The first part of the awards took place with the Sunset Ceremony outside the Opera House, which celebrated the best fashion designers, artists and journalists. Also awarded was an Employment category, which was won by Redfern organisation Koori Job Ready, for helping young Aboriginal people receive training and gain employment in construction and hospitality.
The second part of the ceremony in the Opera House Concert Hall started with a tribute to late Yothu Yindi lead singer, Dr Yunupingu, by musicians close to the band including Paul Kelly, as well as members of Dr Yunupingu’s family who played together a moving rendition of Yothu Yindi’s “Mainstream”. An homage was paid to veteran actor Steve Dodd who received a standing ovation as he walked up on stage to accept the Jimmy Little Lifetime Achievement award. The Deadly’s organisers introduced Dodd as “an actor that created a pathway for others across the entire arts and music sectors … at a time when typecasting, stereotypes and discrimination was the ‘norm’ in Australia’s arts industry”.
In the music category, young pop artist Jessica Mauboy was the big winner of the evening with two awards, one for her single “Something’s Got A Hold Of Me” and the second for Best Female Artist, while country musician Troy Cassar-Daley won Best Male Artist. Musician and singer Archie Roach also won two awards, with Album of the Year, as well as the award for Lifetime Contribution to Healing the Stolen Generations, which he accepted with great emotion. His song “Took The Children Away” raised awareness in the early 90s on the Stolen Generations “at a time when no one was listening”, said the organisers. Roach himself was forcibly removed from his family when he was three years old and never saw his parents again. After talking about the song and thanking the audience, he simply added: “I’m just one of the stolen kids, you know. I’m a stolen kid come good.”
Also notable was the recognition of retired NSW magistrate Pat O’Shane’s work for Indigenous rights and being “a genuine and inspiring role model for others”, with the Marcia Langton Lifetime Achievement award: Ms O’Shane became the first Aboriginal person and the first woman to head a ministry when she was appointed Minister of Aboriginal Affairs in 1981. Ms O’Shane stressed the importance of acknowledging elders and their achievements: “We do stand on the shoulders of those who were before us.” She added: “I want you all to remember that we are as good as anyone else, we can achieve everything that anyone else can achieve!”
The winners in the Sports category were Jonathan Thurston, who won the gong for NRL Player of the Year, and Sydney Swans’ Adam Goodes for AFL Player of the Year. Goodes also took out the Ella Lifetime Achievement award for campaigning against racism.
The award for Education, for which the Redfern organisation AIME and its founder Jack Manning-Bancroft were nominated, was given to Deadly Sista Girlz and the David Wirrpanda Foundation for their work with young Aboriginal girls.
The ABC’s hit series Redfern Now, whose second season premieres on October 31, was well represented with Deborah Mailman winning the award for Best Actress. Mailman thanked the crowd via a video as she was unable to attend the ceremony. Fellow Redfern Now star and co-host of the Deadlys, Luke Carroll, won Best Actor. The series also won the award for Best TV Show. It was no surprise when the award for Best Movie was handed to the critically acclaimed and commercial hit The Sapphires. Actress Miranda Tapsell, who played one of the singers, applauded the fact that the success of the movie helped bring the four real-life Sapphires and their extraordinary story into the mainstream. She became quite emotional as she concluded: “We are no longer the ghost of this nation’s past, we are its heartbeat!”
