Haus of Dizzy: creating change through the use of Traditional Place names

Indigenous jewellery designer Kristy Dickinson, a proud Wiradjuri woman, and her brainchild Haus of Dizzy have come a long way since her humble beginnings of selling earrings out of a handbag in nightclub bathrooms.

Kristy’s playful statement pieces are now stocked in over 20 stores across the country including The Iconic and Sydney’s Museum of Contemporary Art. Her Haus of Dizzy online shop sends pieces to all corners of Australia and overseas. These are opportunities for Kristy to encourage support of Australia Post’s initiative to include Traditional Place names on their parcels.

The Haus of Dizzy brand celebrates First Nations culture

Proudly flying the First Nations colours, Kristy celebrates her indigenous culture through pairing playful designs with social justice messages such as Deadly, Cool Aunty and Always Was, Always Will Be. “It’s about having a strong voice, but being a bit cheeky, colourful and a conversation starter,” she says.

Kristy also creates a First Nation earring which you can have personalised, “with whoever your mob is,” she says. “It’s about showing how proud you are of your mob and who you are – to fly that flag and show your colours.”

She hopes to empower young people too. “The whole reason I make my jewellery is to show young Indigenous kids that they can be proud of their culture, proud of who they are – and be successful.”

On being a queen in social enterprise

Through Haus of Dizzy, Kristy does lots of social justice work with not for profit organisations such as the AYCC (Australian Youth Climate Coalition) and Djirra (preventing violence against women).

Carrying slogans such as ‘Respect Women’ or ‘Stop the Violence’, her collaborative jewellery starts conversations and brings profits back to their organisation. “I love to make my jewellery but I also like giving back to the community.”

On why Traditional Place names are important

Following a campaign by Rachael McPhail, supported by Australia Post, we have proudly updated our addressing guidelines and launched packaging to include Traditional Place names. Kristy is encouraging her own customers to use Traditional Place names on her online shop.

“It’s really good to get the rest of Australia to know these traditional names,” she says.

According to Kristy, including Traditional Place names is not only about showing respect for traditional custodians, but about education and opening up conversations. “People wouldn’t normally know that this is Wurundjeri Country (Melbourne) or Gadigal Country (Sydney),” she says.

“It gets people to think, then research about the traditional custodians and names… it’s all about putting it out there and finally recognising these traditional lands and traditional custodians. It’s really important for the future of Australia.”

On the customer’s response

Kristy has had really positive feedback from her customers. “I get lots of emails from people saying: ‘it’s so fantastic that you’ve included the Traditional Place names on your website’, ‘I didn’t realise that this place was called this place’ or ‘I did some research found it so interesting’.”

Having forged deeper connections with her customers, she wants other businesses to get involved. “It’s really simple to do. I think every business should add it into their check out options.”

Creating change for the future

Kristy believes that using Traditional Place names will generate future change and benefit Indigenous children growing up in Australia.

“It’s been a really good change. I’m now seeing that they’re including traditional names on the news too. People are becoming more aware and it’s really exciting. It’s so good to know whose land you are on and to recognise it and respect it.”

When addressing your next parcel, check out our addressing guidelines.