Towards Reconciliation
Reconciliation is the responsibility of all Australians and there are many steps we can take to grow our understanding and show support for our First Nations Peoples. We've listed a variety of actions for moving towards reconciliation.
Support
Visit the Know your Country website to sign a petition calling on federal, state and territory ministers to commit to ongoing funding to employ First Nations Cultural Educators in every primary school across Australia.
Racism. It Stops with Me is a national campaign that provides tools and resources to help people and organisations learn about racism and stand against it. More than 400 organisations – and thousands of people – have pledged their support for the campaign. Visit the website to take a stand against racism.
Learn
Reconciliation Australia aims to provide all Australians with the opportunity to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. Visit their website for the latest resources and events supporting reconciliation.
Australians Together aims to bring all Australians together by telling stories to help us recognise where we’ve come from, where we are today and where we go from here. Their website provides an excellent range of resources for schools, workplaces and community groups.
Visit
Visit the Winton Wetlands Lotjpatj Natjan Danak sculpture walk. The walk features works that have been created by 15 Yorta Yorta artists that aim to share stories of First Nations culture.
Experience, understand and connect with local Aboriginal culture through Art by visiting Kaiela Arts, located within the Shepparton Art Museum (SAM). Kaiela Arts is an Aboriginal Community Art Centre and Gallery supporting local Aboriginal Artists. The centre has many artworks in the linear art style, traditional to Kaiela Dungala (Goulburn Murray), Yorta Yorta Country.
The Flats is a significant cultural area located on the floodplain between Shepparton and Mooroopna. Interpretative signage was installed in 2013 to record the history for educational and tourism purposes.
Follow
Rumbalara Football Netball Club (Rumbalara FNC) is an Aboriginal community run sporting club dedicated to strengthening the community and bringing families together through strong, vibrant leadership. It is a place of belonging, a place that people of all ages and backgrounds can call their own.
Read
Shop
Trading Blak was formed to create a safe and transparent space to educate, inform and support not only Indigenous owned and run businesses but also those who wish to support Blak businesses whether that be economically or through engagement.
Celebrate
Donate
The Pathfinders National Aboriginal Birth Certificate Program (PNABCP) assists Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander peoples with access to their birth certificate. A deep-seated distrust of governments and bureaucracy, costs, remoteness, lack of records and complicated forms are just some of the barriers First Nations people face when purchasing a certificate. Without a birth certificate it is not possible to vote, legally drive, play sport, get a tax file number, enrol in school or access government support. Donations enable the PNABCP to continue this life-changing work.
Ganbina is an Indigenous school to work transition program that mentors young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, from the ages of six to 25 years old, to make sure they gain the education, skills and life experiences they need to unlock their full potential. Their program includes learning support, life skills training, cultural appreciation, career guidance and financial assistance.
Based in Shepparton, the Academy of Sport, Health and Education (ASHE) uses participation in sport to undertake education and training within a trusted, culturally appropriate environment, particularly for Indigenous students.
Know
National Reconciliation Week (NRW) 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.
The dates for NRW are the same each year; 27 May to 3 June. These dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey— the successful 1967 referendum, and the High Court Mabo decision respectively.
27 May 1967: On this day, Australia’s most successful referendum saw more than 90 per cent of Australians vote to give the Australian Government power to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and recognise them in the Census.
3 June 1992: On this day, the Australian High Court delivered the Mabo decision, the culmination of Eddie Koiki Mabo’s challenge to the legal fiction of ‘terra nullius’ (land belonging to no one) and leading to the legal recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Owners and Custodians of lands. This decision paved the way for Native Title.
Please feel free to email us with 'call to action' suggestions that we could add to this page. Email: adepaola@gslp.com.au