Meet An Ally: Allison Casey

Allison Casey has had many moments in her life that have shaped her understanding of reconciliation. She has realised that it's not only about large political conversations. For her it began by questioning what we are taught as children, listening to uncomfortable truths and choosing to see people and Country differently.

Allison’s family moved from her hometown in The lower Blue Mountains to rural Queensland when she was about five years old.

She was trying to understand a new town, new people and where she fitted within it all. She missed her cousins, friends and the places where she felt safe and that were known. Everything felt unfamiliar and she felt that “that something wasn’t right”.

Allison has a strong early memory of when her dad’s new friends would come over to their house. “Almost like part of a routine, one of the adults would tell us kids to go and grab a particular book from the bookshelf. It sat there beside all our other family books like some kind of prized possession. I still remember standing on my toes to pull it down from the shelf”, she describes.

The book was entirely filled with derogatory ‘jokes’ about First Nations people.

“The adults would laugh while the pages were flipped through, but I never understood why it was funny. I remember feeling uncomfortable every single time the book came out. I was only little, but even then, something inside me knew it didn’t feel right.

“At school we were taught to be kind, to include people and to never bully others for being different. Yet here were grown adults laughing at people they didn’t even know because of who they were.

“I remember sitting quietly and wondering what made us so different from one another. Why was it acceptable to make fun of some people, but not others?” she reflects. The feeling stayed with her for a long time.

During the COVID lockdowns, Allison found herself sitting on Country with Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal women - everything felt slower and more quiet.

“I began learning about caring for Country, not as a slogan, but as something lived every day. It was about paying attention. Watching the birds move through the trees. Seeing native plants flower with the seasons. Listening to the wind move through the bush. Respecting the earth beneath our feet rather than simply walking over it without noticing.

“For the first time, I understood Country not just as land, but as something alive and deeply connected to people, memory and belonging,” Allison reflects.

Those moments changed her and she now wants a future where children grow up learning respect for First Nations people and our shared history.