For more than 30 years, Third Camp Director Jade Kartanya Brook has worked across education and community spaces, supporting schools, organisations and communities to deepen their understanding of Aboriginal perspectives, Cultural safety, connection and healing.
For many years, Jade travelled across the country facilitating this work. But eventually, a deeper calling emerged. A desire to bring that work home.
“I need to be doing this work back home, on home Country with my own community and the places that shaped me,” Jade reflects.
That journey home became the foundation for Third Camp, an organisation grounded in relationship, truth-telling, deep listening and the understanding that Country is our first teacher.
For Jade, the work of Third Camp is deeply personal. Growing up, Aboriginal histories and perspectives were rarely taught through Aboriginal voices and like many Aboriginal people, Jade learnt history through a colonial lens.
Adding to that disconnection, Jade’s mother is a survivor of the Stolen Generations. Jade did not learn about being Aboriginal until Grade 4, and speaking openly about identity at school led to experiences of racism, shame and isolation. For many years, silence felt safer.
It wasn’t until later in life that Jade slowly reconnected with Community, Country and Culture through Elders, Family and Mob. Time spent with Atitjere community around the Harts Range region, alongside reconnecting with Kaurna, Narungga and Ngarrindjeri ties, became part of a long healing journey built through trust, relationship and welcome.
“That journey taught me that connection and healing do not always happen quickly,” Jade remembers. “Sometimes they happen gently, over many years.”
Today, that understanding shapes every part of Third Camp’s work. Working alongside schools, early years settings, organisations, government departments and communities across Australia, creating immersive learning experiences that encourage people to slow down, observe, listen deeply and reconnect with Country.
At the heart of the organisation is a belief that education has the power to create generational change. Not only for Aboriginal young people and communities, but for everyone who now calls this place home.
The work focuses on three key principles: Healing, Connecting and Knowing.
Through storytelling, yarning, observation and shared experiences on Country, Third Camp encourages people to move beyond surface-level awareness into meaningful action, responsibility and relationship.
Importantly, Jade is clear about the distinction between embedding Aboriginal perspectives and teaching Aboriginal Culture.
“Embedding Aboriginal perspectives is something everyone has a responsibility to do,” Jade reflects. “But teaching Culture and sharing deeper Cultural Knowledges belongs with Elders, Traditional Custodians and recognised Knowledge Holders.”
That distinction remains central to the organisation’s approach. Third Camp creates spaces where Elders and community voices are elevated and heard first, recognising that Aboriginal voices must lead on their own Country.
“Kaurna voices on Kaurna Country need to be heard first. Narungga voices on Narungga Country need to lead. Ngarrindjeri voices on Ngarrindjeri Country need to lead.”
This year, Third Camp is deeply involved in National Reconciliation Week, supporting schools, organisations and communities to move beyond celebration alone and into acts of care, connection and reciprocity.
For Jade, Reconciliation is not a destination or a one-week event.
“My Aunties have always taught me that Reconciliation is a verb, a doing word.”
While awareness and celebration remain important, Third Camp believes learning must eventually move into action. Across schools and early learning settings, students are creating cards for Elders and Aboriginal community members, preparing care packs and gifts for communities during NAIDOC Week, and learning that Reconciliation is something lived through relationships and everyday practice.
“We can’t keep sitting in the same place year after year without asking, ‘What does stepping forward actually look like?’”
Third Camp’s message is clear: true allyship is not about speaking for Aboriginal peoples, but about standing alongside community, listening deeply and creating space for Aboriginal voices to be heard.
As part of Reconciliation Week, Third Camp will host Fire, Sky & Seed at the Mount Pleasant Environmental Centre on Friday 29 May from 4–6pm.
The immersive community gathering invites people to reconnect with Country through movement, observation, story, food and shared experience.
The afternoon will feature connection-to-Country experiences, movement inspired by observing the natural world, and opportunities for yarning about the ways Country continually communicates with us.
Arrernte chef Symon Conway will also collaborate with Third Camp to share fire-cooked damper, Warrigal Greens dip and native food experiences designed to deepen people’s connection to story, ingredients and Country.
Attendees will leave with seeds and a Kaurna Seasons map, encouraging ongoing observation and connection long after the event has ended.
Alongside its own events, Third Camp will also support a range of community-led gatherings during Reconciliation Week, including Tiwu Kumangka with Aunty Elaine and Uncle Moogy, the Blackwood Reconciliation Walk, the Reconciliation Breakfast and community celebrations at Tauondi.
At the centre of Third Camp’s work is a simple but powerful hope: that future generations grow up knowing more truth, carrying a deeper connection and feeling proud of the oldest living Culture in the world.
Jade believes this work belongs to everyone.
“We are all connected to this place now, and with that connection comes responsibility,” Jade says. “Responsibility to care for Country, to care for each other, and to ensure Aboriginal voices are not only included, but leading.”
That responsibility also extends to protecting sacred sites, ancient trees, stories and ecosystems before they are lost forever.
“If we continue destroying sacred places and desecrating Culture, those are things we can never truly get back.”
But alongside that urgency, Jade also carries hope.
“In a crowd of thousands, sometimes four loud voices can feel overwhelming, but they are not the majority.”
The message from Third Camp is ultimately one of courage, truth and collective responsibility. A reminder that meaningful change requires people to speak up, listen deeply and continue walking forward together.
Because, as Jade says, “when we get this right, it is not only for the betterment of Mob. It is for the betterment of everyone living across this nation.”
For more information about Third Camp and upcoming events, visit Third Camp or follow Third Camp on Instagram.
