NLA image of person
Marcia Langton Marcia Langton i(A71890 works by)
Born: Established: 1951 Brisbane, Queensland, ;
Gender: Female
Heritage: Aboriginal ; Aboriginal Bidjara Nation ; Aboriginal Yiman
The material on this page is available to AustLit subscribers. If you are a subscriber or are from a subscribing organisation, please log in to gain full access. To explore options for subscribing to this unique teaching, research, and publishing resource for Australian culture and storytelling, please contact us or find out more.

BiographyHistory

Marcia Langton is a respected authority on social issues in Aboriginal affairs and Associate Provost of Australian Indigenous Studies at the University of Melbourne. She has published on Indigenous issues such as gender and identity, land rights, resource management and substance abuse. She has worked internationally on Indigenous rights, conservation and environmental polices. Langton also critiques art and films and has played leading roles in films including Jardiwampa: A Warlpiri Fire, Night Cries: A Rural Tragedy and Blood Brothers.

First enrolled at The University of Queensland, she left to travel and work in countries including Japan and North America, before completing a degree in anthropology at the Australian National University in the 1980s. She then worked with a range of organisations across a spectrum of Indigenous socio-cultural issues, including the Australian Film Commission (for which she wrote 'Well I Heard It on the Radio and I Saw It on the Television'), the Central Land Council (where she was a land claims anthrolopogist), and the Northern Territory Aboriginal Issues Unit (for which she worked on the 1989 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody).

Moving into full-time university work, she was Ranger Professor of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies at Charles Darwin University (then Northern Territory University) for five years from 1995. In 2000, she was appointed Foundation Chair (a professorial post) of Australian Indigenous Studies at the University of Melbourne. In 2016, she became Distinguished Professor, and in 2017, Associate Provost. Her PhD in geography was awarded by Macquarie University in 2005.

Langton's Order of Australia was awarded in 1993 ('for services as an anthropologist and advocate of Aboriginal issues'). In 2001, she was elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia. She co-won the inaugural Neville Bonner Award for Indigenous Teacher of the Year, in 2002 (with Larissa Behrendt). In 2012, she became a patron of the Indigenous Reading Project. Since its inception in 2016, she has served on the judging panel for the Horne Prize in essay writing. Other organisations with which she has served include the Centre for Aboriginal Reconciliation, the Centre for Indigenous Natural and Cultural Resource Management, the Indigenous Higher Education Advisory Council, and the Cape York Institute for Policy and Leadership. She is also a fellow of both Trinity College, University of Melbourne (from 2012) and Emmanuel College, University of Queensland (since 2016).

Internationally, she has been concerned with First Nations rights in Canada (including conservation and environmental policies) and with issues in East Timor.

In addition to works indexed on AustLit, Langton has also published the following works:

  • The Quiet Revolution: Indigenous People and the Resources Boom. ABC Books, 2013.
     
  • Community Futures, Legal Architecture: Foundations for Indigenous Peoples in the Global Mining Boom. London: Routledge, 2012 (ed. with J. Longbottom).
     
  • Settling with Indigenous Peoples: Modern Treaty and Agreement Making. Annandale, NSW: Federation Press, 2006 (ed. with L. Mazel, O.K. Shain, and M. Tehan).
     
  • Burning Questions: Emerging environmental issues for Indigenous peoples in northern Australia. Darwin, Northern Territory: Centre for Indigenous Natural and Cultural Resource Management, Northern Territory University, 1998.

Exhibitions

Most Referenced Works

Personal Awards

2020 recipient Order of Australia Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) For distinguished service to tertiary education, and as an advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
2011 Finalist Deadly Sounds Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Music, Sport, Entertainment and Community Awards for Female Actor of the Year
2008 winner Victorian Premier's Literary Awards The Alfred Deakin Prize for an Essay Advancing Public Debate for her essay 'Trapped in the Aboriginal Reality Show'

Awards for Works

y separately published work icon Welcome to Country : A Travel Guide to Indigenous Australia Melbourne : Hardie Grant Travel , 2018 14045398 2018 single work prose travel

'Tourism Australia statistics show that many overseas tourists, as well as Australians, are keen to learn more about Australia’s first peoples. And while the Indigenous tourism industry continues to grow, no comprehensive travel guide is currently available.

'Marcia Langton’s Welcome to Country is a completely new and inclusive guidebook to Indigenous Australia and the Torres Strait Islands. In its pages, respected elder and author Professor Marcia Langton answers questions such as what does ‘country' mean to Indigenous people. A detailed introduction covers such topics as Indigenous languages and customs, history, native title, art and dance, storytelling, and cultural awareness and etiquette for visitors. This is followed by a directory of Indigenous tourism experiences, organised into state and territory sections, covering galleries and festivals, communities that are open to visitors, tours and performances.

'This book is for everyone travelling around this fascinating country who wants to gain an insight into the culture that has thrived here for over 50,000 years, and enjoy tourism opportunities that will show you a different side of Australia — one that remains dynamic, and is filled with openness and diversity. This book will quickly become one of the most important travel guides to be published in recent times. '  (Publication summary)

2020 shortlisted Educational Publishing Awards Australia Secondary
2020 commended New South Wales Premier's Literary Awards Indigenous Writer's Prize
2020 shortlisted Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) Australian Book of the Year for Older Children for Youth Edition.
2020 shortlisted APA Book Design Awards Best Designed Educational Primary / Secondary Book for Youth Edition. Designed by Blak Douglas and Kerry Cooke.
2019 shortlisted Australian Book Industry Awards (ABIA) Australian General Non-Fiction Book of the Year
2019 winner Indie Awards Illustrated Non-fiction
Last amended 8 Jun 2020 08:28:47
Other mentions of "" in AustLit:
    X