VAN Talks Podcast
Heading back to our roots and building on the work we undertook in the leadup to the 2023 Referendum, Victorian Aboriginal News (VAN) Talks focuses on the positivity that is Aboriginal Victoria. Covering everything from Voice, Treaty and Truth and Reconciliation through to Aboriginal businesses and Traditional Owner initiatives, the VAN Talks podcast is the only podcast that travels across the State to deliver interviews and stories that are the truth of Aboriginal Victoria.
Episodes
Groundbreaking research reveals a tenfold rise in online hate targeting First Nations people. Discover how digital algorithms fuel racism against Mob and what must be done to protect our community.
Are Reconciliation Action Plans still delivering for Mob? Eastern Maar leader Jason Mifsud explores why organisations must shift from symbolic gestures to structural accountability, embedded governance, and genuine self-determination.
Sixteen-year-old Lola Wood-Sharples speaks out on VAN Talks, calling for real accountability on Closing the Gap targets and demanding meaningful action over empty government promises.
We sit down with First Nations radio pioneer Uncle Joel Wright, discussing the past, present and future of Blak voices on Australian radio.
An acclaimed Victorian Aboriginal artist, Bayley Mifsud, discusses navigating major corporate collaborations while safeguarding cultural integrity. She highlights the vital importance of connection to Country, honouring Southeastern artistic identity, and inspiring the next generation to proudly celebrate First Nations cultural heritage everywhere.
First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria members Tarni Morris and Levi Power discuss how First Nations youth are stepping up to lead Victoria’s historic Treaty,
Uncle Ian Hamm joins VAN Talks to argue that true self-determination requires shifting from rights-based social policies to macro-economic participation and wealth independence.
Recently, having given a magnificent oration on SBS’s NITV, Uncle Richard Frankland goes even deeper into his five challenges for institutions, governments, and ourselves, as well as social engineering and the need to be free thinkers.
As VACCHO marks 30 years, CEO Aunty Jill Gallagher reflects on the early struggles, the power of community-led healthcare, and the non-negotiable right to self-determination.
Principal lawyer and founder of AMK Law, Matthew Karakoulakis, unpacks critical new updates to Australia’s Indigenous Procurement Policy (IPP). He looks past the percentages on paper to explore why true First Nations economic self-determination relies on 'effective control' and accountability.
This is an episode not to be missed. Yorta Yorta man and award-winning journalist, Daniel James, gives a one-on-one interview with VAN Talks to discuss the critical role of First Nations media. Discussing current threats to community and culture, and pleading for people to just be nicer to one another.
12 months after first speaking with Shelley Ware, one of Australia’s foremost First Nations education system reform advocates, we catch up again to talk about the future of Victoria’s education system in a post-Yoorrook era.
In an interview with Victorian Aboriginal News’ Charles Pakana, Settlers Council of Australia CEO Maria Dimopoulos reflects on her first 12 months in the role. She addresses a profound, 25-year oversight: the total absence of dialogue regarding what "settlement" truly means in the context of First Nations dispossession.
In this episode of VAN Talks, Rueben Berg is interviewed by our founder and host, Uncle Charles Pakana, for reflections on his time at the First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria, and, now that he is no longer a co-Chair at the Assembly, how he spends his time (did someone say "disk golf"?). Rueben also gives some thoughts and tips to local councils regarding their involvement with Traditional Owner groups.
In this special episode on VAN Talks, a podcast normally hosted by Uncle Charles Pakana, Karina Wells, Uncle Charles's daughter, takes to the mic to interview the face of VAN. Uncle Charles talks about the impact his mentors and the move to Naarm had on him, as well as what the future of VAN might look like.
VAN's Charles Pakana sits down the Taungurung woman Kaley Nicholson, CEO of the Federation of Victorian Traditional Owners Corporation, to discuss Native Title in the Victorian context
NITV General Manager, Dan Bourchier, discusses his vision for the future of NITV and advises both journalists and consumers of media on how to maintain a truth-focused perspective.
Meriki Onus and Djaran Murray-Jackson have recently been elected as Co-Chairs of Gellung Warl, the First People's Assembly of Victoria. In this episode of VAN Talks, Meriki and Djaran yarn about the future of Treaty in Victoria, showing that they've been listening to community and are ready to "hit the ground running" to " bring about tangible and immediate change".
In this episode of VAN Talks, Sheree Lowe explains the difference between a kinship carer and a traditional foster carer in the Western system. She also gives some great examples of how to embed Indigenous culture in children's lives.
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