First Contact shows some of the cultural divisions that exist between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, and highlights the lack of awareness many non-Indigenous Australians have about Indigenous Australians and the various different cultures and lifestyles they currently maintain. A stated premise is that 60% of European Australian have never had any contact with Indigenous people, a statistic that may explain the prevalence of the racist, unsympathetic and generally prejudicial attitudes that are often directed towards Indigenous Australians.[6]
In making their 'first contact' with Indigenous Australia, the selected six participants are taken to Aboriginal communities both in the city and the country, and are even processed into a regional prison at Roebourne in Western Australia, where social problems are particularly acute, resulting in incarceration of large numbers of Indigenous Australians, often for quite minor offences. The relationships between Indigenous people and local police in Roebourne are notoriously poor.[7][8][9]
First Contact was filmed and set in New South Wales, home to the largest Indigenous Australian population of any state/territory, the Northern Territory, where Indigenous Australians make up a higher percentage of the population than in any other state or territory and Western Australia.[10][11]
Discussion
After the series aired, First Contact was the topic of an Insight episode, hosted by Stan Grant and featuring a discussion involving many of the people who were involved in the show.[12][13]
Series overview
The show is estimated to have had a cumulative reach of 1,847,000 Australian viewers.[16]
Episodes
Season 1 (2014)
Season 2 (2016)
Cast
(As themselves)
Six Participants 2014
Alice Lardner
Bo-Dene Steiler
Jasmine Johnston
Trent Giles
Sandy Clifford
Marcus Solomon
Major Indigenous Contributors 2014
Sharyn Derschow – Co-founder Linkidge Cross Communication Training Company
Margaret Gudumurrkuwuy – Elcho Island Arts
Marmingee Hand – School Teacher & Foster Carer for F.A.S.D children
Marcus Lacey – Traditional Owner, Teacher & Tourist Business Operator
Debra Maidment – Safe & Sober Support Service Program, Central Australia Aboriginal Congress
Victor Morgan – Senior Educator, Education Centre Against Violence & Chair Link-Up NSW
June Oscar AO – CEO Marninwarntikura Women’s Resource Centre
Emily Carter – Deputy CEO Marninwarntikura Women’s Resource Centre
^ a b c"First Contact". ABC. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
^ a b"Tuesday 18th November 2014". Media Spy. 19 November 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
^"About First Contact". NITV. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
^Galvin, Nick. "In First Contact, Ray Martin explores his Aboriginal ancestry and passion for photography". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 24 November 2014.
^"First Contact (DVD / Digital Download)". SBS. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
^Galvin, Nick (21 November 2014). "Ten things we learnt from First Contact". The Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
^Johnston QC, Elliott (30 March 1991). "Royal Commission Into Aboriginal Death In Custody Report of the Inquiry Into The Death of John Peter Pat". Deaths in Custody Watch Committee WA. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
^Grabosky, P N. "Chapter 5: An Aboriginal death in custody : the case of John Pat". Australian Institute of Criminology. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
^"Aboriginal/Police Relations in the Pilbara: A study of perceptions" (PDF). Criminology Research Council. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
^"4705.0 - Population Distribution, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, 2006". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 15 August 2007. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
^"3238.0.55.001 - Estimates of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians, June 2011". Australian Bureau of Statistics. 30 August 2013. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
^Knox, David (22 November 2014). "SBS lets down the audience after First Contact no-show". TV Tonight. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
^Galvin, Nick (20 November 2014). "First Contact Insight special: Sandy 'couldn't be here tonight' after furore over racist comments". TV Tonight. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
^"Wednesday 19th November 2014". Media Spy. 20 November 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
^"Thursday 20th November 2014". Media Spy. 21 November 2014. Retrieved 7 January 2015.
^"'Racist' Australians hard to crack after reality show First Contact has mixed success". News Limited. 21 November 2014. Retrieved 9 January 2015.
^"‘First Contact’: TV docuseries seeks to shatter Indigenous Canadian stereotypes". Global News, 12 September 2018.
External links
First Contact SBS – Official Website
SBS’s First Contact is the real ‘festering sore’ of the nation On The Conversation