Share Your Story 02

Indigenous cultural and intellectual property and Terri Janke by Terri Janke

22 June 2010

My name is Terri Janke and I am an Indigenous solicitor and author. I was born in Cairns, Queensland and have family connections with the Torres Strait and Cape York Peninsula (Meriam & Wuthathi). I live in Sydney where I established my law firm, Terri Janke and Company Pty Ltd in 2000, a private independent law firm specialising in providing professional and innovative legal solutions.
I believe that Indigenous people all over the world share not only common life challenges; but opportunities in sharing their traditional knowledge, culture and extraordinary talents with the wider community to mutual benefit. One of my aims is to empower Indigenous people with legal solutions to complex legal matters with sensitivity to cultural protocols. I have worked in both the community and commercial law sector, conducting workshops on copyright, trade marks, IP management and business planning to show Indigenous people, their communities and businesses how to protect and take advantage of their cultural and intellectual and property (IP).
In 1995, I began my career working with the National Indigenous Arts Advocacy Association (NIAAA), an Indigenous organisation that advocates for the greater recognition of the legal and cultural rights of Indigenous artists and their communities.  My principal role was to provide general advice and information on copyright and, cultural and IP issues to Indigenous artists and arts organisations.  I developed policy including NIAAA's Indigenous visual arts policy and helped prepare NIAAA's Submission to the Stopping the Rip-Offs Inquiry.  I also assisted the Association’s legal advisers coordinate the copyright action of Milpurrurru v Indofurn which saw record damages awarded to Indigenous artists for infringement of copyright.
In the same year I received the John Koowarta Reconciliation Law Scholarship which allowed me to pursue my studies in law.
 In 1997 - 99, I became the principal consultant to the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) on a project which aimed to develop proposals for the greater protection and recognition of Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property.  As part of my role, I researched and wrote, a report entitled “Our Culture: Our Future”.  The Report was the first of its kind to outline a comprehensive framework for protecting Indigenous cultural heritage.  The Report was well received by Indigenous peoples, government and industry both nationally and internationally.

From 2005 – 2007, I worked on an international Indigenous art project which saw eight Indigenous artists’ works incorporated into the fabric of a building in Paris at the Musée du quai Branly. In 2005 I was listed on the NSW Women’s Honour Roll and in 2007 I was awarded the Highly Commended, Aboriginal Justice Award from the Law and Justice Foundation of NSW.
In 2008 I authored Beyond Guarding Ground which called for the introduction of a National Indigenous Cultural Authority to safeguard the rights and integrity of Indigenous people in matters of consent and attribution in the arts. I have written a number of Indigenous protocol documents including Pathways and Protocols: A filmmaker’s guide to working with Indigenous people, culture and concepts. I wrote the Australia Council for the Arts protocols series and developed a ground-breaking code of practice for galleries/retailers of Indigenous art in the City of Melbourne in 2006.

My work allows me to pursue my passion for writing and I am a published fiction author.  My novel Butterfly Song was published by Penguin in 2005 and in 2009 was translated into French and I am now working on a second novel.

In 2009 I became a Graduate of the Australian Institute of Company Directors. I am currently also a Council Member of AIATSIS, the Chairperson of the National Indigenous Television Board and a Board member of Tourism Australia. I am also a member of the National Australia Bank Indigenous Advisory Group and a member of the Australian Law Reform Commission’s Indigenous Advisory Committee.
In 2009 I delivered addresses at the Garma Festival in Arnhem Land, the IED Forum in Alice Springs, and presented the keynote address for the Toyota Public Lecture Series at the Australian National University. I am currently enrolled in a PhD at the National Centre for Indigenous Studies at the Australian National University and am doing work for the World Intellectual Property Organisation as a consultant on traditional cultural expression.