The recipients

2023 Recipient, Major (Moogy) Sumner AM

The Jim Bettison and Helen James Foundation is delighted to celebrate and recognise, with the 10th Bettison and James Award, the immense contribution and commitment to cultural education, repatriation and the environment, of Mr Major (Moogy) Sumner AM. As a Ngarrindjeri Kaurna elder Uncle Moogy is well known to the wider community as well as to First Nations people, as someone who has always been generous with his time and knowledge, dedicating his life to promoting Aboriginal health and welfare as well as youth and cultural heritage. His life and experiences provide an inspirational example for all Australians.

Mr Sumner – Uncle Moogy – is a world-renowned performer and cultural ambassador of Ngarrindjeri arts, crafts, martial arts and traditional culture. His work spans performance, traditional dance and song, cultural advice and handcrafting of traditional shields, clubs, boomerangs and spears. He is a strong advocate and mentor for his people and his culture, and has featured in film, theatre and documentary across Australia and internationally. Uncle Moogy recently featured in the first episode of an ABC TV series ‘First Weapons‘ earlier in 2023. It is hosted by Phil Breslin and is currently showing on ABC iView .

Uncle Moogy reconnected his communities with the traditional art of canoe building, by crafting the first Ngarrindjeri bark canoe to be made in over 100 years on Ngarrindjeri Boandik country, in south eastern South Australia (using a high-tech cherry picker to get up the tree!). He is constantly reminding his audience to consider Ngarrindjeri and other Aboriginal culture as a living culture, spanning thousands of years.

On a day-to-day basis, you can find Uncle Moogy at the Aboriginal Sobriety Group, which he helped found, or at the South Australian Museum working with Aboriginal communities around Australia to bring ancestors home from Museums here and abroad. It is work he has passionately done for decades.

Uncle Moogy was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in 2014, the South Australian Premier’s NAIDOC Award in 2021, and was inducted into the SA Environment Hall of Fame in 2021.

It is heartening to be able to bring Jim Bettison and Helen James’ vision to life, thanks to the valued professional support of the Adelaide Film Festival, with Perpetual as Trustees.

PAT RIX
2022 RECIPIENT

 

In September 2022, Pat Rix was announced as the 9th recipient of the Bettison and James Award. Pat is a South Australian composer, playwright and disability advocate and has significant experience creating collaborative community and mainstage productions in Australia, the US and South East Asia.

Despite the welcome introduction of the NDIS, the disability sector remains one of entrenched inequality and resistance to change. In 1997 Pat began a small choir which grew to become one of Australia’s most beloved and progressive multi arts organisations.

For over 30 years, Pat has worked with people from diverse backgrounds and organisations to build inclusive, respectful relationships across social, geographical and cultural divides. As an artist, her belief is that, in order to have a voice, people need a place to speak from. Such a place must be a force for social change and allow new spaces for thinking and knowing to emerge. Pat’s unshakeable belief led to the development of a unique organisation, Tutti Choir. This inspiring initiative expanded over the years to become Tutti Arts, promoting the professional development of artists with a learning or intellectual disability and celebrating the power of disability culture and complexity of human life.

On behalf of the Jim Bettison and Helen James Foundation, Spokesperson Doreen Mellor said, “Each year the Foundation is inspired by people who contribute so much to communities Australia-wide. In 2022 we are delighted to pay tribute, with the Bettison and James Award, to South Australian composer, playwright and disability advocate, Pat Rix. The Award is an acknowledgment of Pat’s work over many decades, encompassing her remarkable commitment to establishing and nurturing the inclusive and inspirational Tutti Arts. It is heartening to be able to bring Jim Bettison and Helen James’ vision to life, thanks to the valued professional support of the Adelaide Film Festival, with Perpetual as Trustees.

On being named the successful recipient of the 2022 Bettison and James Award, Pat Rix responded, “I feel so deeply honoured to receive this wonderful award and I thank all who have supported me and Tutti over nearly 25 years. As anyone who has ever worked for change knows, it takes the determination and imagination of many people, in this case artists, families and other allies, to not only envisage change and what it looks like, but to create it.”

