Dr Mickler's book The Myth of Privilege: Aboriginal Status, Media Visions, Public Ideas (1998, Fremantle Art Centre Press, South Fremantle) was one of the outcomes of this research. It was shortlisted for the WA Premier's Book Awards in 2000. The book extends themes and issues Dr Mickler wrote about in his 1992 monograph Gambling on the First Race: A Comment on Racism and Talkback Radio.

The Myth of Privilege answers the conservative political critics of Gambling, and offers new perspectives on strategies for intervening in public debates and media campaigns concerning Aboriginal issues. The Myth of Privilege also contains an analysis of the media and political factors behind the emergence and development of the widespread idea that indigenous people constitute a 'privileged' section of society, in receipt of undeserved benefits and favoured government attention. Factually, indigenous people are the most disadvantaged section of Australian society.

Gambling On The First Race: A Comment On Racism and Talk-back Radio, Dr Mickler's earlier work, was commissioned and published by the Louis St John Johnson Memorial Trust, in conjunction with the Centre for Research in Culture and Communication. Gambling was tabled in the Australian Senate and House of Representatives in May 1992, and is available on-line here.

Through the Fellowship, Dr Mickler also served on the advisory committee for a major research project on the taking of Aboriginal children from their natural families conducted by Dr Anna Haebich. He was involved in the conceptual development and administrative foundation of this project, which was conducted under the auspices of Murdoch University and the University of New South Wales. The major outcome of the project Dr Haebich's multiple award winning 700-page book Broken Circles: Fragmenting Indigenous Families 1800-2000 (2000, Fremantle Arts Centre Press, Fremantle) Dr Mickler co-authored with Dr Haebich Chapter One, ÔA Boys Short Life'.

One of the founders of the CRCC's Telling Both Stories: Indigenous Australia and the Media biennial forums, which began in 1992, Dr Mickler served on the Steering Committee for the 1992, 1994, 1996 and1998 forum.

He assisted with, and appeared in the award-winning SBS documentary, Demons at Drivetime, which focussed on populist talkback radio presenters. He also provided advice and archival material to the ABC's Four Corners program for a 1996 episode devoted to the memory of Aboriginal activist Rob Riley. He also appeared ABC Radio National's Late Night Live with Phillip Adams in 1996 to discuss accusations by Senator Richard Alston that the ABC focussed excessively on Aboriginal affairs and racism, and on ABC Radio Tasmania's Steve McLelland Show in May to discuss the media's coverage of One Nation Party leader Pauline Hanson.

Dr Mickler also provided regular analyses and advice to the Deaths in Custody Watch Committee on strategies to respond to, and lodge official complaints against public acts of racism and discrimination. He was also been involved in a journalist training video produced by the Aboriginal Reconciliation Council, and presented lectures and seminars to journalism, media, indigenous and education students.

He assisted the fortnightly The Aboriginal Independent Newspaper to develop its Media Watchdog page, which is devoted to critical comment on media coverage of indigenous affairs.

Steve Mickler was born in Canada in 1957 and migrated to Australia in 1974. He has a BA in Communication Studies (Murdoch University, 1978), a Post-Graduate Diploma (Distinction) in Communication and Cultural Studies (Curtin University, 1990), and completed a Humanities Ph.D at Murdoch University in 1996.

Between 1981 and 1992, he worked in government in Aboriginal affairs in the Northern Territory for the Chief Minister's Department, and in Western Australia for the Department for Aboriginal Affairs and then the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC). In 1990, Dr Mickler was a researcher into Aboriginal-media relationships with the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.

He is currently Senior Lecturer in Journalism in the School of Media and Information at Curtin University of Technology, Perth.

Contact If you want to contact Dr Mickler, you can e-mail him at nmickler@cc.curtin.edu.au