Hi Everyone,
I’m Paul Herbert and have recently been appointed National Manager for FATSIL. I originally come from Lajamanu in the Northern Territory and have gone from there to Katherine, then Adelaide and now here in Melbourne, within a relatively short time frame. As you can imagine, I’m already missing the bush and the pleasure of being able to safely walk around barefoot.

I have now been in this position for around 3 months so my learning curve has been rather steep. One thing that confronts me as I sit here and write is the division amongst us as language workers. FATSIL has had its fair share of problems in the past and the board acknowledge that changes must occur if we are to truly represent both language workers and organisations. As you know, we as Indigenous people can be our worst critics at times, but I ask that in the interest of our unique and wonderful language and culture, we join forces and unite as one to establish new and better working partnerships.

Please give me a call if you have any suggestions, or come along to our AGM / National Indigenous Languages Forum on the Gold Coast this October 28th through to the 30th, I am keen to take on board your advice and ideas.

Paul Herbert