Talk:Rhoda Roberts

The tragic news has just been announced on ABC Radio National & ABC News online. There’s also an announcement on her personal Instagram page (which has been used as the source of her birth & death dates). The initial edit to update the article has only dealt with the first paragraph of the lead, so the rest of the article will need a copyedit to update to past tense, as well as other details including additional ones that will now be available from her obituaries. Very sad news. Bluevista99 (talk) 06:13, 21 March 2026 (UTC)

Thank you, @Bluevista99. Changes to past tense have been made, but there still may be further information to add from obituaries in coming days. Oronsay (talk) 19:15, 21 March 2026 (UTC)

Thanks. Link to the ABC News online story published this morning:

https://www.abc.net.au/news/2026-03-21/indigenous-artistic-leader-cultural-adviser-rhoda-roberts-dies/106445192 QarrghT (talk) 20:37, 21 March 2026 (UTC)

ABC News article is titled: “Rhoda Roberts AO, Indigenous leader in arts, culture and media, dies aged 66.”

The ABC advises that the deceased’s name and image is published with permission

The author, journalist Stephanie Boltje, reports that the deceased, the subject of this page, ’’…coined the term "Welcome to Country".’’

I anticipate that this acknowledgement will make this particular Wikipedia page a significant page, because of a modern Australian courtesy — an extension of something that has been occurring for millennia prior to European settlement of Australia — that has developed from Aunty Rhonda’s advocacy for the adoption of Welcome to Country.

Acknowledgement of Country is a practice that has become common during recent decades and so new to the experience of many living in or travelling through Australia.

Acknowledgement of Country is common in Australia now at ‘mainstream’ cultural events — such as at the commencement of a Melbourne Symphony Orchestra performance (where the acknowledgement is spoken over music), but also at the commencement of community meetings, conferences, etc.

Acknowledgement of Country occurs when there is not the opportunity for a designate of the traditional owners of the land upon which those people are meeting to welcome those gathering upon it. If a traditional owner of the lands upon which those people are meeting was available, then their welcome is known as "Welcome to Country". QarrghT (talk) 21:29, 21 March 2026 (UTC)