Wadjemup/Rottnest Island should be included in the UNESCO World Heritage list as a place of significant cultural and heritage value, says Dr Hannah McGlade.

The island was once a prison and place of death for Indigenous men and boys who resisted colonial laws—laws that often resembled slavery.

"We must remember this shocking history and also the history of the Noongar activists who led the movement to remember and acknowledge what was done here," Dr McGlade told National Indigenous Times.

"Our future reconciliation efforts depend on genuine efforts to know and renounce this violence and history and its present impacts."

Dr McGlade recalled protesting in the 1980s against the way the island was used with no recognition or respect for the grave crimes which had occurred there from the 1830s to the 1930s. Hundreds of Indigenous men and boys were buried on the island in mass graves.

"I was a young activist in the 1980s protesting at the way it was being used as a holiday resort, with people even sleeping on the resting places of those who were violently abused and even murdered here," she said.

She said the need for acknowledgment of this history remains urgent.

"And today, Aboriginal people remain the most incarcerated group in the world," said Dr McGlade

"This deep-seated racism is pervasive across Australia and Western Australia, which has the highest rates of incarceration in the nation."

In the 1980s, Noongar activists, including Dr McGlade's mother, Mingli, led the Rottnest Island Death Group in calling for a Museum of Remembrance.

"The leaders, including my mother Mingli, brought Elders across the state for an important meeting to decide what was to be done," she said.

"We still believe this is a spiritual place, and as Noongar people, we never camped overnight at Wadjemup. We believe that the souls of those who died here must be respected."

Dr McGlade expressed disappointment at the lack of progress on Indigenous and human rights.

"We haven't seen still progress on Indigenous rights and human rights, and our reconciliation journey… The No vote last year showed that we still have a long way to go," she said.

Dr McGlade was present on Wadjemup on Saturday for a ceremony to recognise the history of the island, which impacted Aboriginal people from across the state, including her own family's connection to Mindup, who escaped the island to return home to Jerramungup.

"I hope the Rottnest Island Authority will support Wadjemup for World Heritage listing. Truth-telling happens on the ground with people and country; this is important for all of us."