Rob Hudson

2024 Cohort

Through truth telling, freedom of speech, cultural practices and preservation, Rob is helping to heal, protect and empower First Nations people.

Rob is a proud Gunai Kurnai-Monero/Ngarigu man and father of five. Born in Bairnsdale in the early 70s, he was raised along the song lines and picking trails of Victoria's southeast mountains and coast. Rob is the curator of Krowathunkooloong-Keeping Place, a cultural centre that holds historical and significant artefacts from his country.

Rob is passionate about truth telling, language and cultural heritage. He is devoted to passing on this knowledge, and feels privileged to empower the Koori children in his community to be strong and proud of who they are through teaching them their mother-tongue.

Further interests and studies include cultural heritage management, learning an endangered language, and monitoring and repatriation. Rob is appreciative of spending time devoted to yarning and healing with many elders. In his youth, he was the recipient of the NAIDOC National Apprentice of the Year Award.

More recently, the fruition of a seven-year search become a reality when Rob finally found a 114+ year old Gunai Kurnai crafted bark Canoe and negotiated its repatriation to the Keeping Place on the Country from which it came. Now, Rob is in pursuit of historical documents containing lost Gunai Kurnai language and dreaming stories.

“Language is identity – neither can truly exist solely. It can be difficult to have the strength to speak the truth, and harder for some to accept it.”

Social change work

Rob’s social change project is to create a ten-year plan to teach Gunai Kurnai language and culture to youth and early years children. He will bring the knowledge of elders together as a strong base to direct and grow language. Rob’s vision is that in ten years, these children will in turn become the next generation of teachers.