Celebrating NAIDOC Week 8-15 November, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and acknowledging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, culture and achievements.

Facilitator Naomi Moran (Koori Mail) is joined Elders Uncle Rob Bryant, Uncle Des Williams, Uncle Herb Roberts, Aunty Robyne Bancroft, Aunty Gwen Hickling. Elders are members of the Southern Cross University Gnibi Elders Council.

Hear from our Bundjalung and Gumbaynggirr Elders as they share their stories of connection to Country, culture, and community addressing the theme for Naidoc 2020 – Always Was, Always Will Be.

Presented by Southern Cross University, Gnibi College of Indigenous Australian Peoples in partnership with Lismore Regional Gallery.

In recognition of National Week of Deaf People celebrating their community language culture and history this month's Thursday Night Live! was an all Deaf panel discussing Auslan, language recognition and the impact on the Northern Rivers Deaf community.

*The panel was communicated in Auslan (Australian Sign Language) and interpreted in spoken English and can be viewed as a video on at www.facebook.com/thursdaynightlivelismore

This Thursday Night Live! coincided with History Week. The theme for 2020 is ‘History: What is it good for?’, which invites participants to share with their communities why history matters to them.

In Australia history has been unsettled and the subject of ongoing debate. Just as the brutality of colonisation and legitimacy of Aboriginal sovereignty has been increasingly recognised, the relevance and quality of historical practice has come under fire. History can shape our identities and engage us citizens, it can also exclude and deny. We can celebrate and mourn the very same stories and tell them in so many different mediums.

In the 250th anniversary of Cook’s landing in Australia it is time to ask, whose history? Who controls the narrative? Are the statues and monuments to colonial Australia ‘history’ or a distortion of the past? How can we retell that story or listen to the First Nations perspectives of it being shared?

Joining the panel is Dr Mariko Smith, a Yuin woman who is First Nations Assistant Curator at the Australian Museum working on the 2020 Project, as a First Nations-led response to the 250 anniversary. Their consultation process revealed that the most significant aspect of the anniversary was truth-telling about Australia’s history, the true story of Cook and the foundation of Australia.

Gamilaroi/Darug artist, producer, podcaster and writer, Travis De Vries’s work confronts constructions of Australian history. Cook Falling, Tear it Down (2019) depicts a group of Aboriginal people pulling down the iconic statue, and false idol, of Captain Cook in Hyde Park. Travis de Vries’s work brings Indigenous storytelling together with western mythologies to create something new. Cook Falling, Tear it Down precedes the recent debate about toppling statues, but the themes resonate still; ‘One of retelling and reclaiming control and who owns that control, reclaiming an identity that is a big part of that story.’

Mariko and Travis will be in conversation with Brett Adlington, Director Lismore Regional Gallery and Adele Wessell, historian at Southern Cross University.

Thursday Night Live! is an evening of provocation, discussion and dialogue. Thursday Night Live! is a partnership event of Southern Cross University and the Lismore Regional Gallery

Join us for Thursday Night Live! INTO THE DEEP BLUE to hear a diverse panel talking about humans and our interactions with the ocean.

The theme of National Science Week 2020 is Deep Blue: innovations for the future of our oceans. The theme embraces the innovative technologies, capabilities and skills needed to achieve economic, environmental and social sustainability of our oceans. It features insights and inquiries into workable solutions that generate healthy oceans, healthy economies and healthy communities.

For this special Thursday Night Live! we dive deep into the blue. Facilitator Dr Kristin den Exter will be joined by award-winning contemporary artist Tamara Dean, drone scientist Professor Brendan Kelaher, and Great Barrier Reef marine scientist Kay Davis, from subtropical Southern Cross University.

Lets talk art, photography and humans in the environment, the role of technology such as drones to monitor shark behaviour and how scientists at Southern Cross University are playing a part in understanding the effects of climate change on our oceans. Following the panel conversation will be a Q&A session which will be opened to the audience.

Thursday Night Live! is an evening of provocation, discussion and dialogue. Thursday Night Live! is a partnership event of Southern Cross University and the Lismore Regional Gallery. This National Science Week event is proudly supported by the Northern Rivers Science Hub and Inspiring Australia.

Thursday Night Live! ‘Always Was – Always Will Be?’

Join facilitator Dhinawan Baker in conversation with Janine Dunleavy - Director of Teaching and Learning, and Lecturers Rachel Lynwood, and Rod Williams.

After the Sorry Day destruction by Rio Tinto of the Juukan Gorge ancient sacred site in Western Australia, and the strong response to the Black Lives Matter movement across Australia and the world, join us in what would normally be NAIDOC week, to hear from the Academics of Southern Cross University's Gnibi College of Indigenous Australian Peoples, discussing ‘Always Was – Always Will Be?’

Hear from a diverse panel of young people from regional NSW talking about their experiences of the impact of COVID 19 and their visions for the future.

