Reconciliation Australia describes National Reconciliation Week as “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."
This year's theme, Bridging Now to Next, signals the continuing connection of the past, present and future, calling on all Australians to step forward together, look ahead and continue the push forward, guided by past lessons.
If you are considering ways that you might be involved, Reconciliation Australia is calling singers across the country to come together as “Voices of Recognition” by submitting a recorded video of your choir or group singing the iconic Australian anthem Solid Rock by Shane Howard.
If singing isn’t your thing, check out the calendar of events for other ways you can mark the week. There are also several free and available resources to spread awareness, including using #NRW2025 on social media.
This month’s AAG500 Blog features commentary from AAG National Office written by Dr Ellen Finlay, AAG’s First Nations Policy and ATSIAAG Officer: Reconciliation in 2025: Learning from our segregated past to build a united future.
In 1965, Charles Perkins and other students from the University of Sydney led a 15-day bus journey across Northern NSW “to shine a light on the marginalisation of Aboriginal people in regional New South Wales”; this trip became known as the Freedom Ride. The media covered the protest and drew attention to the ongoing racial segregation and discrimination against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in public places. Within 10 years of this protest, the Whitlam Labor Government had ended the White Australia Policy and introduced the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth) – to make it unlawful to discriminate against a person because of their race, descent, national or ethnic origin. These were significant moments where the courage of some pushed Australia to reconsider the hegemony of British Anglo identity, culture and history in our national imagination…
Read more here, and catch up on previous AAG500 Blog posts on our website.
Have you considered writing for the AAG500 Blog series? Blogging is an excellent way to practice concise writing, promote your research, share professional experience or career highlights. You may also like to get the conversation going regarding a new idea, insight or discovery! AAG 500 Blog is published bi-monthly. You can forward your topic ideas and draft blogs to [email protected]. We request that all blog submissions be kept to as close to 500 words as possible. AAG reserves the right to edit your submission before publication.
This report (released Nov 2024), from the Interim First Nations Aged Care Commissioner, Andrea Kelly, contains a series of key findings and recommendations on improving aged care services for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
Recommendations are based on feedback received from older Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, their families and communities, service providers and peak bodies. This included submissions and meetings with an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Community-controlled Leadership Group, with representatives from AAG’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Ageing Advisory Group (ATSIAAG) in attendance. Ms Kelly also met with Council of Elders members, including AAG member Gwenda Darling.
The report proposes a model for a permanent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Aged Care Commissioner. The model centres on three key principles that the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Aged Care Commissioner should be:
AAG welcomes the findings of the Interim First Nations Commissioner’s report and looks forward to the implementation of its full recommendations. You can download the full report from the Department of Health Disability and Ageing website.
Andrea Kelly (right) with AAG’s Michael Tan; Anita Westera (AAG President), Claudia Meyer (immediate past president), Aunty Dawn Gilchrist, Renu Borst (AAG CEO) at the 2024 Hobart AAG Conference