“POST-referendum, we saw an unimaginable fear ignited in the hearts of some regional local councillors in South Australia, who indicated their local shires would no longer address an Acknowledgement of Country. 

Having coined the term Welcome to Country (WTC) and producing guidelines and opportunities across the creative industries in the 1980s, our WTC vision was clear. 

It was simply created joyfully and inclusively to address the cultural amnesia of the country and remind us all, that Australia was not Terra Nullius – but rather an occupied land, with civil society that operated under a strict code of ethics, lore and protocols. 

One of these protocols was border control – similar to Australia’s modern day border control systems, Aboriginal border control was also a procedure to monitor and regulate the movement of people, animals and goods across land, air, and maritime borders. 

This ensured safety not only for the visitor who was entrusted with information about…