Call for Indigenous men to step up to become Perth's first Mr NAIDOC

Emma Ruben Published March 19, 2022 at 12.00pm (AWST)

arts

NAIDOC Perth has launched the inaugural Mr NAIDOC program in the hopes to create an empowering community for Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander men.

Both program strives to stray away from traditional pageants by providing an accessible platform for important voices in the Aboriginal community.

Miss NAIDOC Perth founder, director and model Shannon McGuire hopes the program can help participants build a profile around who they want to be.

"We see with our women's program the connection they were making with each other, as well as the sisterhood that was formed and the relationships that are built," she said.

"And we hope that this is something that we can create for our men this year as well and they will have the space to learn from each other and empower one another."

Ms McGuire said the inspiration to start Miss NAIDOC 12 years ago came from her experience competing in Miss Universe Australia in 2008.

"I went into Miss Universe Australia naive, not really knowing what it was about," she said.

"And I could have really used that platform to stand as one of the only Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in the competition.

"So I think that's where we sort of got the idea for Miss NAIDOC and now Mr NAIDOC."

NAIDOC Perth committee member Corey Jacobs said the interest for a Mr NAIDOC was overwhelmingly positive.

"The community, every time we spoke about it, everybody just got more excited," he said.

"Some other committee members posted about it through social media asking if there would be much interest in getting the program started.

"And the feedback was so positive so we pretty much ran with the idea to just get it done."

Mr Jacobs hopes Mr NAIDOC will help Indigenous men build strong connections in the community and create leadership opportunities.

"Altogether there's 20 young women and men so that's 19 connections within that group that they've made throughout the program leading on to the future," he said.

"Leadership within the community, making connections and excelling their self-esteem going forward would be a really good accomplishment to get from working with Miss and Mr NAIDOC and the wider Aboriginal community.

"I look forward to seeing the progress of the program as it's been a long time coming and to see it come to fruition I think is really ground-breaking."

Miss and Mr NAIDOC are both currently taking applicants. Both programs will run later this year and the winners will be selected during Reconciliation Week.