Catherine Freeman

Catherine is one of Australia's most admired and respected athletes, best known for winning an Olympic gold medal at the Sydney Olympic Games. Now retired from professional track and field, she remains an international personality and role model.

"I was born in Mackay, central Queensland, and I've been residing in Melbourne since 1991. The great thing about being retired from professional track and field is that I don't have to travel abroad as much; I get to enjoy being Australian and understanding what that means to me.

I've had a very nontraditional indigenous upbringing. My grandmother, my mother's mother, was forbidden from speaking our native Kuku-yalanji language. So, along with the language went the whole culture of my nanna and of our siblings. It's unfortunate because there's always a sadness at losing your sense of belonging to a culture. Because of my stepfather's job as a jackaroo we moved around loads ��� all over Queensland. But I'm very much a city girl these days. I don't speak any other language. I've definitely spent most of my time in the mainstream of Australia, so there was a huge part of me that was really looking forward to learning more about my indigenous culture."

Deborah Mailman

Deborah is one of Australia's most popular and successful actors and is often recognised for her portrayal of the much-loved role of Kelly in the television series The Secret Life of Us. She has a swathe of stage and screen credits to her name.

"I am an urban black, a city girl, even though I don't want to be but I've been in the city for so long now. But coming back to the bush is reminiscent of having grown up in Mount Isa. I instantly feel relaxed, I feel calm, and that's what I was really looking forward to in the time that we spent out bush: no stress and just enjoying meeting the people.

From this trip I definitely got a deeper understanding of my mob ��� my people, and indigenous culture, a better understanding of the stories that come from this part of the country. It was a bit of a cultural awakening for me to be honest, and a very spiritual trip as well. And the other great bits were meeting people, eating a bit of fish and having some good tucker!"