Adelaide Film Festival CEO and Creative Director, Mat Kesting, commented, “The Adelaide Film Festival is proud to be associated with the Jim Bettison and Helen James Foundation. Each year the Foundation confers an Award to acknowledge the lifetime work of an exemplary Australian.   This year’s Award recognises Pat Rix and her incredible commitment to the artistic community of South Australia and her commitment to diversity and inclusion.”

DR BOB BROWN
2021 RECIPIENT

 

Dr Bob Brown, 8th recipient of the Bettison and James Award, is an environmentalist, human rights campaigner and former political leader.

Dr Brown was born and educated in rural NSW and worked as a doctor before becoming the face of the campaign to save the Franklin River in 1982. He was elected to the Tasmanian state parliament in 1983 and during his tenure most notably advocated for gun law reform, gay law reform and achieved the expansion of the Tasmanian Wilderness World Heritage Area.

In 1996 Bob was elected to the Australian Senate, where he led the national debate for 16 years on issues including climate change, democracy, preventative healthcare, conservation, and human rights. Bob resigned from the Senate in June 2012 to establish the Bob Brown Foundation, a not for profit organisation dedicated to supporting action campaigns for the environment in Australia and our region. He is a published author and acclaimed photographer.

On the announcement of Bob Brown as the 2021 Award recipient, Jim Bettison and Helen James Foundation spokesperson, Doreen Mellor said, “Helen and Jim envisioned an annual Award to honour an individual whose lifetime work is of significant value and benefit to the Australian community. We are delighted to recognise the outstanding and inspiring contribution of Bob Brown as an active and passionate advocate over several decades, for conservation and protection of our ecological systems, and for the human rights of diverse groups in varied circumstances across our nation and internationally.   

Dr Brown’s response to being named as the successful 2021 recipient of the Award linked the arts with nature and the environment, “I am highly delighted to get the 2021 award honouring Jim Bettison and Helen James at the Adelaide Film Festival. The arts and environmental campaigning are inextricably mixed for, as Gaudi put it, ‘all creativity comes from the great book of nature’. Most of the $50,000 will go to our campaign to save Adelaide’s nearest rainforest, the Tarkine, in northwest Tasmania, and I will set aside $5,000 for my old home, now Bush Heritage Australia’s property, ‘Oura Oura’ in the beautiful Liffey Valley, where everyone is welcome.”

Mat Kesting, Adelaide Film Festival CEO and Creative Director, commented, “The Adelaide Film Festival is proud to be associated with the Jim Bettison and Helen James Foundation. Each year the Foundation confers an Award to acknowledge the lifetime work of an exemplary Australian.   This year’s Award recognises Bob Brown and his longstanding and critical work across many areas of benefit to the community, especially in regard to the environment and action on climate change.”  

PROFESSOR DAVID VAUX AO
2020 RECIPIENT

Professor David Vaux AO is the 7th recipient of the annual Bettison and James Award. An eminent medical researcher, Vaux’s work has led to the development of a revolutionary treatment for leukaemia that is in use around the world. He is also recognised and respected internationally for his advocacy for research integrity and has provided leadership for over 15 years in the promotion of responsible research to increase both the efficiency and quality of research.

Over David Vaux’s distinguished 30-year career, he has witnessed the competitiveness in the research sector increase under the growing pressure to publish and secure competitive research funds. With that hyper-competitiveness has come an increased incidence of poor behaviour.

Professor Vaux became a champion for research integrity, tirelessly and systematically documenting, and reporting errors in published scientific literature. The importance of his campaign was recognised, despite hostility from some, and he was invited around Australia and internationally to discuss, present, and teach the critical analysis of published papers, and to advise on use of statistics, experimental design, and data presentation.

In recognition of his leadership in the sector – and the value of that leadership to international communities – Professor Vaux has been recruited as an expert advisor to many influential bodies internationally.

In Australia, institutions are responsible for internally handling concerns about research misconduct and breaches of the Australian Code for the Responsible Conduct of Research. However, self-regulation with no mechanism for independence or oversight can lead to conflicts of interest, mismanagement, and at worst, corruption. In the face of opposition from large organisations within the Australian academic community, David Vaux is fearlessly outspoken on this issue.

