VAN Talks Podcast

Send us Fan Mail Less than two hours after Australia's first Treaty legislation was tabled in Victorian Parliament, First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria co-Chair, Gunditjmara man Rueben Berg, met up with VAN's Charles Pakana to record the first of an extended series of interviews discussing the legislation and future of the Assembly.

Send us Fan Mail A partnership led by the Municipal Association of Victoria, and including Victorian Aboriginal News, First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria, Treaty Authority and Reconciliation Victoria, sees Victorian Local Government Authorities start educating themselves - and their communities - about the Local Treaty process. VAN's Charles Pakana catches up with MAV Director of Communi...

Send us Fan Mail Every day the Wurundjeri Woi-wurrung Cultural Heritage Aboriginal Corporation receives engagement requests from government, corporations, community groups and individuals; and with 29 Local Government Authorities (Councils) operating on its Country, the load on the corporation is enormous. We catch up with CEO Kupa Teao to gain an understanding of the organisation and how engageme...

Send us Fan Mail For nearly 30 years, RMIT's Ngarara Willum Centre has been providing critical student support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. We speak with Indigenous Access and Engagement Senior Advisor, Bundjalung woman Talia Elliott about the enormous benefits such centres have in closing the educational gap.

Send us Fan Mail North of Naarm (Melbourne), the Taungurung Land and Waters Council (TL&WC) and the Local Government Authorities on its Country, have banded together to establish a forum - one that seeks to identify and achieve common goals for the good of all community members. In this episode VAN's Charles Pakana speaks with CEO of TL&WC, Matt Burns, and forum co-chair, the Mayor of...

Send us Fan Mail Treaty Authority chair, Djab Wurrung man Jidah Clark, talks frankly about the current state of the Victorian statewide Treaty, and the Authority's commitment to work with ALL parties, especially Local Government Authorities, in regard to local Treaties.

Send us Fan Mail Taking on the role of interim CEO of the Federation of Victorian Traditional Owner Corporations, Kaley Nicholson - one-and-a-half weeks into the job - already has firm ideas on how the Federation can further promote and advocate for the voices of Traditional Owners across Victoria. 

Send us Fan Mail As the Victorian Government considers introducing even further backward steps in the State's already archaic bail laws, VAN's Charles Pakana catches up with the Victorian Aboriginal Legal Service Director of Legal Services, Ali Besiroglu to discuss the current situation and Poccum's Law.

Send us Fan Mail As we continue to explore the many facets of the Victorian Treaty process, VAN’s Charles Pakana speaks with Treaty Authority member and Yorta Yorta woman Dr Petah Atkinson and Worimi man Dr Jacob Prahn about the critical importance and role of data sovereignty and governance.

Send us Fan Mail During a semi-regular one-on-one catch-up with Assembly co-Chair Rueben Berg, we learn more about the next iteration of the First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria, and the belief that there could well be a signed and enacted statewide Treaty in place before the end of 2025

Send us Fan Mail At 4am on the 28th of May 2025, an embargo was lifted on a media release that stated DJAARA - the representative body for Dja Dja Wurrung clans - was ready to enter into Treaty negotiations with the Victorian Government. That afternoon, we sat down with DJAARA's reserved seat holder at the First Peoples' Assembly of Victoria, Dja Dja Wurrung man Djaran Murray-Jackson.

Send us Fan Mail I was fortunate enough to catch up and yarn with Yoorrook Commission Travis Lovett on the Portland foreshores - on Gunditjmara Country - 18 hours before the commencement of the Walk for Truth. 

Send us Fan Mail One of Australia's foremost authorities on - and advocates for - Aboriginal cultures and histories in the education system, Shelley Ware, talks with Charles about the need for change and how that change can be achieved.

Send us Fan Mail Forty years on from the foundation of the Koorie Heritage Trust, VAN’s Charles Pakana meets up with CEO Tom Mosby to discuss the Trust’s role and relevance 

Send us Fan Mail For nearly 15 years, IndigenousX has been “stirring the pot” as a niche and fearless Blak media outlet. In this episode I catch up with it’s CEO and founder, Luke Pearson.

Send us Fan Mail In this episode I catch up with Professor Dennis Foley, a descendent of the Gai-mariagal people, and Australia’s first professor of indigenous entrepreneurship. He speaks openly about the important cultural context of this subject as well as calling out key changes that need to be implemented in order for Blak businesses to be given better chances for success.

Send us Fan Mail Following years of advocacy from historians and community, the Australian War Memorial is embarking on a project that will see “Defence of Country” realised in the form of a Frontier War exhibition within the next few years. I visit the War Memorial and catch up for an interview with the Indigenous Liaison Officer, Michael Bell. 

Send us Fan Mail We speak with Bangerang cultural educator and custodian Roland Atkinson about a new dictionary that will breathe new life into the Bangerang language and further strengthen culture

Send us Fan Mail With the failure of the 2023 Voice referendum, the onus is well and truly on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Members of Parliament and Senators to help First Nations voices be heard and heeded. In this episode, we speak with Yamatji and Noongar woman, Greens Senator for Western Australia, Dorinda Cox.

Send us Fan Mail With the final Yoorrook Commission report due in June 2025, Commissioner Travis Lovett is about to undertake a 370 kilometre walk from Portland in the Victorian south-west - where European colonisation started - to Parliament House in Melbourne. He speaks with VAN’s Charles Pakana about his aspirations for the walk and extends an invitation for all Victorians to join him.

Send us Fan Mail There’s always a great deal of attention given to the First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria and, more recently, the Treaty Authority when it comes to the Victorian Treaty process. In the background, though, and playing an incredibly important part in ensuring that Traditional Owners are able to negotiate on an equal footing with the government, is the Self-Determination Fund. In thi...

Send us Fan Mail VAN’s Charles Pakana speaks with Wurundjeri Elder and lore man Uncle Bill Nicholson, gaining an insight into the important role that a Welcome to Country has in the broader Australian social landscape.

Send us Fan Mail With the Victorian State Government and First Peoples’ Assembly of Victoria having agreed to an agenda of items for the first round of Treaty negotiations, VAN’s Charles Pakana catches up with Assembly co-chair Rueben Berg. They take a closer look at one of the main areas of the negotiations - what a future Aboriginal representative body might look like.

Send us Fan Mail In this end-of-year episode, VAN's Charles Pakana brings together key points from two months of investigation and interviews focused on the Victorian Government's questionably-motivated decision to extend an Order in Council on the unprotection of dingoes across North-East and Eastern Victoria. He also discusses important updates on legal action being taken against the G...

Send us Fan Mail As we commence our closing off of the Victorian Government’s “dingo death warrant” across much of Australia, VAN’s Charles Pakana catches up with President of the Victorian Farmers Federation, Emma Germano. Even that organisation claims the government’s consultation on the matter was nothing short of “sham consultation”.