Christine Anu is one of Australia's most popular recording artists and performers of all time that uses her voice and reputation to spread a message of unity and hope.
With 17 ARIA nominations, including the APRA AMCOS award-winning My Island Home and her platinum album Stylin' Up, she has one of the country's most enduring and recognisable voices.
Her acclaimed 27 year career spans across all forms of media including music, theatre, dance, film, television, radio, children's entertainment, and one of the most influential keynote speakers. Her broad range of achievements include platinum selling solo albums, acting in Hollywood blockbusters such as Moulin Rouge and The Matrix - Reloaded, performing in the hit sell-out musicals Rent and Little Shop of Horrors, and featuring roles in high-profile TV shows The Alice and Outland. Over the years, Christine has been central to a number of memorable historic moments, with her performance of My Island Home at the Sydney 200 Olympics Closing Ceremony a notable standout. Many Australian's consider Christine's My Island Home as the unofficial Australian National Anthem
Christine has and will always be proud of her Torres Strait Islander heritage and at any given opportunity will use her public profile as a platform to advocate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and others from marginalised backgrounds. Anu is a prominent voice of multicultural Australia and in 2016 was appointed host of the Evenings ABC radio program and now presents her own national radio show on ABC Radio every Friday and Saturday.
When speaking to Anu about her proudest career moments, she speaks of becoming a mother to her two children and mentoring her now 18 year old daughter Zipporah as an entertainer in her own right. Christine and Zipporah have naturally taken the stage together and in 2019 they performed at the Women's NRL Grand Final.
In 2020, Christine is celebrating 25 years of Stylin Up, will be releasing new music to her fans and is planning a large scale national tour in early 2021.
Talking Points
Culture, Connection & Empathetic, Insightful Leadership
Qualities of leadership are not always learned through established institutions. Culture, family, spirituality and a sense of belonging can provide the foundation for a natural, empathetic and insightful form of leadership.Culture, Connection & Empathetic, Insightful Leadership
And if culture and family structures can provide the framework and skeleton for successful leadership, in turn art and music can fuel the soul.
Christine Anu explores an unconventional and enlightening upbringing, experienced through concepts of indigenous culture and family, an unlikely early love of dance theatre and the ongoing search for her place in the world. From family sing-a-longs to boarding schools, big ideas and Nelson Mandela. Christine Anu contemplates her interesting and inspiring personal style of leadership.
Christine was fantastic! Her personality and charm was impressive as she stayed around for autographs and photos. There was great feedback from everyone who attended. ... keep reading Blacktown City Council
We are forever grateful to Christine for her contribution and being apart of The People in Indigenous Forum. Everyone was just thrilled with Christine's presentation and leading the global walk.
The audience was captivated by Christine's speech, which included a song in her native language. They were also captivated by her friendly open nature. Her unique stories from her homeland in the Torre Strait Islands resonated with all of the guests regardless of their cultural background. At several points she had the audience moved to tears and there was also plenty of relaxed laughter. Christine received a lengthy standing ovation from the guests at the breakfast.
The NSW English Teachers' Association recently featured Christine Anu as their keynote speaker for a student day on Belonging. The audience was year 12 students and some teachers. Christine was awesome! She was wonderful in every way. We requested that she could focus on the key elements of the HSC syllabus and she did that with detail, professionalism and skill. Christine was truly inspiring! Christine exudes warmth and a genuine joy. She sings with compassion and depth but it was her command and use of the spoken and written word which truly inspired our students. Christine had a wonderful capacity to recreate her childhood and life experiences with such detail; it was as if we were there on the beach or in the water or watching her mother fish. Christine Anu is a remarkable talent and a very special woman. It was out privilege to hear her insights and her celebration of belonging to her heritage, her culture and her country.
