All of us, to one extent or another, are influenced by the media that we typically spend a fair percentage of our time watching.
In that sense, few people would dispute that, in terms of leadership programmes, Aboriginal and Torres Islanders may struggle to see too many obvious media examples of First Nations leadership in action on the screen.
It is important to recognise that this doesn’t mean that such role models don’t exist. You may see rather more of them in factual news programmes than other modes but there is little doubt that in drama and fiction, it isn’t easy to spot portrayals of Aboriginal leaders in action.
To be fair, this isn’t just an issue for
Aboriginal and Torres Islander leadership programmes.
Much of the media of Australian and wider western society continues to be dominated by the portrayals of leaders who are largely of white European ethnic background. True, over recent decades, notably in programmes originating in the United States, there has been an increase in the portrayal of male leadership figures from Afro-Caribbean ethnic backgrounds but they are still in a tiny minority and female leaders from those groups continue to be notable by their almost total absence.
That last point applies irrespective of their ethnic origin, though when they are (rarely) shown in leadership roles, seeing Aboriginal or Afro-Caribbean women portrayed is exceptionally unusual. Occasionally one might see a female portrayed in a major leadership role when she is of white European cultural heritage but Aboriginal, Afro-Caribbean and Asian women continue to be largely ignored.
This is a great pity and a major challenge for indigenous leadership programmes in Australia.
Whilst TV and movies continue to bombard people with cultural and gender stereotypes, it makes the challenges of leadership development amongst groups such as aboriginal womenthat bit harder.
It is to be sincerely hoped that at some time in the near future, the various production organisations recognise this problem and deal with it effectively.
