Greetings …

National Reconciliation Week is upon us again.  According to the Reconciliation Australia website (www.reconciliation.org.au) the week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

National Reconciliation Week runs from 27 May to 3 June and the dates remain the same each year.  These dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey – the successful 1967 referendum and the High Court Mabo decision respectively.

But reconciliation is about more than a designated week when we might see posters and pay lip service at one-off events.  

As the theme for 2021 More than a word – Reconciliation takes action explains, reconciliation needs to live in the hearts and minds of all Australians, and be evidenced in their actions, continually.  We all have a role to play – individuals, families, communities, organisations and our nation as a whole.  As a white woman this means that I need to not only be sorry for what has happened in the past, but be aware that the very nature of my ‘white-ness’ (an accident of birth) affords me privileges not everyone has. 

Looking to creation a nation strengthened by respectful relationships between the wide Australian community and our First Peoples (the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples) should be the goal to which we steadily move. 

At the heart of this journey are relationships.  Check out your local council website to see different opportunities in your local areas which might help you start a new relationship with our First Nations people.

Blessings – Heather.