August 9, the annual International Day of Indigenous Peoples 2021, warns the COVID-19 pandemic is exposing more than 476 million Indigenous peoples in 90 countries to further inequities from poverty, illness, discrimination, and other instability.
Flinders University communications expert Andrew Butcher says connection to country, culture and community is intrinsically linked to teaching and retaining Indigenous languages.
Mr Butcher also believes the development of Indigenous Australian languages – among the oldest surviving languages on the planet – may also help inform contemporary studies and “tell us more about human languages in general”.