shakin’ things up!
They didn’t stock what I wanted... so I made it myself
Browsing the shelves at the bottlo, I was excited to choose a nice Chrissy present for my mum, Jenny. As a proud Wiradjuri woman living on Bindal land, I wanted to buy something celebrating our culture and history.
A bottle of gin decorated with colourful First Nations art caught my eye.
Infused with First Nations Botanicals, the label read.
First Nations gin, I thought excitedly. She’ll love it!
Turning the bottle over to check the ingredients, I stopped in my tracks.
It had been made using native bush tucker, but produced by a brand which I knew wasn’t First Nations.
Gutted, I put the bottle back on the shelf.
ere’s no real cultural connection at all, I hu ed.
I resolved to nd what
I was looking for online. To my shock, it was hard to nd any Indigenous-owned and operated gin brands.
And none are owned fully by First Nations women,
I noted.
at week, I mentioned this to my Elder, Aunty Lyn Munns.
“If you want change,” she said, “you’ve got to get o your butt and do something.” It was 2022, and I was 31. For the past eight years I’d been a social worker, living at home to save up for a house.
Switching careers wasn’t part of the plan, but championing First Nations culture was important to me.
Even though I don’t drink myself, I was determined to give gin-making a go.
Nervously, I told Mum and Dad. ey’d spent a heap on my social work degree.
“I want to become a bush tucker gin distiller,” I announced.
eir support blew me away.
“Why don’t I convert the shed into a distillery?” my dad, Andrew, suggested.
Next, I approached the local Elders.
Alcohol is a sensitive topic within our community so their blessing and guidance was important.
“I want to change perceptions around
First Nations people and alcohol,” I said.
To my delight, they agreed. “It’s wonderful you’re trying to make a di erence,” they encouraged me.
I enrolled in a distillation course with a masterclass in gin making at Adelaide Uni.
As a non-drinker, I taste-tested by licking a drop o the back of my hand.
After completing the course, I spent the $50k I’d saved for my house deposit to turn the shed into a distillery with specialised equipment and a liquor manufacturing licence.
In November 2023, I launched On Country Gin, honouring the traditional owners of the land.
Of the four avours, the best-seller was made with ingredients people tend to chuck out, like clippings from lemon myrtle trees and fresh mandarin peels.
My family a ectionately called it ‘bin chicken gin’, but I named it Royal Ibis.
It sold out and I had to make more to restock.
It’s a family operation – Mum sticks the labels on the bottles while Dad builds crates for shipping orders from scraps of wood.
One of the most rewarding parts has been sharing a portion of the pro ts with Aunty Lyn. She uses the money to teach life skills to young Indigenous women.
anks to my homegrown distillery, First Nations women are really shaking up the gin industry.
For more information visit: oncountrycraftdistillery.com
‘I’ll be a bush tucker distiller’