Nana chats with co-founders of The Disappeared Project journalist, Dr. Amy McQuire and lawyer, Martin Hodgson to discuss the ongoing crisis of the disappearance of First Nations peoples in Australia.

Amy and Martin work together to investigate the unsolved homicides and missing persons cases of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, specifically women. They discuss the issue with the term ‘missing person’ and how it does not fully encapsulate what is actually happening.

“Missing suggests that there is an innocence to it. Well, there’s no innocence to what’s being done, it’s very deliberate. We know that from the term Terra nullius, that lie.”

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are facing the consequences of state-sanctioned violence, with the refusal of the government to look at these issues as a crisis. In addition to the refusal by police to properly investigate and research cases, is the media’s refusal to humanise or even discuss the people who have been disappeared.

“Disappearance is a political act, it’s a framework and it’s tied back to the settler colonial project. The whole purpose and aspiration of the continuing settler colony here is the continual disappearance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples from this land.”

The Disappeared Project provides support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families when a loved one is disappeared by providing advocacy and guidance. They are working towards transforming the representation of Firsts Nations people in media coverage and pushing for systemic reform and prevention strategies to address the root cause that makes Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people vulnerable to this issue.

Listen to Amy and Martin’s podcast Curtain The Podcast which interrogates the justice system and how it treats First Nations people.

Learn more about The Disappeared Project here.