Cultural representative & Traditional Custodian, Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council

Michael is a member, cultural representative & Traditional Custodian with fellow Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council members, being responsible for the Land, Air, Water, History, Traditions and Culture within our boundaries.

He is a member of the Stolen Generations, an Aboriginal man of the Gamilaroi Nation and was born, raised and has lived his whole life in Sydney.

Michael is proud to be part of the oldest living Civilisation, encompassing History, Knowledge, Ceremony, Traditions and Culture practiced for more than 65,000 years.
Everyone should learn about their own History, Traditions and Culture.

Understanding and appreciation of diversity, gives greater insight into humanity and oneself.

Embracing diversity, brings greater opportunities both here in Australia and throughout the world, and can only be achieved through culturally respectful collaboration.

Really putting things in perspective in 2010, was participating as one of the members of Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council in a Repatriation Ceremony of Ancestral remains “Stolen” 120 and 140 years ago taken to Europe and England.

Helping their spirit achieve rest by returning them to their ancestral country in Sydney was an affirmation that all Australians need to understand and respect our shared history, if we are to grow as a nation and the individual.

Michael sees himself as an educator sharing stories spaning from contemporary urban based Artist to cultural representative with Metropolitan Local Aboriginal Land Council.

Burning and creating “Message Sticks” is practicing my culture and they are used for symbolism, marking points in the continuum and the education of people about history and Aboriginal perspectives.

Fifty (50) Message Sticks have been created some have been, Federal Circuit Court in collaboration with Grandmothers Against Removals, Invictus Games, Paralympics 2016, NSW Health Chronic Care, NSW Health Oral Health and as educational tools in his cross cultural education on Diversity, Family, Health, Housing, Law, Employment and Education.

The Federal Circuit Court and Grandmothers Against Removals Message Stick has words and symbols as a catalyst for honest tough conversations, it is in the shape of a boomerang representing children returning to Country, Culture and Community.

Everyone has an intrinsic value, it’s upon us, the individuals, the communities and society to support and develop capabilities to enable the achievement of dreams and aspirations.
Michael has had a variety of current and previous roles

• Director – NSW Indigenous Chamber of Commerce
• Director – Australian Communications Consumer Action Network (ACCAN)
• Co-Chair – National Sorry Day Committee
• Delegate – National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples
• Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Advisory Committee to the Board of Headspace
• Aboriginal & Torres Strait Islander Advisory Group Australian Curriculum Assessment Reporting Authority
• Cultural Advisor Tedx Sydney

He recently co-created artwork with friend and fellow educator Brendan Kerin on the story is of Jukurrpa. It explains the connection and respect between clans through language, ceremony, beliefs and lore. The centre circle is a neutral ground for all clans to get together and share in the Jukurrpa. There is always a connection to the centre as the centre is also the starting point for everything in life. It symbolises the seven continents of the world, Australia is in the middle with the other six continents coming to Australia to sit in a circle sharing stories, culture and trade while also reinforcing that Australia has been trading for 60,000 years and traded with Indonesia and China from 500 years ago. This piece sits in Australian Trade & Investment Commission’s (Austrade) flagship national headquarters in Sydney and is the first thing trade delegations see when entering the Sydney office