LAST NIGHT, FOLLOWING the tenth anniversary of the national Apology to Australia’s Indigenous peoples, a former host of online rotational curation account IndigenousX made a personal post on Facebook. The former IndigenousX host resides in what is considered a remote part of Australia. It was a late hour, and it appeared in my newsfeed later still, a well-populated comment thread already trailing below it.

The post from Steve Bunbadjee Hodder Watt was a shout-out to Luke Pearson, IndigenousX founder and chief editor, and myself, daily editor, a year on from the publication of Steve’s first article in the IndigneousX section of Guardian Australia. The post went on to list some of the opportunities within the news and media industry that followed Steve’s stint as host of the main @IndigenousX Twitter account: NITV; another couple of commissions from The Guardian; a gig with Aboriginal-owned newspaper Koori Mail; public-speaking engagements and various radio spots. It was an impressive portfolio, one I hadn’t noticed developing despite maintaining semi-regular contact with Steve. The comments included many responses from First Nations journalists and producers that Steve had worked alongside over the past twelve months, all singing out their support and praise.