Vaux uses his position as one of the most respected scientists in the country to publicly oppose Australia’s model of self-regulation and is actively campaigning for a national agency, similar to those operating in twenty-three European countries, the US, UK, Japan, Canada and China, to handle concerns of possible research misconduct. The mission of an Office of Research Integrity (ORI) – a research ‘watchdog’ – in Australia would be to protect the integrity of the scientific literature, and to promote integrity in the practice of science.

By improving the quality and reliability of Australian research, this campaign will ensure the evidence on which decisions and policy are based is of the highest quality standards, leading to better policy decisions, improved efficiency in  industry, and positive health, economic, and environmental outcomes

PROFESSOR JOHN LONG
2019 RECIPIENT

 

Internationally recognised Flinders University palaeontologist Professor John Long, is the 6th recipient of the annual Jim Bettison and Helen James Award. Professor Long is a scientist of international repute – a widely published paleontologist and scientific communicator.

His cutting-edge research, which has resulted in many ground-breaking discoveries, has been shared through a variety of channels, to reach all sectors of the general public, as well as the scientific community, where he is renowned for his international collaborations.

Professor Long’s book titles include both fiction and non-fiction for adults and children, and range from the evolution of life, Australia’s dinosaurs and ancient mammals, through to climate change and the history of human civilisation. Not only has he refined our understanding of these subjects, but he is able to demonstrate their relevance to our world today, communicating in an accessible way that attracts and informs a wide audience.

Long has extensive media experience, featuring on more than 10 of Australia’s ABC TV programs, Quantum and Catalyst between 1993 and 2009. He has also featured in several Australian and international documentary films, and his 30+ articles for The Conversation website have reached over 1.7 million readers across the globe, and include such diverse topics as new dinosaur discoveries, the first fishes, creationism, how coal forms and the protection of local fossil sites.

His research has contributed to resolving complex and pivotal questions about early evolution, such as the origin of flight in birds, how sharks evolved a cartilage skeleton, and a new theory for 3 specific mass extinction events. Following on from this significant research is an extraordinary publication output by Professor Long, including being published in the world’s most prestigious peer-reviewed science journals.

Along with his lifelong scientific work, Long recognises the power of integrating the humanities with science, stating, “While science can provide answers to specific questions about our key issues, there also needs to be more collaboration with the humanities to find real solutions to our problems today.”

Professor Long’s engaging communication style reflects his wide-ranging interests – for example, his 40-year passion for riding and maintaining motorcycles, which is an interest that will play a fascinating part in his forthcoming film and book project.

“I look forward to using this award to progress my upcoming sciences-humanities cross-disciplinary book and documentary film project. We are excited to have the backing of the SA Film Corporation in the form of start-up funding, and this award will allow us to further invest in sharing knowledge of science and life on Earth to benefit our communities and future.”

Professor Robert Saint AM, Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Research at Flinders University, where Professor Long teaches and supervises PhD students, said, “An incredibly worthy recipient, Professor John Long is at the forefront of expanding global knowledge about the evolution of life on earth and is making crucial discoveries about vertebrate evolution that explain key characteristics of humans today. From discovering the origins of sex to revealing the hidden mysteries of remote Antarctica, including what it tells us of climate change, his insatiable appetite to unlock the past is informing our future. John truly epitomises the Flinders University determination to make a difference.”

JACKIE HUGGINS AM
2018 RECIPIENT

Jackie Huggins, AM FAHA, a Bidjara / Birri-Gubba Juru woman from Queensland, was announced as the 2018 recipient of the Bettison and James Award in early 2019. Her phenomenal body of work has seen her make dynamic and highly significant contributions to the wider Australian community for more than four decades. Working extensively across academic, government and community spheres, Dr Huggins has published widely on Australian Indigenous issues, and in particular on history and women’s studies. She has served on many committees, advisory boards, inquiries and commissions, notably in the areas of Reconciliation, Indigenous education and employment, domestic and family violence, the prison and corrections system, constitutional reform and philanthropy. Dr Huggins is currently the co-chair of the National Congress of Australia’s First Peoples, the peak organisation representing the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Dr Huggins is currently pursuing her desire to research and write a book on the social impacts surrounding the history of Aboriginal soldiers in both World Wars – soldiers who went to war without their people being citizens of their own country.

