Co-presenter Rhoda Roberts said the Deadlys were like a mix of the Arias and the Logies, and were “incredibly important” for indigenous people.

“This is recognition amongst the community of sports and arts communities of major new talent,” she said. “It shows the positiveness of our people across many industries and highlights their achievements.”

“Things have changed but there is still a long path to tread,” he said. “There are people who are willing to fill the void, and I am one of those.”

ALTHOUGH there are an increasing number of indigenous faces on the nation’s sporting fields and television screens, separate Aboriginal awards are still justified to counteract the tidal wave of negative media coverage.

Participants in this year’s National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Awards — known as the Deadlys — yesterday said the awards presented the positive face of the community at a time when the media was highlighting alcoholism and child abuse in remote communities.

The awards were presented at a high-spirited celebration at the Sydney Opera House last night.

Recipients included boxer Anthony Mundine as Male Sportsperson of the Year, basketball player Rohanee Cox as Female Sportsperson of the Year and actor Luke Carroll, who has appeared in numerous television productions including Home and Away, All Saints, Heartbreak High and The Flying Doctors.

Mundine, as modest as ever, said he was one of the greatest athletes Australia had produced and among the upcoming generation of indigenous kids there would be some as bold, as brassy and as talented as him. “I want to be the king of kings, I want to be the greatest fighter,” he said.

“The Deadlys are a great concept for Aboriginal people. They are positive, a big difference to the regular rubbish way they are portrayed. My people are in a state, we lack self-esteem.

“All that is portrayed in the media is that we are no-good child- molesters and alcoholics. That is what the kids think they are.

“There are kids out there with the same talent, brashness and bravado as me.

“It is a matter of making them believe in themselves.”

Co-presenter Rhoda Roberts said the Deadlys were like a mix of the Arias and the Logies, and were “incredibly important” for indigenous people.

“This is recognition amongst the community of sports and arts communities of major new talent,” she said. “It shows the positiveness of our people across many industries and highlights their achievements.”

Carroll said the Deadlys were a great opportunity to showcase what indigenous Australians could achieve.

“Things have changed but there is still a long path to tread,” he said. “There are people who are willing to fill the void, and I am one of those.”

Co-presenter Joey Williams, a player with the South Sydney Rabbitohs rugby league club, said he had fulfilled the dream of almost every Aboriginal boy in the country — to become a professional footballer — and it was important to show that achievement was possible.

Other winners included musicians Sharon-Lee Lane and Dan Sultan, Jessica Mauboy from Australian Idol, Kev Carmody, and Jimmy Little.