging for diverse communities in Australia and internationally. Benjamin leads several LGBTIQA+, faith and multicultural organisations.

Mayu Kanamori’s Art Projects

Heart of the Journey Multimedia documentary about Lucy Dann’s journey to find her Japanese father.

In Repose Multi-arts project of dance, music, sound and ceremony visiting Japanese gravesites and cemeteries in Australia.

When You Call My Name Multi-arts project honouring the lives of 208 people who died while incarcerated as ‘Japanese enemy aliens’ during World War II.

Music

Koto music ‘Chinkon’ composed by Mark Isaacs; performed by Satsuki Odamura

Album: Pearl of May

Label: Tall Poppies Records

Tibetan Bells performed by Satsuki Odamura

Credits

This series was produced on the Lands of the Gadigal People, the Cammeraygal People, the Darug People, and the Guringai People.

Host: Elaine Laforteza

Producer: Masako Fukui

With the support of Jane Curtis, and Sarah Gilbert of UTS Impact Studios

Tile artwork by Alexandra Morris

This podcast was created by the UTS Multicultural Women’s Network and is part of the broader UTS Acknowledgment of Country in Our Languages project.

Saying an Acknowledgement in our mother languages inspires us to learn more about First Nations histories and cultures.

But many migrants and new settlers claim that they know little about First Nations ways of doing and being.

How can we work together to educate each other?

Guests

Nema Madnani is a higher education professional with experience in student equity, project co-ordination and community engagement. In her past roles, she contributed to initiatives focused on inclusion and reducing barriers within education. She cares deeply about staying connected to her cultural roots and family, and believes that honouring where we come from shapes how we show up for our communities.

Sukhmani Khorana is a Scientia Associate Professor at UNSW Sydney whose research focuses on media, migration, belonging, cultural politics, and food studies. Her work has been recognised through awards such as UOW’s Impact-Maker Award, the Faculty Arete Research Champion Award, and Western Sydney University’s Research Engagement Award. Khorana also collaborates with cultural and community organisations to translate academic research into public impact. She was one of the co-founders of ‘South Asians for Voice’.

Mariko Smith (Yuin/Japanese) is Senior Specialist (Research & Publications) at the Australian Museum. Born in Sydney and growing up on the NSW Central Coast, her work explores Australian national history, historiographical practice, and the integration of Indigenous knowledge systems into museum and academic frameworks.

Nik Armstrong is Assistant Principal of Marrickville West Primary School, responsible for coordinating Stage 3 and Aboriginal Education.

Ruth Bradfield-Ling is the Principal of Marrickville West Primary School. She has been Principal for more than 20 years.

Violet Laforteza Kennedy is Elaine’s Daughter

Evan Laforteza Kennedy is Elaine’s Son

Students at Marrickville West Primary School

Credits

This series was produced on the Lands of the Gadigal People, the Cammeraygal People, the Darug People, and the Guringai People.

Host: Elaine Laforteza

Producer: Masako Fukui

With the support of Jane Curtis, Sarah Gilbert of UTS Impact Studios.

How are languages that have been dormant being revived by First Nations peoples?

We hear from Dr Lachlan McDaniel and Professor Lindon Coombes of the Jumbanna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research at UTS about their personal journeys with language.

Are we making any progress in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander language revival?

And why is language revitalisation important to non-Indigenous Australians?

Guests

Lachlan McDaniel is a proud member of the Kalari Clan of the Wiradjuri Nation. He currently serves as Associate Dean of Research at the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research at UTS. His doctoral research examines the revitalisation of the Wiradjuri language and culture through community-driven initiatives reconnecting people to Country, tradition and identity.

Lindon Coombes is the Director of Research and an Industry Professor at the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research, UTS. With over 20 years’ experience in Aboriginal Affairs, he has held senior leadership roles across government, community organisations, and PwC’s Indigenous Consulting.

Alexandra Grey is a Chancellor's Research Fellow at UTS. She co-founded and co-runs the Law and Linguistics Interdisciplinary Research Network. Her research covers laws about minority, migrant and Indigenous languages in Chinese and Australian contexts, and the reception, impact and reform of those laws.

