Respected Aboriginal elder Aunty Josie Agius has died at the age of 81.

Aunty Josie was best known for her Aboriginal “Welcomes to Country” in the Kaurna language, at important events across the South Australian calendar.

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She was born on Yorke Peninsula and formed deep ties with communities there and in Adelaide, as an Aboriginal health and education worker.

Aunty Josie was also the most recent patron of the State’s NAIDOC Awards.

The South Australian Government and the Adelaide City Council have expressed condolences to her family.

-ABC