Be Brave. Make Change: will you help to tackle the unfinished business of reconciliation?
National Sorry Day is an Australia-wide observance held on 26 May each year to remember and commemorate the mistreatment of the country’s Indigenous peoples.
Today, we come together and reflect on how we can all play a part in the healing process for the Stolen Generations, their families and communities. Stolen Generations refer to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who were forcibly removed from their families and communities.
Following National Sorry Day, we mark National Reconciliation Week (NRW) from Friday 27 May to Friday 3 June. NRW is an important time for all Australians to reflect and learn about our shared histories, cultures and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.
The goal of the reconciliation movement is for a just, equitable and reconciled country. This will only be achieved when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, the First Peoples of this land, are able to equally contribute to the daily life of the nation. Until this happens, Australia will not reach its full potential.
At Deakin, we pledge to work towards this goal:
Deakin is committed to Reconciliation and Treaty, advancing the educational aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, and moving Indigenous Knowledges into the mainstream of Australian life. All our endeavours aim to reflect Australia’s full history and seek to build an inclusive future.
How you can move from safe to brave
This year’s NRW theme – Be Brave. Make Change – is a challenge for individuals, families, communities, organisations and government to bravely make change that will benefit everyone. On a personal level, this can start with brave actions in your daily life – where you live, study, play sport and socialise.
Reconciliation Australia has compiled a list of 20 tangible and practical actions for reconciliation you can take every day, including:
Calling out racism
Be ready to call out racism when you hear or see it. Have those conversations with family and friends.
Equipping yourself with knowledge
- Find out the true facts and ways to learn and talk about Australia’s history.
- Inform yourself with First Nations-produced and -created content and news. Check out NITV, Koori Mail, National Indigenous Times, IndigenousX or ABC Indigenous and find your local broadcaster via First Nations Media.
- Learn the long history of representative bodies and calls for treaty. Support current calls by First Peoples such as treaties, constitutional reform and the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
- Stand with First Nations people to lower incarceration rates, rates of family violence and children in out-of-home care. Support and share the Change the Record and Raise the Age campaigns.
- Learn about how life looks from an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspective through Share our Pride, a free online resource designed to take you on an awareness-raising journey.
Creating culturally safe places
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples don’t always feel safe or welcomed in some places and have been historically excluded from many.
Performing an Acknowledgement of Country is a way of showing awareness of, and respect for, the Traditional Custodians of the land on which a formal meeting, lecture, speech or event is taking place. A Welcome to Country is a ceremony performed by Traditional Custodians for people visiting their country and is appropriate for major public forums, events and functions.
Get involved in NRW events near you
Check out what’s happening in your local area or take part in a Deakin NRW event:
- Immerse yourself in the Nyaal experience with a viewing of The Crossing. Based on the life of Peek Wurrung Elder Uncle Rob Lowe, the film is set on the Framlingham Reserve and in the Warrnambool of the 1950s and 1960s, a period characterised by racism, segregation and the dispossession of Indigenous people:
- When: Wednesday 1 and Thursday 2 June. Visit anytime between 10am and 2pm (the screening goes for approximately 15 minutes and will be running on a loop).
- Where: Nyaal precinct: Waurn Ponds Campus, Building IC, Level 1.
- Hear from Professor Liz Johnson (Deputy Vice Chancellor, Academic) and Paul Davis (CEO of Wadawurrung Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation) about their roles and what reconciliation and the NRW theme means to them in this episode of the Respect. Belong. Thrive podcast.
We value inclusion and diversity, embrace difference, and seek to nurture a connected, safe and respectful community. Learn more about diversity, equity and inclusion at Deakin.
*Banner image: contemporary Torres Strait Islander illustrator Tori-Jay Mordey shows some of the different faces of Australians working for a just and equal society. They’re a visual reminder that reconciliation is everybody’s business. Read more.