''First Contact'' is an Australian

reality television Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early ...

documentary series that aired on

SBS One SBS is a national public television network in Australia. Launched on 24 October 1980, it is the responsibility of SBS's television division, and is available nationally. In 2018, SBS had a 7.7% audience share. As of 2022, SBS is the lowe ...

SBS Two SBS Viceland (stylised as SBS VICELAND) is an Australian free-to-air television channel owned by the Special Broadcasting Service (SBS). It began as SBS TWO on 1 June 2009, and was branded as SBS 2 between 2013 and 2016. On 8 April 2017, SBS ...

and

NITV National Indigenous Television (NITV) is an Australian free-to-air television channel that broadcasts programming produced and presented largely by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It includes the half-hourly nightly ''NITV News'' ...

. It documents the journey of six

European Australian European Australians are citizens or residents of Australia whose ancestry originates from the peoples of Europe. They form the largest panethnic group in the country. At the 2021 census, the number of ancestry responses categorised within Eu ...

s who are challenged over a period of 28 days about their pre-existing perceptions of

Indigenous Australians Indigenous Australians or Australian First Nations are people with familial heritage from, and membership in, the ethnic groups that lived in Australia before British colonisation. They consist of two distinct groups: the Aboriginal peoples ...

Overview

''First Contact'' shows some of the cultural divisions that exist between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians, and highlights the lack of awareness many non-Indigenous Australians have about Indigenous Australians and the various different cultures and lifestyles they currently maintain. A stated premise is that 60% of

have never had any contact with Indigenous people, a statistic that may explain the prevalence of the racist, unsympathetic and generally prejudicial attitudes that are often directed towards Indigenous Australians. In making their 'first contact' with Indigenous Australia, the selected six participants are taken to Aboriginal communities both in the city and the country, and are even processed into a regional prison at Roebourne in

Western Australia Western Australia (commonly abbreviated as WA) is a state of Australia occupying the western percent of the land area of Australia excluding external territories. It is bounded by the Indian Ocean to the north and west, the Southern Ocean to th ...

, where social problems are particularly

acute Acute may refer to: Science and technology * Acute angle ** Acute triangle ** Acute, a leaf shape in the glossary of leaf morphology * Acute (medicine), a disease that it is of short duration and of recent onset. ** Acute toxicity, the adverse eff ...

, resulting in incarceration of large numbers of Indigenous Australians, often for quite minor offences. The relationships between Indigenous people and local police in Roebourne are notoriously poor.

Production

''First Contact'' was filmed and set in

New South Wales ) , nickname = , image_map = New South Wales in Australia.svg , map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates: , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = Australia , established_title = Before federation , es ...

, home to the largest Indigenous Australian population of any state/territory, the

Northern Territory The Northern Territory (commonly abbreviated as NT; formally the Northern Territory of Australia) is an Australian territory in the central and central northern regions of Australia. The Northern Territory shares its borders with Western Aust ...

, where Indigenous Australians make up a higher percentage of the population than in any other state or territory and

Discussion

After the series aired, ''First Contact'' was the topic of an

Insight Insight is the understanding of a specific cause and effect within a particular context. The term insight can have several related meanings: *a piece of information *the act or result of understanding the inner nature of things or of seeing intui ...

episode, hosted by Stan Grant and featuring a discussion involving many of the people who were involved in the show.

Series overview

The show is estimated to have had a cumulative reach of 1,847,000 Australian viewers.

Episodes

Season 1 (2014)

Season 2 (2016)

Cast

(As themselves)

Six Participants 2014

*Alice Lardner *Bo-Dene Steiler *Jasmine Johnston *Trent Giles *Sandy Clifford *Marcus Solomon

Major Indigenous Contributors 2014

*Sharyn Derschow – Co-founder Linkidge Cross Communication Training Company *Margaret Gudumurrkuwuy – Elcho Island Arts *Marmingee Hand – School Teacher & Foster Carer for F.A.S.D children *Marcus Lacey – Traditional Owner, Teacher & Tourist Business Operator *Debra Maidment – Safe & Sober Support Service Program, Central Australia Aboriginal Congress *Victor Morgan – Senior Educator, Education Centre Against Violence & Chair Link-Up NSW * June Oscar AO – CEO Marninwarntikura Women’s Resource Centre *Emily Carter – Deputy CEO Marninwarntikura Women’s Resource Centre *Shane Phillips – CEO Tribal Warrior & Local Australian of the Year 2013 *Geraldine Stewart – Yipirinya School HIPPY Coordinator *Tangentyere Council Night Patrol

Six Participants 2016

Natalie Imbruglia Natalie Jane Imbruglia ( , ; born 4 February 1975) is an Australian singer and actress. In the early 1990s, she played Beth Brennan in the Australian soap opera ''Neighbours''. Three years after leaving the programme, she began a singing caree ...

* Ian Dickson * David Oldfield *

Tom Ballard Thomas Colin Ballard (born 26 November 1989) is an Australian comedian, radio and television presenter. Early life Ballard was born to parents Judy and Neil Ballard and grew up in Warrnambool, Victoria. He attended Brauer Secondary Colle ...

* Renae Ayris *Nicki Wendt

Major Indigenous Contributors 2016

Mother Nature

Adaptations

The series was adapted for

Canadian Canadians (french: Canadiens) are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of ...

television by APTN, which premiered '' First Contact'' in 2018."‘First Contact’: TV docuseries seeks to shatter Indigenous Canadian stereotypes"

Global News Global News is the news and current affairs division of the Canadian Global Television Network. The network is owned by Corus Entertainment, which oversees all of the network's national news programming as well as local news on its 21 owned- ...

, 12 September 2018.

References

External links

First Contact SBS
– Official Website
SBS’s First Contact is the real ‘festering sore’ of the nation
On

The Conversation ''The Conversation'' is a 1974 American mystery thriller film written, produced, and directed by Francis Ford Coppola and starring Gene Hackman, John Cazale, Allen Garfield, Cindy Williams, Frederic Forrest, Harrison Ford, Teri Garr, and Robe ...

{{Films and television series about Aboriginal Australia English-language television shows Special Broadcasting Service original programming 2010s Australian documentary television series 2010s Australian reality television series 2014 Australian television series debuts Television shows set in the Northern Territory Television shows set in Western Australia Television shows set in Sydney Indigenous Australian television series