The experiences of the COVID 19 pandemic are very different for young people at a crucial period of their life and the repercussions will be felt for generations to come. Young people are more likely to be in precarious working arrangements and lack social and financial protection or independent decision-making power. They make up 40 percent of the casual workforce in Australia, most in industries that have seen the biggest job losses so far: accommodation, food services, arts and recreation.

Disruptions to education, home, aspirations and social life have been deeply felt and many may be at the risk of being left behind, vulnerable and marginalised youth in particular. At the same time, responses to the crisis and young people’s experiences may have positive implications as we will come to rely on their ideas and labour and knowledge in the future. Should this, will this, look the same? More than ever we need young people’s voices to think about new futures.

Facilitator Richard Atkin will be joined by Nimbin HSC student Arky Ryall, Evans Head local Digby Mercer who is currently in his gap year and Holly Ahern, an Honours student at Southern Cross University, Lismore.

Thursday Night Live! is an evening of provocation, discussion and dialogue. Thursday Night Live! is a partnership event of Southern Cross University and the Lismore Regional Gallery.

2020 is the year we find ourselves collectively questioning everything. It is also the United Nations ‘International Year of Plant Health. For the first online Thursday Night Live! in the time of COVID-19 we ask our experts: ‘Can Plants Save us?’

Facilitator Dr Kristin den Exter, is joined by Southern Cross University Professor of Plant Science Graham King; Dr Kate Neale researcher from the Centre for Children and Young People with an interest in therapeutic horticulture; Mark Dunphy author and rainforest regenerator; and artist Andrew Rewald whose practice is informed by an interest in food anthropology and his background as a trained chef.

Thursday Night Live! is an evening of provocation, discussion and dialogue. Thursday Night Live! is a partnership event of Southern Cross University and the Lismore Regional Gallery.

Thursday Night Live! :: Laughing in the Face of Adversity

Four amazing women who use laughter in their work and life, and are not afraid to tackle the sometimes difficult and uncomfortable experiences of life through humour.

The panel talks 'Laughing in the Face of Adversity' pondering the question: Is laughter sometimes the best medicine?

Panel facilitated by Gabrielle Griffin with panellists: Mandy Nolan, Maire Barron and Simone O'Brien.

CONTENT WARNING! Adult themes, sexual references and colourful language.

Thursday Night Live! is an evening of provocation, discussion and dialogue. Thursday Night Live! is a partnership event of Southern Cross University and the Lismore Regional Gallery.

World Mental Health Day, 10 October, is an opportunity to raise awareness of mental health issues and to mobilize efforts in support of mental health and suicide prevention.

Every year globally, close to 800 000 people take their own life and there are many more people who attempt suicide. Every suicide is a tragedy that affects families, communities and entire countries and has long-lasting effects on the people left behind.

People of all ages, races, genders, incomes and family backgrounds commit suicide. But young people are especially at risk.Suicide is the leading cause of death among young Australians. About 350 young people aged 15–24 take their own lives every year – more than die on the roads. For every youth suicide, there are 100 to 200 more attempts.

Join our expert panel for Thursday Night Live! - 'Opening Hearts and Minds - how do we talk about suicide?'

Facilitator Rose Hogan from Standby NSW Suicide Support , is joined by Luke Rugendyke, Vice President headspace Lismore Youth Advisory Group, Nerida Barclay Clinical Social Worker headspace Lismore, Ben Karsay from Beyond Empathy and Colin Marsh from Rekindling The Spirit.

We produce enough food to feed the world, but people are still hungry, the hungriest people are directly involved in food production, and the richest people spend the smallest percentage of their income on food.

Taking into account the plight of farmers in drought, the rising rates of food insecurity, the large volume of food waste, the health care and environmental costs of cheap food and inequities in the labour system in low wages from farm to plate, the food system may appear broken. On the other hand the food system is working for some, industrialised food has delivered the cheapest food possible, bad food may be good for business, but at what cost?

The news isn’t all bad and the movement for change is growing.

A food systems approach brings together the complex web of activities that bring our food from dirt to dinner. The recognised links between the environment, health, food security, poverty and social justice reflect a growing understanding of the structural forces that negatively impact people and the earth.

Join our panel of food practitioners and experts to discuss some of the challenges and opportunities to create a more just food system.

Facilitator Associate Professor Adele Wessell – Lecturer School of Arts and Social Sciences Southern Cross University - will be joined by Lorraine Gordon – founder of the National Regenerative Agriculture Alliance and Director of Strategic Projects Southern Cross University; Joel Orchard– Founder of Future Feeders, and Co-founder of Young Farmers Connect; and Hogan Gleeson – Farmer, Innovator and Co-founder of Urban Ecological Systems.

Presented by the Lismore Regional Gallery and Southern Cross University, Thursday Night Live! is a new ongoing talks program which puts thought-provoking and big ideas in the spotlight.