The book will tell a story of great significance nationally, and also to Dr Huggins personally, coming from an Aboriginal family with a military service background. Her grandfather, John Henry Huggins I, served in World War 1 and was wounded twice in Belgium. Her father, John Henry Huggins II, was a Prisoner of War (POW) in World War 2 on the infamous Thailand-Burma Railway. He died at the age of 38 from his war injuries, leaving her mother to raise four children on her own. To further her research, Dr Huggins travelled to Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore in February 2019 in a delegation of Aboriginal descendants of POWS as part of an Australian War Memorial project.

Dr Jackie Huggins AM FAHA: “I am elated to receive this prestigious award from generous benefactors, The Jim Bettison and Helen James Foundation. After writing my Mother’s biography, it is indeed a dream come true that I now pen my Father’s. Two stories of remarkable Aboriginal people.”

Dr Alison Ravenscroft, Reader/Associate Professor in English, La Trobe University: “Dr Jackie Huggins has made outstanding contributions to social justice in this country. She has also been a champion of Indigenous arts and scholarship, supporting the recognition of the centrality of Indigenous contributions to the most urgent ethical and political debates of our times. This award is a wonderful recognition of the breadth and importance of her work.”

ROBERT MCFARLANE
2017 RECIPIENT

Robert McFarlane has been capturing defining moments of Australian life for more than half a century. From his early work in the 1960s capturing the now iconic images of a young Indigenous activist Charlie Perkins at university, and the Beatles arriving in Australia, McFarlane went on to photograph many historical Australian moments both big and small over the subsequent decades. Prime Ministers, film directors, Go-Go dancers, artists, surgeons, activists and workers – all have found themselves in front of McFarlane’s lens as he uniquely chronicled the changing face of Australia.

In addition to almost constant publication in Australian print media, McFarlane has worked for a number of leading Australian Theatre companies and was the stills photographer for more than 30 films including Puberty Blues, The Year My Voice Broke, and Muriel’s Wedding. He has written extensively on photography as contributor to more than 20 books and catalogues, as a critic for The Australian newspaper, and more recently The Sydney Morning Herald. His work alongside leading Indigenous photographers such as Ricky Maynard and Michael Riley for the landmark project, and book, After 200 Years remains one of his proudest achievements.

McFarlane’s photographs are held in the National Library of Australia, National Gallery of Australia, National Portrait Gallery, National Film & Sound Archive, Art Gallery of South Australia, Art Gallery of New South Wales, and numerous private collections. In 2017 he was the subject of Mira Soulio’s documentary The Still Point, which was broadcast as part of the ABC’s Creatives series.

Following the Award, which acknowledges his extensive and acclaimed body of work, McFarlane was able to collate a comprehensive archive of his photographs. A planned monograph of his most important images will ensure that Australians can engage with the work into the future.

“The Award is far more than just an honour, of course – it affords recipients the opportunity to continue and build on their life’s work, and that speaks to the vision, foresight and generosity of Jim Bettison and Helen James.” – Robert McFarlane

“Robert McFarlane is one of Australia’s most eminent documentary photographers, and a noted critic and writer on photography. The National Library of Australia is honoured to hold a large collection of his powerful portraits of notable personalities and candid images of social life and conditions. Robert McFarlane has made an enduring contribution to Australian photography over his long career and is richly deserving of this significant award from the Jim Bettison & Helen James Foundation”.

Dr Marie-Louise Ayres, Director-General, National Library of Australia.

 

MERYL TANKARD AO
2016 RECIPIENT

2016 recipient Meryl Tankard AO is one of Australia’s pre-eminent dancers, choreographers and directors, with a long and distinguished career across the medium of dance in Australia and internationally, and continues to push the form in new creative directions.

