Reconciliation Australia

📣 KEYNOTE + MORE SPEAKERS ANNOUNCED 📣 We are thrilled to introduce Fiona Jose as the opening keynote speaker at the National RAP Conference 2024. Fiona Jose is the Group CEO of Cape York Partnership, an Indigenous policy reform and leadership organisation – consisting of ten entities – dedicated to empowering Cape York Indigenous people. A formidable force for her community and self-determination, we are incredibly honoured to welcome Fiona as our keynote speaker! We are also excited to announce Tanya Denning-Orman (Director, Indigenous Content, Special Broadcasting Service (SBS) Australia) and Trent Wallace (Head of First Nations Strategy, Ashurst). They will be joining Rana Hussain (CEO, Good.Human) in a discussion on anti-racism action on day two of the program. 📌 To learn more about registering and access updates on the program, featured speakers and more, check out: https://lnkd.in/e4Md4tvN #Reconciliation #RAPConference2024 #IGA2024

A year ago the Australian electorate rejected an opportunity to advance reconciliation and reset relationships between the Australian state and First Nations peoples. Despite the efforts of the largest volunteer army ever assembled in Australia, on 14 October 2023 the Voice to Parliament referendum failed, causing disappointment and hurt in the hearts of First Nations people and their allies across the continent. Throughout the campaign, Reconciliation Australia consistently reminded supporters that regardless of the result, our work towards reconciliation and justice would continue. After all, First Nations people having a say in their own affairs has been central to reconciliation since the beginning of the formal reconciliation process more than 30 years ago. The referendum result shone a very bright light on the harsh truth that Australia has a long way to go on its reconciliation journey. This was starkly illustrated in the ignorance and racism that characterised a large amount of the public discourse during that time. #StillYes But it is also true that, despite a huge misinformation campaign, six million Australians voted ‘Yes’. 60,000 people volunteered their time and support to the campaign and many First Nations communities voted in favour of the Voice to Parliament. Unprecedented numbers of organisations, schools, community groups and sports teams also pledged their support. Support for First Nations justice and self-determination continues after the referendum. In May 2024 international polling company Ipsos found that 78% of Australians still believe First Nations people should have a say in the laws and political decisions that affect them. We are encouraged by increasing participation in our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) and Narragunnawali: Reconciliation in Education programs. There are currently over 3,300 active RAP partners, and over 2,000 schools and early learning services have joined us in actively promoting reconciliation in education. We are encouraged by the way Australians embraced the 2024 National Reconciliation Week theme, Now More Than Ever, stressing the vital importance of staying engaged, connected, and committed to reconciliation; and by the more than 500 choirs across Australia who joined us in singing the Warumpi Band classic Blackfella/Whitefella. We are heartened by the innovation, ingenuity and sheer determination of the applicants to our Indigenous Governance Awards 2024; organisations who exercise their self-determination to successfully build better lives for their families and communities. Like these groundbreaking organisations our work did not stop after the referendum; like them we have been getting on with the job. ---continued at the link--- 📌READ THE FULL STATEMENT: https://bit.ly/404j061 #Reconciliation

Judges for the Indigenous Governance Awards 2024 recently met with Mibbinbah Spirit Healing as part of the awards judging process. Since 2007, Mibbinbah has coordinated a national program of events, including an annual gathering, to provide First Nations people with the necessary opportunity, space, and agency to co-design the support system they need to achieve positive outcomes for their people. Mibbinbah believe that by using their Proper Way methodology, they can create a system of support that is not only long-lasting but also intergenerational, which will aid in empowering First Nations people to heal, grow, and resume their roles as the nurturers, teachers, and leaders in their communities. Winners of #IGA2024 will be announced on Wednesday 6 November at the Indigenous Governance Awards 2024 gala dinner. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gXB-7T9d 📷: Ashlee Jensen, Wirrim Media Australian Indigenous Governance Institute, BHP Foundation #Reconciliation #IGA2024 #IndigenousGovernance

"Maybe we will never get a firm handle on the exact recipe for the dish served to the nation near 12 months ago. But its base was undoubtedly the early withdrawal of once-prized political bipartisanship. This was blended with low civics awareness and understandable cost-of-living anxiety, and then oversalted with various kinds of mischief – lies, fearmongering and racism." - Reconciliation Australia Board Member, Kirstie Parker reflects on the Voice referendum as we near its one-year anniversary. Read more via Guardian Australia: https://lnkd.in/gH_FDBJr #Reconciliation

