Episode 02.2021: In Conversation with Mililma May of the Larrakia People

Mililma May, Larrakia activist, artist, writer and a trailblazer for Aboriginal law students and young people, she joins Dr Virginia Marshall to yarn about what ‘being on Country’ means to her, how we can decolonise our thinking, the importance of healing and truth telling, the NT Youth Justice Legislation Amendment Bill, and, fighting for justice.

Mililma May is a staunch Larrakia woman working on Country with the Northern Australian Aboriginal Justice Agency (NAAJA). Ms May had spent 18 months with Gilbert + Tobin within the Sydney Office, before becoming the first legal cadet to work on Country. As part of the cadetship she studies with Charles Darwin University and works with NAAJA delivering Community Legal Education across the Top End.

In addition, Mililma is a co-founder of Uprising of the People, a Darwin based-grassroots organisation that leads protests, empowers the community and stands up against injustices in the Northern Territory.

Ms May is an activist, artist, writer and a trailblazer for First Nations lawyers and young people.

Dr Virginia Marshall is a Wiradjuri Nyemba woman, practicing lawyer and legal scholar. She is the Inaugural Indigenous Postdoctoral Fellow with the Australian National University's School of Regulation and Global Governance (RegNet) and the Fenner School of Environment and Society.

In this position, Virginia is focused on leading law reform for Indigenous peoples in Australia, by critically anaylsing international Indigenous water use, to develop Indigenous cuturally appropriate mechanisms for national water frameworks and ethical water use within domestic water regimes.

Virginia is in demand as a Keynote Speaker on Indigenous water law and governance, Indigenous traditional knowledge systems and the intersectionality of western intellectual property regimes and the Indigenous commercialisation of native foods and medicines.

Virginia is a Research Associate with the Australian Studies Institute, as well as member of the Institute's Advisory Board.

Produced on Ngunnawal Ngambri Country by Dr Virginia Marshall and the ANU Media Studio, in partnership with the Australian Studies Institute at the Australian National University in Canberra.

For more episodes see Yindyamarra: In conversation with Dr Virginia Marshall