Top honour for Archie Roach in 2013 Deadly Awards

The annual Deadly Awards celebrate outstanding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander talent and achievement across music, sport, the arts and community, and 2013 was no exception.

The awards, held on 10 September at the Sydney Opera House, received not one but two standing ovations from the audience.

The first went to Arrente man and actor, Steve Mullawalla Dodd, who was honoured with the Jimmy Little Award for Lifetime Achievement in Music and the Performing Arts for his film and television career spanning 67 years.

The second star to have the audience jumping to their feet in a sign of respect was iconic singer/songwriter, Archie Roach, who won the Lifetime Contribution Award for Healing the Stolen Generations.

"I'm just one of the stolen kids. I'm a stolen kid come good," Archie told the packed crowd. He also took home a Deadly for Album of the Year for his recent release Into the Bloodstream.

Youth suicide prevention researcher and Indigenous mental health expert, Professor Pat Dudgeon, won the Deadly for Excellence in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health, while the education award went to the David Wirrpanda Foundation’s education, health and wellbeing program.

Quit smoking campaign, Rewrite Your Story, developed by Puiyurti (Don’t Smoke) Tackling Tobacco Program, won the inaugural Excellence in Health for the promotion of healthy, smoke-free lifestyles.

The first female Aboriginal barrister and magistrate in Australia, Pat O’Shane, was honoured for her work in justice and law, winning the Marcia Langton Award for Lifetime Achievement in Leadership.

AFL star and anti-racism campaigner, Adam Goodes, received the Hall of Fame Ella Award for Lifetime Achievement in Sport, and world title winning boxer, Daniel Geale, took home the 2013 Male Sportsperson of the Year award.

There were no surprises in NRL Player of the Year, Jonathan Thurston, who has a very strong fan base among his people and the wider Australian community. Adam Goodes also picked up AFL Player of the Year, a testament to the support he has both on and off the field.

ABC’s Redfern Now won Television Show of the Year and The Sapphires took the Deadly for Film of the Year. Silver Logie winner Deborah Mailman took the Deadly for Female Actor of the Year and, Redfern Now actor Luke Carroll is the 2013 Male Actor of the Year, endorsing Redfern Now’s credentials amongst Australian audiences.

Northern Territory singer Shellie Morris, who recorded her album, Together We Are Strong, in the Yanuwa language of her people, won the award for Excellence in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Cultural Advancement and ethno-botanist, Gerry Turpin, was the inaugural winner of Scientist or Science Project of the Year.

Published Book of the Year went to the central Australian NPY Women’s Council Aboriginal Corporation’s Traditional Healers of Central Australia: Ngangkari publication. The Ngangkari are traditional healers and the book is a collection of first-hand accounts, tracing personal histories from pre-contact time through to the present.

In the music awards, popular singer, Jess Mauboy, won in two categories–Single Release of the Year and Female Artist of the Year.

Producer and managing director of Vibe Australia, Gavin Jones, said the night is a celebration and a movement of reconciliation.

"Tonight we stand, Indigenous and non-Indigenous together to celebrate our nation's proud culture," Gavin said.