UTS podcast The Last Outlaws wins NSW Premier’s History Awards prize

The three-part audio documentary was a research translation and engagement project, led by Impact Studios with collaborations from UTS Faculty of Law, Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research and First Nations family descendants.

The investigative podcast is based on the tenacious and careful research into the Governor brothers by UTS Law Distinguished Professor Katherine Biber, who has been investigating this intersection of law, colonialism and race for the past 20 years. The immersive production chronicles the lives and deaths of the Wiradyuri and Wonnarua brothers, who were proclaimed “outlaws” for the killing of nine people in NSW in 1900. 

The judges of the Premier’s History Awards said, “The Last Outlaws creates a new standard in historical podcasting in its depth of familial, archival and legal research, shining a light on the ongoing impact of the colonial systems on Aboriginal families.”

The project was made during 2020 and 2021 and spanned multiple Covid-19 lockdowns and interviews that took place across Australia.

You might mistake this for a true-crime series, but it’s a much bigger, curious and shocking story that reveals so much about the making of Australia.
Emma Lancaster

“This was a significant digital project as it showcased a collaborative storytelling model, combining the research of Law Professor Katherine Biber with the cultural knowledge and family history of the Governor descendants, providing a right of reply to the archives,” said Emma Lancaster, the founding Executive Producer of Impact Studios.

“This project was about truth-telling, the impact of colonisation, racism, violence and criminal law. You might mistake this for a true-crime series, but it’s a much bigger, curious and shocking story that reveals so much about the making of Australia.”

I learned so much from this team, things I never could have learned in libraries or archives. It changed me, as a scholar and as a person.
Katherine Biber

Professor Biber said: “Working with descendants of Jimmy Governor and a stellar interdisciplinary team was a humbling experience. Everyone brought so much knowledge and, in sharing it, made such a rich and unique audio experience. I learned so much from this team, things I never could have learned in libraries or archives. It changed me, as a scholar and as a person.

“It was a lot of work, hard work, and it was worth it. In 1900 the NSW government outlawed the Governor brothers, and on Friday night, in celebrating The Last Outlaws, it felt like some kind of justice was done.”

Leroy Parsons, the great-great-grandson of Jimmy Governor, was the narrator and a co-writer of the podcast series. Accepting the award at the NSW State Library, he said his family hid their story for generations but have now claimed its truths as their own. 

“There was a time when there was a real shame when it came to the Jimmy Governor family, his name for what he did, but over the years our family have claimed and took back ownership of Jimmy Governor, our bloodline.

“We are not afraid to say his name and tonight I stand here in front of you all as one of the many proud great-great-grandchildren of Jimmy Governor and accept this award on his behalf.”

The prize winners received an award of $15,000. The descendants of Jimmy Governor are using the proceeds to establish the James Governor Scholarship which will be dedicated to First Nations justice, art and mental health. The scholarship will be administered by Governor family historian and Walbunja Yuin Elder Aunty Loretta Parsley.

You can listen to The Last Outlaws wherever you get your podcasts or visit the thelastoutlaws.com.au. You can read more of the judges’ comments on the State Library of NSW website. 

THE LAST OUTLAWS TEAM 
Katherine Biber - UTS Law Professor and Chief Investigator
Aunty Loretta Parsley - Great-granddaughter of Jimmy Governor and the Governor family historian
Leroy Parsons - Governor descendant, Narrator and Co-Writer
Emma Lancaster - Executive Producer
Kaitlyn Sawrey - Host, Writer and Senior Producer
Frank Lopez - Writer, Senior Producer, Composer and Sound Engineer
Allison Chan - Producer and Researcher
Professor Daryle Rigney, Jumbunna Institute for Indigenous Education and Research - Cultural Consultant
Dr Lyndon Ormond-Parker, honorary senior lecturer in the Centre for Heritage and Museum Studies at the Australian National University - Cultural Consultant
Belinda Lopez - Editorial Advisor
Benjamin Vozzo - Digital Communications Manager
Jake Duczynski - Digital Animation and Artwork by Studio Gilay
Additional sound engineering by Martin Peralta and Ryan Pemberton
Additional sound supplied by Camilla Hannan
Darwin Studio support from the Top End Aboriginal Bush Broadcasting Association - Lee Hewitt, Brendon Barlow and Bernard Namok