Indigenous Leader Rhoda Roberts Dies at 66

Rhoda Roberts, the pioneering Indigenous arts leader credited with coining the term "Welcome to Country," has died at the age of 66 after a seven-month battle with ovarian cancer.

The Widjabul Wieybal woman of the Bundjalung nation passed away peacefully in a hospital on Saturday, March 21, at 1 p.m., her family announced on social media. Born in Lismore in northern New South Wales, Roberts built a multifaceted career as a producer, director, writer, broadcaster, performer and executive, earning numerous awards for her contributions to Indigenous culture.

Roberts began her professional journey as a journalist with the Special Broadcasting Service, where she made history in 1989 as co-host of the primetime program First in Line alongside Michael Johnson, becoming one of the first Indigenous presenters on Australian television. In the 1980s, she popularized the phrase "Welcome to Country," revitalizing a traditional Aboriginal protocol for acknowledging custodians and respecting ancestral lands during events. "It was a time to reactivate what we had always done as protocol," she said in a later interview. "Inviting the local custodian at an event to welcome us and honour the...