Violet Laforteza Kennedy is Elaine’s daughter.

References

Making linguistic diversity visible in parliament

Celebrating Indigenous linguistic diversity in Australia’s parliaments

Credits

This series was produced on the Lands of the Gadigal People, the Cammeraygal People, the Darug People, and the Guringai People.

Host: Elaine Laforteza

Producer: Masako Fukui

With the support of Jane Curtis, Sarah Gilbert of UTS Impact Studios

Tile artwork by Alexandra Morris

This podcast was created by the UTS Multicultural Women’s Network and is part of the broader UTS Acknowledgment of Country in Our Languages project.

How has English dominance marginalised First Nations knowledges?

We hear from Gudanji/Wakaja author and academic Dr Debra Dank about how Aboriginal people’s expressive practices and deep relationships to Country are being erased.

How can we learn to listen to Country, to the ‘non-human utterances’ of birds, the wind, the rain?

And how do we listen to Country with our whole bodies, not just our ears?

Can we discover our own embodied wisdom, and how does this relate to our sense of belonging on this continent?

Guests

Carmine Gentile is an Associate Professor (Faculty) within the School of Biomedical Engineering (Faculty of Engineering and IT) at the UTS. He leads the Cardiovascular Regeneration Group, working on 3D bioprinting and stem cell technologies both at the Heart Research Institute and UTS.

Debra Dank is a Gudanji/Wakaja and Kalkadoon woman from the Barkly Tablelands in the Northern Territory. Dr Debra Dank is an Enterprise Fellow with the University of South Australia.

For 40 years Deb has worked in various roles in primary, secondary, and tertiary education in Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia and the Northern Territory in urban and remote contexts.

She worked to establish the Indigenous Literacy Foundation which included extensive work with remote communities to develop a robust but flexible service delivery model that supported place-based, community-identified responses to literary needs in early childhood education, provision of appropriate literature for remote communities, and the production of reading material for English as a Second language contexts.

Reference: Terrraglossia is published by Echo Publishing.

Leah Subijano (she/her) is a Filipino-Australian, multidimensional soul, and a fierce advocate for racial justice and gender equality. She loves to deep dive into all things social justice, spirituality, and dismantling systems to birth a new Earth. Leah believes that drumming and dance are decolonising and embodiment tools that help people reconnect with themselves, their ancestral wisdom, community, and the natural world.

Odette Subijano is Leah’s mother.

Credits

This series was produced on the Lands of the Gadigal People, the Cammeraygal People, the Darug People, and the Guringai People.

Host: Elaine Laforteza

Producer: Masako Fukui

With the support of Jane Curtis and Sarah Gilbert of UTS Impact Studios

Tile artwork by Alexandra Morris

This podcast was created by the UTS Multicultural Women’s Network and is part of the broader UTS Acknowledgment of Country in Our Languages project.

What does embracing multilingualism sound like?

In this episode, we hear from two poets who challenge the dominance of English by creating bold, multilingual poetry.

How do these poets use language to disrupt, to heal, to remember, and to imagine a different, more ethical way of belonging in Australia?

Guests

Esita Sogotubu hails from Fiji and is the Employability Manager at UTS Careers. Her traditional roots are in Vunuku, Moala, Lau with maternal links to Nayavu, Wainibuka, Tailevu. She is a former international student who has over 15 years experience as a career development practitioner.

Nadia Niaz is the author of The Djinn Hunters and the founding editor of the Australian Multilingual Writing Project. Her work explores multilingual creative expression, translation, ‘belonging’ and relationships with place. She is a Lecturer in the Creative Writing Program at the University of Melbourne.

Anne Casey is originally from the west of Ireland and now living in Australia. She is the author of six poetry books. Her work is widely published and awarded internationally, ranking in The Irish Times’ Most Read. She has a PhD from UTS where she teaches creative writing.

Prankqueans are an ensemble of artists inspired by ancient Celtic mythology to celebrate all things female and Irish Australian.

Credits

This series was produced on the Lands of the Gadigal People, the Cammeraygal People, the Darug People, and the Guringai People.

