Port Stephens speech pathologist and Wonnarua woman Nikita Austin designs 'deadly' collection of Indigenous stamps

The Wonnarua woman who grew up and runs her speech pathology business in Port Stephens, Worimi land, helped to design the Deadly Collection created by Speechie Stamps for NAIDOC Week, which is already having a positive impact on Indigenous children.

"For a long time now I have been focused on inclusive practice and making sure I provide health care that no one feels left out of," Miss Austin said.

"I advocate quite a bit on my social media pages for Aboriginal health, closing the gap and NAIDOC to try and increase awareness for Indigenous health and how simple changes can have a big impact on our Indigenous communities. I've seen firsthand how something as simple as a stamp with Indigenous art can light up a child's face.

"When I've brought out these stamps and used them with kids in the Indigenous communities that I work in, they've recognised 'deadly' or the star or kangaroo symbols. It's so good to see the reaction when they can recognise something of themselves and their culture in something as simple as a stamp."

Miss Austin operates her speech pathology business Eat. Speak. Repeat. Allied Health out of Taylors Beach but also works with the Ungooroo Aboriginal Corporation's GP and health service in Singleton (Wonnarua land where her family is from).

As well as a passionate health advocate, Miss Austin is an Indigenous artist.

Working in health and being an Indigenous artist led Miss Austin to connect with Melbourne-based paediatric speech pathologist and Speechie Stamps founder Makayla Rao who was seeking to launch a new stamp collection that reflected the 2021 NAIDOC Week theme of Heal Country.

Miss Austin created 15 designs which was whittled down to six to become the Deadly Collection.

The aim of the collection is to provide allied health professionals and educators an opportunity to promote and celebrate Indigenous culture in clinics and classrooms year round and play their part in healing country.

"The collection is for anyone who uses stamps for any sort of merit or encouragement - health professionals, teachers, educators, even families who do homeschooling. And they're ally friendly. You don't need to be Indigenous to use them," Miss Austin said.

Miss Austin's favourite stamp in the collection is the one she wanted to do the most - the deadly stamp.

"Deadly is an Indigenous slang or colloquialism that means excellent or good. I haven't seen that done before, so we were really keen on doing that," she said of the stamp which features the word deadly with a thumb up symbol.

Other designs include the honey ant, which is considered a bush tucker delicacy for Indigenous people, the kangaroo, a well known symbol in Aboriginal paintings and Dreamtime stories, and a stamp with meaning places and journey lines to represent the "learning journey kids go on".

The stamp with two hearts is a nod to Worimi.

"One of the hearts has journey lines to represent Port Stephens as a tourist area. A lot of people journey through it. There's also sand hills. Port Stephens is pretty well known for its sand dunes so it seemed only fitting to put a little homage to home there," Miss Austin said.

Three of the six stamps are personalised with the buyer's name. A portion of proceeds from each sale of the set of six stamps is donated to the Indigenous Literacy Foundation.

In addition to launching the stamps during NAIDOC Week, Miss Austin also released a resource guide to helping educators, health practitioners and families to buying genuine Indigenous products.

A six month labor of love, Miss Austin's guide, titled Ours to Share: Resources for an Inclusive Space, features Indigenous-owned or ally friendly businesses selling books, toys, decor, clothing and accessories and gifts.

There is also a list of Indigenous professional development courses for health professionals and educators.

"This is a resource for teachers, allied health professionals and families to help make their clinics, classrooms and homes more inclusive," Miss Austin said. "I wanted everyone to have easy access to genuine First Nations products that actually support First Nations communities."

The guide is available to buy through www.teacherspayteachers.com.

Proceeds from the sale of the guide will be donated to Indigenous charities.

Miss Austin was a recipient of one of Port Stephens Council's three International Women's Day scholarships presented in March 2021. With her $1000 scholarship, Miss Austin has been running inclusive holiday programs for children and adults with additional needs.

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