Tankard is a former Artistic Director of Adelaide-based Australian Dance Theatre, soloist with Pina Bausch’s world renowned Wuppertal Tanztheater and a creator of ballet, opera and music and dance theatre. More recently Meryl has focused on film and screen culture as a medium for expressing her artistic vision and drive. An AFTRS graduate, Tankard has appeared on screen as the subject of the documentary The Black Swan, starred in Dancing Daze produced by Jan Chapman, produced the choreography for Ana Kokkinos’ feature film The Book of Revelation and created the documentary Michelle’s Story, a film portrait of dancer Michelle Ryan who was suddenly diagnosed with multiple sclerosis.

Tankard has been able to further a number of projects that explore two themes central to her career as a choreographer and film-maker: the transformative power of art, and the positive impact that creativity can have on physical and mental health conditions. She recently completed development of her short film MAD, an illuminating journey of one woman’s experience of living with ‘madness’, inspired by Sandy Jeffs, a Melbourne-based poet and writer. She has also been able to edit footage of her acclaimed solo dance-theatre work Two Feet and digitise her stage works, making them available to be shared with educational institutions, the general public and future generations.

“I am very grateful to Jim Bettison and Helen James for creating this is unique and rare award which acknowledges and values the work of established Australian artists and their creative legacy. I am thrilled to be the recipient of this extraordinary award which will enable my work to be preserved and made available to other artists and the public and will allow me to embark on a major new project involving other important Australian voices.”

 

TIM JARVIS AM
2016 RECIPIENT

2016 recipient Tim Jarvis AM is an adventurer, environmental scientist, author, public speaker and filmmaker who, in 2013, led a team that retraced Sir Ernest Shackleton’s legendary 1916 journey to the Antarctic. He holds Masters degrees in environmental science and environmental law, is the Global Ambassador for World Wildlife Fund Australia and is the sustainability adviser on multilateral aid projects for the World Bank and AusAID.

Tim Jarvis is project leader of 25zero, an adventurous and visually spectacular global initiative against the biggest threat facing humanity, climate change. In 2015, 25zero teams summitted 7 mountains in three continents during the 12 days of the United Nations Climate Change talks (COP21) in Paris, sending footage, images and stories to COP21 where they were used to push decision makers to arrive at a meaningful agreement.

Jarvis has developed the phenomenal footage from the climbs into new forms, including a documentary, designed to educate and engage with the issue of climate change by ‘showing’ it.

Tim Jarvis said “I’m honoured and excited to be receiving the Jim Bettison and Helen James Award to support making a documentary about 25zero. It’s a game changer for the project but also a massive shot in the arm for me personally knowing it represents recognition of my ongoing work in the climate change field. It simply couldn’t happen with the support of awards such as the Bettison James and I’m incredibly grateful for the support.”

 

GREG MACKIE OAM
INAUGURAL AWARD
2015

Greg Mackie OAM has had a long association with the arts and cultural life of South Australia, serving on the boards of many arts organisations, including FEAST Festival, the Adelaide Festival Centre Trust and the Libraries Board of SA and more recently, the Ngeringa Arts Trust.

Following a decade with Adelaide Writers’ Week, and entrepreneurial cultural activity, Mr Mackie founded the biennial Adelaide Festival of Ideas. From 2004 he went on to successfully lead Arts SA and later as Deputy Chief Executive, Cultural Development in Premier Mike Rann’s Department of the Premier and Cabinet.

Awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia in 2002 for his services to the arts in 2007, Mr Mackie was presented with the national AbaF Dame Elizabeth Murdoch Cultural Leader of the Year Award for his efforts in fostering relations between the arts and business.

“I am truly excited that the Trustees of this new Foundation have enacted Jim and Helen’s wishes in establishing this new Award. Along with the encouragement of my long-time mentor, the late Don Dunstan, Jim and Helen encouraged me in my cultural advocacy from the mid-1980’s until their passing. I pledge to continue to honour their passion for ideas, thought leadership and innovation through my pro-bono and professional roles into the future. This award spurs me further along this journey.

“It is immensely satisfying to think that this new Award will add value to the efforts of all future annual recipients. This next chapter in my journey to create community cultural benefit is emboldened by this Award, and dedicated to the passion and memory of Jim and Helen.”
Greg Mackie OAM