link | Interview with Mr Craig Ritchie – International engagement around Indigenous issues is so absolutely critical.

"In 1788, before white settlement there was between two hundred and 300 Indigenous languages spoken in Australia and close to 600 to 800 dialects within those languages. Jump ahead 230 years, and the situation is not quite so good, with very few of those languages spoken on about 120 in fact of those are spoken in the country and of those about 90 per cent of that 120 are considered at risk."

We spoke with Mr Craig Ritchie Co-Chair, Steering Committee for the 2019 International Year of Indigenous Languages and Chief Executive Officer of the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies which is based in Canberra.