Stories on Country

Stories on Country is a national truth-telling initiative grounded in Country, culture, community and story led by Ernie Dingo.

Ernie brings people together on Country to share lived experience, historical memory and cultural knowledge across generations.

Country is not a backdrop to our stories. Country carries them.

Country holds memory. The joy. The grief. The silence. The things that were never spoken.

We do not stand on Country as observers. We belong to Country as kin.

When truth is spoken on Country, it does not disappear into the air. It returns to the ground that has always known it.

Country holds us.
Country hears us.
Country remembers for us when we cannot.

To speak truth on Country is not just telling a story.
It is a form of healing.

For mob.
For families.
For the nation that must listen.

Story and Country are inseparable. For tens of thousands of years, story has carried law, connection, grief, resilience and healing. When painful stories are shared on Country, there is healing in that act for mob, and deeper understanding for the wider Australian community.

Stories on Country creates safe, culturally grounded spaces where those stories can be shared, recorded and preserved with dignity.

How It Works

Each activation takes place on Country over three days.

Ernie Dingo and the BushTV crew set up camp on Country with guidance and permission from Elders, Traditional Owners and community leaders.

The camp is simple and respectful. It is not a stage. It is not a production set.

Community members are invited to come and sit, share a cup of tea, yarn and speak their truth on Country.

There is no pressure. No performance. No script.

Stories are shared in their own time, in their own way.

With full informed consent, BushTV records the stories so they can be preserved and, where permission is given, shared more widely.

Ernie joins as facilitator and national ambassador, sitting alongside community members and helping create a respectful space where people feel safe to speak.

The camp becomes a temporary gathering place. A space of listening. A space of remembering. A space where story and Country meet again.

This is not performance.
This is responsibility.
This is memory carried forward.

Two Phase Model

Phase One – Community Activation

Three days on Country.
Camp established with permission and cultural authority.
Community invited to gather, yarn and share.
Stories recorded with consent.

Phase One is about listening and presence.

Phase Two – National Archive and Awareness

Where permission is granted, selected stories contribute to a curated national archive in partnership with cultural institutions, educational materials and national awareness platforms.

This ensures stories are not lost and are carried forward responsibly.

Investment

Stories on Country is delivered for $25,000 per community for a three-day activation. Communities can source funding from various stakeholders and discuss this with BushTV.

This includes:

Pre-visit consultation and planning
Three days on Country with Ernie Dingo and BushTV
Professional filming and documentation
Community story recordings
Post-production of a short community story film
Travel and core production costs

Additional costs may apply depending on travel distance and logistics.

Phase Two archive development and national curation partnerships are costed separately in collaboration with partner organisations.

Why This Matters

Truth telling must be grounded in Country.

Reconciliation is not abstract. It lives in families, in silence, in memory and in stories that have often been carried quietly for decades.

By sitting on Country and sharing truth:

Communities honour their own history.
Healing becomes possible.
Australia listens differently.

A Word From Ernie

“I’ve sat with mob all over this country. I know the stories that are still being carried quietly. When we sit on Country and speak truth, something shifts. It’s healing for our people, and it’s necessary for Australia. This is about listening properly.”
Ernie Dingo

Walk With Us

If your community would like to explore hosting a Stories on Country activation, or if your organisation would like to support the archive and national awareness pathway, we welcome a conversation.

Contact Tom
tom@bushtv.com.au