S06-E02: Bringing First Nations knowledge systems into a Euro-centric tertiary educational system

Send us Fan MailVAN's Reconciliation Lead, Professor Andrew Gunstone, speaks with Charles about his key observations made during the 2026 National RAP Conference held in Adelaide. Among them, the need for RAP organisations to be more public in their RAP progress reporting, and real commitments to truth-telling.

Send us Fan MailWe meet up with Aunty Esme Bamblett and Uncle Michael "Mookeye" Bell, two member of Gellung Warl who have been at the lead of developing the organisation's mission-critical community accountability and answerability framework.

Send us Fan MailVAN's Charles Pakana meets up with DJAARA (representing Dja Dja Wurrung peoples) CEO, Cassandra Lewis and explores clear examples of how the broader Bendigo community and environment are benefiting from traditional cultural knowledges.

Send us Fan MailThe yearning to learn how to play the yidaki came to Ganga Giri in a dream when you was a young fella. Now, 35 years later, he's learnt how to play from the traditional custodians of the instrument and taken the beauty of its "grounding" music around the world. He joins up to discuss this with VAN's Charles Pakana.

Send us Fan MailThe United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) is greatly misunderstood - if even heard of - within society. We kick off a series of discussions about this critical document with the CEO of the Federation of Victorian Traditional Owners Corporation, Kaley Nicholson

Send us Fan MailJoining Charles Pakana on the podcast is Gunditjmara man Uncle Mark Rose, the inaugural First Nations Commissioner of the Australian Tertiary Education Commission. For decades, he has challenged Australian academia to recognise Indigenous knowledge systems as a foundational intellectual architecture that must sit at the very centre of our national education research. 

Send us Fan MailVAN Talks welcomes reconciliation activist Ruth Yeatman, who talks about championing reconciliation in one of Victoria's highs recorded "No" vote regions.

Send us Fan MailVAN's Charles Pakana catches up with Wurundjeri Elder and lore man Uncle Bill Nicholson to discuss the use - and often ofter use - of the Acknowledgement of Country. (A full transcript is available on the VAN website - www.vicaboriginalnews.com.au)

Send us Fan MailFilmmaker Rachel Perkins unpacks Australia’s brutal frontier wars, revealing how a foundational conflict over land and resources shaped the nation. She discusses historical archives, government complicity, and the path toward national truth-telling.

Send us Fan MailCultural educator Thane Garvey explores the complexities of shared Australian culture, addressing non-Indigenous fears, the importance of respectful engagement, and the vital role of education in preserving First Nations heritage.