What Allies Can Do
People ask me what they can do. It is a good question, and I never turn it away. When someone asks, it means their heart has already started walking. Here is some of my answer, and the first part matters more than everything that follows.
Before you act, ask what is needed.The organisations doing this work have been carrying it for a long time. They know what they need, and they will tell you if you ask.
The best allies I know are the ones who make themselves useful to what community is already doing, rather than starting something new of their own. Support what is there. Follow the lead of the people doing it. Then ask what you have to give. For most of us it comes down to four things: time, money, skills, and a voice.
If you can give
Time
There is always quiet work that needs doing. Driving people, setting up chairs, handling paperwork, supporting families at court when the legal services invite it.
This work is not glamorous and nobody will thank you publicly for it, but it frees up community people for the work only they can do.
Offer, and then do what is asked.
If you can give
Money
Give directly to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community-controlled organisations, and if you can, make it regular rather than one-off.
A small amount every month is worth more to these organisations than a larger amount once, because it lets them plan. Legal services, language programs, cultural camps and healing work all run on stretched budgets.
Your regular support keeps them going.
And if money is tight for you right now, as it is for many people, there is no shame in that. Give something else from this page instead; the other gifts matter just as much.
If you have
Skills
Accountants, lawyers, web builders, writers, researchers: community organisations often cannot afford the professional help other organisations take for granted.
Offering your skills without charge, on their terms, is one of the most valuable things you can give.
When you speak
Your voice
Share what First Nations people are already saying rather than putting your own words over the top. Pass the message along faithfully.
The story belongs to the people living it.
Your job is to help more people hear it.
Three things you can do right now
Raise the Age is calling for the minimum age of criminal responsibility to be lifted to at least 14. This is a First Nations-led campaign supported by doctors, lawyers and communities across the country, because children belong in community and culture, not in watch houses.
Write to your MP about the Social Justice Report.
Commissioner Katie Kiss, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Social Justice Commissioner, released her report in 2025. It carries the voices of more than 1,600 of our people and makes 25 recommendations, and she has asked the Australian Government to respond formally to every one of them.
Read it, take it on board, then write to your federal MP and ask when that response is coming. A short, polite letter from a constituent carries more weight than you might think.
Stand with Barrambin.
Victoria Park, Barrambin, is one of the oldest gathering places of our people here in Magandjin, and it is under threat from stadium development.
Yuggera Elders have asked the federal government for permanent protection, and the fight is still in the courts. Sign the petition, follow the campaign, and come along when they call for people to show up.
Standing up for justice, for children and for Country
These organisations and campaigns are already defending our people in court, keeping families together, reviving languages and protecting Country.
Support them, fund them, and share what they say.
- ATSILS gives frontline legal help to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across Queensland.
- NATSILS is the national peak body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander legal services.
- SNAICC is the national peak body for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and families.
- Family Matters is working to end the over-representation of our children in out-of-home care.
- Raise the Age is the campaign to lift the minimum age of criminal responsibility to at least 14.
- ANTaR Qld is the Queensland ally organisation working for justice, rights and respect.
- ANTAR is the national ally organisation, walking with First Nations peoples since 1997.
- Allies for Uluru is a coalition of organisations standing with the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
- Passing the Message Stick offers research and training on messaging that supports self-determination.
- First Nations Heritage Protection Alliance is working for stronger cultural heritage laws across the country.
- Save Victoria Park / Barrambin is protecting Barrambin, an ancient gathering place here in Magandjin, where legal action is still under way.
Keep walking with me
Learning the true history of this country matters, and I encourage everyone to keep learning. Let what you learn turn into something you do.
Come along to a Yarning Circle, check the First Nations Community Calendar for what is coming up, and when you are ready, pick one thing from this page and do it.
These are some ways we can walk together.
— Uncle Bill Lemson