Almost one year on from the Voice referendum, several books have been released that investigate and dissect what happened in both the lead up and aftermath. If you are looking for a way to help make sense of the result and the important reconciliation work that has and will continue regardless of the result, check out one of the following books: 📕 Always was, Always Will be: The campaign for justice and recognition continues by Thomas Mayo 📌 https://lnkd.in/gEk_iscb 📕 Reflections on the Voice: During and After the Campaign by Andrew Gunstone 📌 https://lnkd.in/gnts4KPE 📕 Broken Heart: A True History of the Voice Referendum by Shireen Morris 📌 https://lnkd.in/g4DiHUaG Images via: Hardie Grant Publishing, Australian Scholarly Publishing, BlackInc Books #Reconciliation

After more than a century, Warumungu artefacts are being returned to country in Central Australia from a United Kingdom museum collection. The return is facilitated through a program run by Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS). Warumungu traditional owners from the Northern Territory desert town of Tennant Creek travelled to London earlier this month to bring the 10 objects back to country. Read more via ABC Indigenous: https://lnkd.in/gJgHt86u #Reconciliation

The 2024 Koori Knockout is being held in Bathurst from 4-7 October. The Koori Knockout is a Rugby League carnival and one of Australia's biggest annual sporting and First Nations gatherings. It's a staple in the calendar of many First Nations peoples and is a popular way for NRL scouts to identify up-and-coming sporting talent. NITV will live broadcast all-day match coverage on Sunday 6 October and Monday 7 October, with supporting multiplatform coverage across the long weekend. 📺Watch: https://lnkd.in/gRwXczwE #KooriKnockout #KooriKnockout2024

October is Indigenous Business Month. In its tenth year, this year’s theme is 'Making our Mark'. Indigenous Business Month collectively calls upon First Nations business owners and their non-Indigenous allies, to gather online and in community, to celebrate First Nations businesses, stories, and ways of doing business. 📌Find out more and how to get involved: https://lnkd.in/g7n6sGX #Reconciliation #IndigBizMonth #IndigenousBusinessMonth

Judges for the Indigenous Governance Awards 2024 recently visited Melythina Tiakana Warrana Aboriginal Corporation in north-east Tasmania as part of the awards judging process. Established by Elders in 2008, Melythina Tiakana Warrana works to protect and maintain cultural knowledge and artifacts including re-establishing ceremonies. The work of Melythina Tiakana Warrana includes preserving custodianship and passing on the cultural traditions, practices and knowledges of the Ancestors of tebrakuna Country, and conducting business with cultural integrity. Winners of #IGA2024 will be announced on Wednesday 6 November at the Indigenous Governance Awards 2024 gala dinner. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/gXB-7T9d 📷: Ashlee Jensen, Wirrim Media Australian Indigenous Governance Institute, BHP Foundation #Reconciliation #IGA2024 #IndigenousGovernance

Reconciliation Australia supports the clear call for action, accountability and active anti-racism education contained in the Independent Review into ABC Systems and Processes in Support of Staff who Experience Racism report, released today. The review conducted by Dr Terri Janke and Company strongly urges the ABC to ‘listen loudly and act strongly’, and that courage will be needed to improve the ABC’s systems and processes for dealing with racism against First Nations people and those from culturally and linguistically diverse communities. We urge the ABC to ensure that First Nations people and perspectives continue to help guide its response to the report. That response, including urging the government to ensure First Nations representation on the ABC Board, will be a crucial test for the national broadcaster. Our thoughts are with the 120 current and former ABC staff whose experiences informed the report. We stand with them today, as well as with the members of the ABC’s Bonner Committee who have guided Reconciliation Australia’s relationship with the ABC over many years. We have had a long engagement with the ABC through its involvement in our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) program since 2009. Genuine accountability is a cornerstone of the RAP program, and we will continue to monitor the ABC’s response and listen carefully to the voices of First Nations stakeholders, especially the ABC’s Bonner Committee. The ABC is currently developing its second Elevate RAP and we will work with them to ensure their responses to the report are reflected in this next RAP. The review makes the important point that the ABC has a key role in telling First Nations and culturally diverse stories and that this ‘can only be done genuinely and respectfully when people have self-determination and influence over the stories about them and their communities and can work in environments where they feel safe and on an equal playing field with all staff’. Dr Janke’s review, and the ABC’s acceptance of the recommendations in principle, is a model for the entire media industry. Australian media organisations must reject racism towards, and harmful stereotypes of, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Only one in three Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander respondents to the 2022 Australian Reconciliation Barometer (ARB) survey felt they could be true to their cultural identity at work, without fear of discrimination. The 2022 ARB also reported that 60% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people surveyed, reported experiencing at least one form of racial prejudice in the past six months, an increase of 8% since 2020, and 17% since 2018. The 2022 ARB responses suggest that ABC staff are not alone in experiencing racism. Dr Janke’s review should be a wakeup call for all Australian workplaces to address racism. Australia, and the ABC, can and must do better. https://lnkd.in/g3gNDeMG #Reconciliation