The United Nations General Assembly has declared the period between 2022 and 2032 as the International Decade of Indigenous Languages to draw attention to the critical status of many Indigenous languages across the world and encourage action for their preservation, revitalization and promotion.
Voices of Country—Australia's Action Plan for the International Decade of Indigenous Languages 2022–2032, provides a framework to guide Australia's participation in the International Decade. Voices of Country is a call to action for all stakeholders.
The Voices of Country was released on 23 August 2023 at the PULiiMA Indigenous Languages and Technology Conference.
- You can read the Action Plan at Voices of Country—Australia's Action Plan for the International Decade of Indigenous Languages 2022–2032
- You can find more information about the PULiiMA conference by visiting Australia's launch of the International Decade of Indigenous Languages 2022–2032 webpage.
The Action Plan has been co-authored in partnership between the International Decade of Indigenous Languages Directions Group and the Australian Government, and has the needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities at its heart.
Voices of Country is framed through five inter-connected themes:
- stop the loss
- Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities are centre
- caring for Country
- intergenerational knowledge transfer
- truth telling and celebration.
Voices of Country builds on what has been achieved through the Australian Government's National Cultural Policy Revive—a place for every story, a story for every place.
