When Yorta Yorta and Gunditjmara singer Isaiah Firebrace started a petition for First Nations history and culture to be included in the Australian school curriculum he expected no more than 2,000 signatures.
Today that petition has close to 300,000 supporters, it has been tabled in Federal Parliament by Labor MP Tanya Plibersek, and has been credited in part for a newly announced election promise.
In a statement by Ms Plibersek, the shadow education minister, and five Labor senators last night, Labor committed $14 million to 60 primary schools to hire full-time First Nations language teachers if elected.
Firebrace said seeing this kind of progress was "a pinch-me moment".
It wasn't until he was a young man and an established musician that Firebrace first connected with Aboriginal languages — he had no exposure to First Nations history or culture at school in north-east Victoria.
Firebrace believes teaching First Nations languages in Australian schools would "skyrocket attendance", create meaningful employment opportunities and help close the gap between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and their peers.
"I think it's going to not only affect young kids, but this is going to be a generational change," he said.
Firebrace hopes Labor's promise is the first of many of its kind.
"I really don't want this to be the last thing," he said.
"To me, this has nothing to do with Labor and Liberal [political parties]. This should be something across the board, across every school, no matter who is in charge."
Time to teach true history
The online petition Firebrace started was primarily focused on the importance of teaching the histories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people — stories spanning more than 60,000 years.
"For a long time in this country, a lot of people have been either too scared or fearful to teach the true history and the culture of Australia because it is a hard history, and it is a sad history," Firebrace said.
"There is much more to achieve moving forward together if things like this can happen, and I really, truly believe that."
National Indigenous Youth Education Coalition (NIYEC) CEO and co-founder Hayley McGuire, a Darumbal and South Sea Islander woman, has long been advocating for First Nations-led education.
Ms McGuire said learning an Indigenous language should be seen as a privilege.
Fewer than half of the 250 Indigenous languages that were in use around Australia before colonisation are still spoken.
To understand this decline, Ms McGuire said students needed to be taught First Nations history.
Ms McGuire said any proposed language program must ensure Traditional Owners had a say about how students accessed and learnt Indigenous languages.
"It has to centre around self-determination," she said.
Labor's proposed plan would see First Nations communities "part of decision-making at every step", according to the announcement released on Tuesday.
Schools would be able to apply to participate, and applications would be chosen based on need.
Listening to young voices
Meanwhile, Ms McGuire was concerned about Australian teachers stigmatising the use of Aboriginal English in the classroom.
"Whether that be in Redfern or Rockhampton — there's a huge misunderstanding of the types of Aboriginal Englishes that are around," she said.
"We've spoken to young mob who feel that to succeed in school they have to stop talking their way, and change their language to a more standard Australian English.
For the past two years, NIYEC has been running a campaign called Learn Our Truth.
It's about centring young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices in conversations about the history of colonisation in Australia, and ensuring the subject is taught safely in Australian classrooms.
"We need to be truthful about our history," Ms McGuire said.
