Symposium Program

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Guest Speakers

Banksia Beats


Banskia Beats is a music program founded by Optamus (Scott Griffiths) and delivered together with fellow rappers and youth mentors Flewnt (Josh Eggington), Rush (Te Hiiritanga Wepiha) and producer Ray Tanielu at Banksia Hill Youth Detention Centre and Unit 18 of Casuarina maximum-security adult prison, Western Australia.

Musicians share their lived experiences, hopes for the future, and passion for social change with young people in the Justice system through open dialogue and mutual respect in and through music. Together, they hope to continue building on this work and pushing for a better understanding of music as a powerful tool for amplifying marginalised voices and creating lasting change.

Optamus

Optamus (Scott Griffiths) is a founding member of Downsyde and a veteran of the Australian hip-hop scene. Growing up with ADHD and channelling his struggles into music, he found healing through hip-hop. Now, he works in detention centres and schools using lyric writing and beat-making as therapy. His programs help young people process trauma, build identity, and reconnect with their stories. 

For over a decade, Optamus has worked with young people in justice and the wider community using culture as a bridge to wellbeing. The focus of this work is listening, healing, and creating pathways forward through the power of hip-hop. He now leads a team including WA’s leading hip-hop facilitators, Rush and Flewnt, and has built a unique, therapeutic-based studio space inside Banksia Hill Detention Centre.

Flewnt

Joshua “Flewnt MC” Eggington is an award winning, Proud Noongar rapper from Boorloo (Perth), Western Australia. With a strong family legacy rooted in activism, Flewnt uses hip-hop as his platform to articulate a powerful, positive, and uplifting message for his people.

Bursting on to the scene with his breakthrough single “Kya Kyana” (West Australian Music (WAM) Song of the year 2018) a roaring Noongar anthem and tribute to the strong history of his family, culture, and people. Kya Kyana is a nod to the past while striving and thriving towards a better future.

Its follow up track, the autobiographical “Black Boy” ft Emily Wurramara (NAIDOC Award “best song & best hip hop song 2019”) saw Flewnt connect on a more personal level reflecting not only his own family struggles, but a lived experience shared by many indigenous youths today.

Flewnt continues to tear up the Boorloo music scene performing live, writing music, engaging with youth, activism, public speaking, and more.

Rush Wepiha
Rush Wepiha is an Aotearoa-born MC, Bboy and Youth mentor, whose music draws upon his indigenous upbringing to poetically paint experiences of growing up Māori in a low socio-economic landscape. An established figure in the hip-hop world with a story that spans over 18 years, Rush was a member of the five time Australian Bboy Champion Crew, an untouched record to date, and now is an internationally respected Breaking judge. As a youth mentor, Rush combines the strength and conditioning that stems from his creative practices to encourage youth to embrace a positive lifestyle.
 
Rush is one of four mentors delivering music as therapy inside WA’s Unit 18 youth detention centre. Writing lyrics and recording beats form part of the lessons, delivered in a rustic studio space built by young people. The Unit 18 program is an extension of Banksia Beats, a long-running program at Banksia Hill Detention Centre, delivered by founder and coordinator Optamus (Scott Griffiths), fellow rappers Flewnt (Josh Eggington), Rush (Te Hiiritanga Wepiha) and producer Ray Tanielu.