The Wentworth Lecture 2019

The Wentworth Lecture 2019, 'Innovation – Indigenous genius then and now' was delivered by Professor Marcia Langton AM at the National Press Club of Australia.

The Wentworth Lecture is held in honour of the Honourable W C Wentworth AO. It was established in 1978 to pay tribute to Mr Wentworth's contribution to Indigenous studies in Australia and as a means to encourage all Australians to gain a better understanding of issues that go to the heart of our development as a nation.

Biography

Professor Marcia Langton AM is an anthropologist and geographer, and since 2000 has held the Foundation Chair of Australian Indigenous Studies at the University of Melbourne.

She has produced a large body of knowledge in the areas of political and legal anthropology, Indigenous agreements and engagement with the minerals industry, and Indigenous culture and art.

Professor Langton’s 2012 Boyer lectures titled: The Quiet Revolution: Indigenous People and the Resources Boom is one of her contributions to public debate, and have added to her influence and reputation in government and private sector circles. 

In 1993 she was made a member of the Order of Australia in recognition of her work in anthropology and the advocacy of Aboriginal rights.

Professor Marcia Langton is a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, a Fellow of Trinity College, Melbourne and an Honorary Fellow of Emmanuel College at The University of Queensland.

In 2016 Professor Langton was honoured as a University of Melbourne Redmond Barry Distinguished Professor.

In further recognition as one of Australia’s most respected Indigenous Academics Professor Marcia Langton AM has in 2017 been appointed as the first Associate Provost at the University of Melbourne.

In 2019, Professor Langton won the Indie Book award for Illustrated Non-Fiction for her book Welcome to Country, a curated guide book to Indigenous Australia and the Torres Strait Islands.