Last month Joanne Willmot, our Practice Manager for Aboriginal Programs, travelled to Melbourne to deliver our two-day Cultural Fitness program to staff from Children’s Ground – a grassroots organisation creating radical change with Aboriginal people.
Little did she know, Pat Cash — philanthropist and tennis icon — would be there, visiting for a different reason.
After listening to Jo for a brief amount of time, Pat was keen to attend the training and was an active participant in the ‘challenging racism’ game and the ‘whities like us’ debrief discussions.
Pat’s genuine interest in wanting to know more about what is happening in Australia for our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and communities led to Pat requesting an interview with Jo.
This is what Pat had to say about his meeting with Jo:
“Recently I had the privilege to sit in and listen at a fascinating workshop lead by Jo Willmot. Jo is a facilitator at The Australian Institute of Social Relations and was named the South Australian NAIDOC Aboriginal Elder of the Year in 2016.
The workshop made me think and question what I knew about the present situation of first nation people. Luckily, I had the opportunity to speak further with Jo. During our conversation, I felt enlightened as well as saddened, uncomfortable, distressed and confused (I even got a bit of a telling off!).
This is not an easy interview to listen to but I believe it’s an important one. I hope you enjoy and learn as much as I did.”
To listen to the interview in full click here.
Our next Cultural Fitness training in Adelaide will be held on Wednesday 8 March and Thursday 9 March. To find out more click here.
We tailor our Cultural Fitness training to meet the needs of teams and organisations.
Call us on (08) 8245 8100 to discuss your training needs or visit our website for more information.
“Communities are filled with people of intelligence, aspiration and vision. The solution lies not in people’s despair but in backing their abilities and listening to their voice.”
Children’s Ground, Annual Report, 2014