Host: Elaine Laforteza

Producer: Masako Fukui

With the support of Jane Curtis, Sarah Gilbert of UTS Impact Studios

Tile artwork by Alexandra Morris.

This podcast was created by the UTS Multicultural Women’s Network and is part of the broader UTS Acknowledgment of Country in Our Languages project.

What happens when we say an Acknowledgement of Country in our mother languages?

Would it feel different? More meaningful?

Does it change the way we connect to First Nations peoples and cultures?

We discovered that a multilingual Acknowledgement opened a door to deeper, and sometimes difficult conversations about colonialism, race, and what it means to belong in Australia today.

Guests

Violet Laforteza Kennedy is Elaine’s Daughter.

Maria Eleanor Carbonell is Elaine’s Mother.

Nema Madnani is a higher education professional with experience in student equity, project co-ordination and community engagement. In her past roles, she contributed to initiatives focused on inclusion and reducing barriers within education. She cares deeply about staying connected to her cultural roots and family, and believes that honouring where we come from shapes how we show up for our communities.

Carmine Gentile is an Associate Professor (Faculty) within the School of Biomedical Engineering (Faculty of Engineering and IT) at UTS. He leads the Cardiovascular Regeneration Group, working on 3D bioprinting and stem cell technologies both at the Heart Research Institute and UTS.

Esita Sogotubu hails from Fiji and is the Employability Manager at UTS Careers. Her traditional roots are in Vunuku, Moala, Lau with maternal links to Nayavu, Wainibuka, Tailevu. She is a former international student who has over 15 years experience as a career development practitioner.

Students at Marrickville West Public School.

Aunty Glendra Stubbs is the Elder-in-Residence at UTS, and is a proud Wiradjuri woman who brings over 40 years of experience in providing cultural guidance, mentorship, and practical support to individuals.

Lachlan McDaniel is a proud member of the Kalari Clan of the Wiradjuri Nation. He currently serves as Associate Dean of Research at the Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research at UTS. His doctoral research examines the revitalisation of the Wiradjuri language and culture through community-driven initiatives reconnecting people to Country, tradition and identity.

Credits

This series was produced on the Lands of the Gadigal People, the Cammeraygal People, the Darug People, and the Guringai People.

1. Host: Elaine Laforteza
2. Producer: Masako Fukui
3. With the support of Jane Curtis, Sarah Gilbert of UTS Impact Studios
4. Artwork by Alexandra Morris

This podcast was created by the UTS Multicultural Women’s Network and is part of the broader UTS Acknowledgment of Country in Our Languages project.

Around 350 languages are spoken in homes across Australia, yet we see ourselves as an English-speaking country.

And we tend to understand Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and cultures primarily through English and Western concepts.

Let’s challenge this dominance of English.

My Language My Country is a six-part series that asks what changes when we approach Country through the many languages we speak.

1. Why is English dominance a problem?
2. How are cultural ideas and concepts embedded in language?
3. And what does embracing multilingualism look and sound like?
4. Why is it important for migrants and new settlers to support First Nations language revival?

We explore how people are engaging with First Nations ways of being, building solidarities, and imagining what ethical belonging might look like.

Credits

This series was produced on the Lands of the Gadigal People, the Cammeraygal People, the Darug People, and the Guringai People.

Hosted by Elaine Laforteza and created by the UTS Multicultural Women’s Network.

The producer is Masako Fukui.

This podcast is part of the broader UTS Acknowledgment of Country in Our Languages project, featuring an audio library of Acknowledgments in 40+ languages, as well as videos and stories highlighting why this practice matters.

My Language My Country is the first season of UTS Impact Studios’ Change the Story podcast.

Special thanks to An Le, Lucie Vayriot, Leah Subijano, Melissa May, Tiffany Dimmack, Claudia Taranto, And Jane Curtis, Sarah Gilbert of UTS Impact Studios. Artwork by Alexandra Morris.

Life’s Lottery is changing.

Change the Story is the next chapter - a podcast about what it takes to create real social change.

Where Life’s Lottery explored how inequality shapes our lives, Change the Story asks the next question: what are we doing about it?

Hosted by Amy Persson from the University of Technology Sydney, hear stories from people working to change systems from the ground up: community leaders, researchers, activists and practitioners.

