National Reconciliation Week

A. I would encourage all Australians to get involved in National Reconciliation Week this year for many reasons. It is going to be fantastic, with the theme Bridging Now to Next exploring the connection between past, present and future.

It is important that each of us serves as a strong advocate for reconciliation and remembers to remain positive, believing we can build and strengthen relationships for the benefit of all Australians. Before we build bridges, though, we need a foundation built on understanding.

Our contact and colonisation history has not been truthfully told from many perspectives, including in our history books at school, TAFE and university. The atrocities committed can come as a shock to many Australians who rarely hear both sides of the story. Many Australians have only been told one side of his-story (often, not even ‘her story’). So many voices have not been heard. So many non-Indigenous people have been encouraged to view Australia’s history with rose-coloured glasses that dictate “settled” or “discovered”, which is not the same as "invaded".

However, through such things as National Reconciliation Week, if we can share our experiences, maybe we can better understand each other’s stories. Can we meet in the middle and take the next step? This could possibly be the next big step we need to heal this country.

A. I’ve been reading Practical Reconciliation: Strengthening Relationships for All Australians in 7 Easy Steps by Aunty Munya Andrews and Carla Rogers, and I’ve attended a few of their webinars. I searched the net and read many books to come up with ideas, and I suggest you buy their book and read it for yourself. As Aunty Munya and Carla say, “whenever a situation arises that raises a question, confusion or conflict, you can: 

• Reflect: pause and identify the issue. 
• Relate: try to imagine how the other person might be feeling. 
• Reconcile: design a way forward together.” 

Here are some other practical actions to consider in community, church or workplace settings, as well as with family or personally (ideas inspired by Barasha Medhi with my thoughts added):

• In schools, communities and workplaces, ensure every event starts with either an Acknowledgement of Country or a Welcome to Country, and it is the first item on the agenda and there is adequate time to perform it.
• As we Acknowledge Country every time, everywhere, let’s do so with the understanding that we have two names for many places in Australia, one the traditional name and one in English, some even in other languages. 
• Organise a cultural tour with friends, family or colleagues. 
• Hold a morning tea after church or community meetings, or in a workplace. Honouring and sharing food is a great way to get people on board. Invite local Elders to share in relationships and also share their experiences and wisdom. 
• Ask Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders or employees to share their stories at National Reconciliation Week, or other morning teas, lunches or dinners. 
• Invite Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander employees/leaders/Elders to significant events, such as launches and official openings.
• Hold a fundraiser and donate to an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander non-profit organisation in your local area, for example, a local Indigenous childcare centre. 
• Volunteer at a local Indigenous organisation, possibly during a National Reconciliation Week event. This builds two-way bridges. 
• Take actions to lobby for, or initiate, equal employment opportunities, then retention and recruitment in your area of work. Let’s seek equal opportunities for all in the communities we represent. 
• Buy Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander newspapers, for example, Koori Mail, National Indigenous Times (NIT), and Land Rights News, to learn about issues important to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and also to pass around in a workplace, social group or church. Also consider placing advertisements from your organisation, for example when jobs are being advertised or as an invitation to special events. 
• Promote your National Reconciliation Week activities on social media using hashtag #NRW2025. 
• Pledge to support local Indigenous businesses who can provide you with necessary supplies and services. 
• Give gift hampers from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander businesses. Check out Supply Nations, which works to connect over 5,000 verified Indigenous businesses in Indigenous Business Direct with more than 820 paid corporate, government and not-for-profit members in every state and territory. 
• Hold church, interest group or company-wide screenings of influential films and documentaries to educate employees about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, such as Mabo on ABC iView, The Last Daughter, by Gravity Films or Kanyini, a film by Melanie Hogan. 
• Hold a webinar. Call a panel of leaders together from the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community who can talk about their experiences or offer wisdom on specific topics. Ensure there is also an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander representative, where appropriate, on a range of panels and webinars in all fields. 
• Be proactive to ensure these actions are carried out throughout the year, not just during National Reconciliation Week. 
• Read the Uluru Statement from the Heart. 
• Immerse yourself in Indigenous culture. 

A. Bridging Now to Next recognises that we cannot move forward into the future without learning from the past and present. But it also acknowledges that we must move forward and cannot live in the past. 

The image of a bridge in my mind goes back to my experience in the year 2000 with the ‘‘Walk for Reconciliation’’ across Sydney Harbour Bridge (I was laid up with a broken leg) where around 250,000 Australians left one side of that bridge in anticipation of making change together and then reached the other side even more determined to see this country reconciled. 

While we have to learn and understand from the past, we can’t keep looking back to the events that caused wounds in the heart of Australia and Australians. Both Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians can’t keep playing the victim. We must move forward because we are all survivors, and future generations need us to get it right.

Bridging Now to Next is a theme that should unite us, not divide us, as we all want to work for and believe there is a better Australia ahead for future generation. This also ties in well with the 2025 National NAIDOC Week theme The Next Generation: Strength, Vision and Legacy.

I would love to see much more intentional interaction – pairing or grouping Indigenous and non-Indigenous people to take that next step together of sharing one another’s stories, experiences, and wisdom.

This is so important because it honours God by doing what he calls us to do. Jesus reminded us that the most important thing we can do is: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength. The second is this: Love your neighbour as yourself. There is no commandment greater than these” (Mark 12:30–31, NIV).