A Northam born musician is one of five people nominated for the Arts and Culture Award as apart of the 2018 West Australian of the Year Awards, to be announced at the Gala Dinner on 1 June.
Phil Walley-Stack is a is a business man, entrepreneur, singer-songwriter, musician and community volunteer.
The singer-songwriter is no stranger to the WA of the Year Awards process.
Last year he was nominated in the Wesfarmers Aboriginal Award category.
Phil has been described as an international ambassador for the arts in WA and has been commended for his strong cultural foundations he uses to teach and share Aboriginal culture both locally and internationally.
Phil was one of the leading forces that lobbied the “Fake Art” Campaign which resulted in the establishment of a Parliamentary inquiry into the growing proliferation of inauthentic Indigenous art and crafts.
He is the volunteer Chairperson for Perth’s only Aboriginal radio station 100.9 FM Noongar Radio, and a volunteer broadcaster for the popular national radio program “Indigenous Beats” promoting Aboriginal music and artists.
The program now works alongside journalism students from Curtin University by equipping volunteers with the skills to source and present Noongar-based Indigenous stories.
Phil is also an ambassador for children’s charity 12 Buckets, and sits on a number of working groups including the Town of Vincent’s Reconciliation Action Plan Committee and the Indigenous Remote Communication Association.
Phil has kept up his close relationship to his old hometown, visiting his primary school Avonvale Primary School in late 2016 to help education students about bullying.