Through short series and special conversations, you’ll hear big ideas, urgent debates, and practical examples of community-led solutions in action.

Coming soon

My Language My Country

Around 350 languages are spoken in Australian homes every day.

How can language reshape how we connect with Country and First Nations cultures?

Credits

Change the Story is produced by UTS Impact Studios, and is made on Gadigal Country in Sydney Australia.

Jeni Whalan hosts a discussion on the recent commitments from both NSW and Victoria to deliver a year of universal play-based learning for children in the year before they start school.

As well as transforming early childhood education, the goal is to build the sector workforce and further boost productivity by better supporting working parents.

Leslie Loble, the co-chair of the Council on Early Childhood Development and Amanda Robbins, Managing Director of Equity Economics, outline the significance of the announcement and what it’s going to take to deliver this ‘triple dividend’ over the next ten years.

New name

This podcast is now called Change the Story.

For more information about the original Life's Lottery season 2, see https://www.paulramsayfoundation.org.au/news-resources/lifes-lottery-backing-kids

Credits

Produced by UTS Impact Studios

1. Executive Producer: Olivia Rosenman
2. Audio Producer: Nicole Curby
3. Researcher/writer: Jackie May
4. Theme music and Sound Design: James Milsom
5. Graphic design: Celia Neilson

In this bonus episode, hosts Jeni Whalan and Glyn Davis examine the insights gained across this season of conversations about putting children at the centre of good public policy.

They discuss the frustrating gap between knowledge and action when it comes to shifting the dial towards more positive outcomes for all kids.

Without political leadership, meaningful consultation and targeted, place-based responses, many well-intentioned measures fail to make an impact. So is there now enough momentum to bring about real change?

We also hear from young people from the Northern Rivers region of NSW who, on top of pandemic disruptions, have also had to cope with devastating floods.

Mullumbimby’s Spaghetti Circus, an arts and community engagement organisation, was inundated with water and mud. Members of the Circus community lost their homes, schools and businesses. Performers, Ellen, Maxine, Malaika and Laima share their hopes and fears for the future.

New name

This podcast is now called Change the Story.

For more information about the original Life's Lottery season 2, see https://www.paulramsayfoundation.org.au/news-resources/lifes-lottery-backing-kids

Credits

Produced by UTS Impact Studios

1. Executive Producer: Olivia Rosenman
2. Audio Producer: Nicole Curby
3. Researcher/writer: Jackie May
4. Theme music and Sound Design: James Milsom
5. Graphic design: Celia Neilson

‘Never again’ were words that echoed around the world in the wake of the second world war.

Organisations were formed with the explicit aim of respecting and promoting international cooperation, aid and development. Only a few decades later, we have seen the first increase in poverty for a generation. Why?

And why does inequality, conflict, and the impact of natural disasters still have such a disproportionate impact on children, especially those forced to leave the countries they call home?

Kevin Watkins has spent his career speaking up for marginalised people in some of the world’s poorest countries.

As a former CEO of Save the Children UK, and now as a visiting professor at the London School of Economics, he gives a scathing assessment of global leadership and calls for a return to the ideals of mutual responsibility to deliver a better and more sustainable future. But there’s also cause for hope as young people find their voice, organise across borders, and speak truth to power in greater numbers.

In an excerpt from The Wait podcast, we also hear what it's like for child refugees like Marzia Yosufi and Sara Rezaei.

Now young women, they have spent years marking time in Indonesia, waiting for a chance to be resettled and to be able to continue their education, and their childhood. This excerpt contains references to suicide, so please listen with care.

With thanks to: Kevin Watkins, Marzia Yosufi, Sara Rezaei.

New name

This podcast is now called Change the Story.

For more information about the original Life's Lottery season 2, see https://www.paulramsayfoundation.org.au/news-resources/lifes-lottery-backing-kids

Credits

Produced by UTS Impact Studios

1. Executive Producer: Olivia Rosenman
2. Audio Producer: Nicole Curby
3. Researcher/writer: Jackie May
4. Theme music and Sound Design: James Milsom
5. Graphic design: Celia Neilson