National Reconciliation Week 2022 runs from 27 May to 3 June and the theme this year is Be Brave. Make Change. One of my habits to support my goal for this year has been to invest one hour a week in learning about our First Nations Peoples, so instead of simply acknowledging the week and attending a events, I decided to find out more about National Reconciliation Week which I share below. I have also then included links to where you can find in person and online events you can get involved with this year.
You can find an explanation of my habit to invest one hour a week in learning about our First Nations Peoples and what this means for me in this post – Monthly review – something I should have done a long time ago. I also share some of the first documentaries and podcasts that have helped me on this journey. Every monthly review post this year, I am sharing more resources that have helped me learn more about the traditional owners of this land – you can find those posts here.
What is National Reconciliation Week?
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. National Reconciliation Week is organised by Reconciliation Australia; an independent, not-for-profit organisation established in 2000. It is the national organisation responsible for building and promoting reconciliation between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islande peoples and other Australians. Reconciliation Australia creates a theme for National Reconciliation Week each year.
National Reconciliation Week (NRW) started as the Week of Prayer for Reconciliation in 1993 (the International Year of the World’s Indigenous Peoples) and was supported by Australia’s major faith communities.
In 1996, the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation launched Australia’s first National Reconciliation Week.
In 2001, Reconciliation Australia was established to continue to provide national leadership on reconciliation. {Source}
Why the dates 27 May to 3 June?
The below information comes from the Reconciliation Australia website.
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.
Reconciliation must live in the hearts, minds and actions of all Australians as we move forward, creating a nation strengthened by respectful relationships between the wider Australian community, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
National Sorry Day
National Sorry Day is the day before NRW on Thursday 26 May 2022. National Sorry Day acknowledges and raises awareness of the history and continued effect of the forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people from their families, communities and culture.
On 26 May 1997 the landmark Bringing them Home report was tabled in federal parliament.
Bringing them Home is the final report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families and was conducted by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (now called the Australian Human Rights Commission) between 1995 and 1997.
On 26 May 1998, the first National Sorry Day was held to commemorate the anniversary of the report and remember the grief, suffering and injustice experienced by the Stolen Generations and the intergenerational impacts of this still felt today.
Finding Reconciliation Week 2022 events
If you are keen to stay local for a Reconciliation Week Event the first thing to do is search your local council area and the term Reconciliation Week 2022. For example “yarra council reconciliation 2022” and you will find what events your local council is hosting.
The National and State Reconciliation bodies have listings of events that can also help you find a way to participate and learn. You can find their events pages here:
- Reconciliation Australia Events
- Reconciliation Victoria Events
- Reconciliation WA Events
- Reconciliation TAS Events
- Reconciliation SA Events
- Reconciliation QLD Events
- Reconciliation NSW Events
Online events for National Reconciliation Week 2022
I have listed below a selection of online events for National Reconciliation Week 2022. They are free and accessible from anywhere so even if you cannot find something close to you at at time you can attend, you at least have these fab events to log into.
- Reconciliation Victoria Virtual Breakfast – Fri, 27 May 2022 7:30am – 9:00am – this is the launch event for Reconciliation Victoria’s and will also mark their 20-year milestone anniversary. Reconciliation Victoria representatives will share updates and talk about their journey facilitating reconciliation across the state.
- National Reconciliation Week Oration with Adam Briggs – Fri 2If you cannot 7 May -12:15pm – 2:30pm– this is a free in person event in Melbourne but if you cannot attend in person it is going to be live streamed on the Aboriginal Melbourne Facebook page as well. Briggs is an Indigenous Australian rapper, record label owner, comedy writer, actor, and author, and he will be kicking off a week of activities in Melbourne.
- Online Film screening – In My Blood It Runs – 29 May 2022 6:30pm–8:00pm – if you haven’t seen this powerful doco I can highly recommend jumping online to watch it. It is free but you need to register. The film follows ten-year-old Dujuan who is a child-healer, a good hunter and speaks three languages but is ‘failing’ in school and facing increasing scrutiny from welfare and the police.
- Lunch with Leaders – Reconciliation Week – Tue, 31 May 2022 2:00pm – 3:00pm (note that is lunch time for WA where the panel is located not for us in the eastern states!) – Join Auspire for lunch online to hear from two respected Aboriginal leaders on the role we all play in the reconciliation journey. Dr Robert Isaacs AM is an Aboriginal Elder from the Whadjuk-Bibilmum Wardandi Noongar language group, and has devoted his career to improving the wellbeing of Aboriginal Australians. Alison Page is a Walbanga and Wadi Wadi woman, and is an award-winning Designer and Film Producer. Both are members of the National Australia Day Council board. They will discuss how all Australians can work together to create a nation strengthened by respect for all peoples.
- A conversation with Aunty Joy Murphy Wandin and Tiriki Onus hosted by Melbourne City Mission – Mon, 30 May 2022 3:00pm – 3:45pm – Hosted by MCM CEO Vicki Sutton, the panel will discuss this year’s Reconciliation Week theme: Be Brave. Make Change. It is a challenge to everyone—individuals, families, communities, organisations and government—to be brave and tackle the unfinished business of reconciliation so we can make change for the benefit of everyone in our community.
- Restoring the Future: Be Brave. Make Change – Jun 1, 2022 12:30pm – This episode of Greening Australia’s Restoring the Future webinar series will unpack the National Reconciliation Week 2022 theme “Be Brave. Make Change”. The webinar will highlight the voices, experiences and lessons learned by First Nations Australians as we reflect on the role we must each play in building an equitable and sustainable future in which all Australians thrive. Hosted by Karen Jacobs of Greening Australia’s Thriving on Country Committee, panelists include Dr Emma Lee, Associate Professor (Indigenous Leadership) at Swinburne University of Technology and Milton Lawton, Woorabinda Ranger Coordinator.
- Be Brave, Make Change, Reconciliation Week Canberra Law School event – Indigenous Legal Judgements – Wed, 1 June 2022 – 1:00pm – 2:00pm – this is an online panel focusing on the Indigenous Legal Judgements book and hear from the editors of this exciting collection, Associate Professor Nicole Watson (USyd) and Professor Heather Douglas (UniMelb), and contributing author, Mary Spiers-Williams (ANU). The book represents a unique contribution by Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars who have re-imagined significant legal decisions affecting Indigenous Australians and illustrated how judgements can challenge systemic racism and work to counter the dehumanisation of Indigenous peoples through legal storytelling.
- National Centre for Reconciliation Practice Launch, Swinburne University of Technolygy – Thu, 2 June 2022 – 10:00 am – 11:15 am – The National Centre for Reconciliation Practice (NCRP) will advance national industry, community and academic understandings of reconciliation and strongly contribute to national systemic change. The Launch will include a panel – Aunty Jackie Huggins AM, Ian Hamm, Melinda Cilento, Professor John Evans – moderated by Professor Andrew Gunstone, that will discuss key reconciliation matters.