The 2022 theme, Be Brave. Make Change. asks all Australians to be brave and tackle the unfinished business of reconciliation so we can make change for the benefit of all. Australians.
“Our research shows that the majority of Australians support reconciliation and value the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians,” Reconciliation Australia CEO, Karen Mundine said.
“But – together – we still have a few big things to achieve.
“For reconciliation to be effective we need constitutional reform, treaties, and truth-telling.
“National Reconciliation Week 2022 follows a weekend marked by a change of government and a new Parliament presenting an opportunity for brave action with a commitment to implementing the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
“Its five years since the Uluru Statement was presented to the Australian people and the time for change starts now.
“We are also buoyed by the rise in the number of First Nations people in the new parliament, representing a range of views, and wish them strength in their work.
“But we can’t leave everything to our leaders and this is where Be Brave. Make Change comes in.
“The real work of reconciliation happens in our everyday actions and interactions; where live, work, learn and socialise.”
Brave Actions
Once again this year Reconciliation Australia suggests brave actions people can take with them every day of the year, not just during National Reconciliation Week.
We start by Acknowledging Country
National Reconciliation Week will launch this year – as we have done for the previous two years – by bringing Australians together for a National Acknowledgement of Country at 12:00 PM AEST Friday 27 May.
What began as a lockdown strategy has become a tradition; people – wherever they are at work, home, or school, virtually or in person – pausing to acknowledge that wherever we are in Australia we are on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander lands.
That we understand the truth of the history of these lands and people, and that we take action to move forward together to a reconciled future.
It’s a simple yet profound act and one we should not just perform but also make substantial through action.
Events everywhere
All over Australia people are marking National Reconciliation Week 2022 by holding events based around the theme, Be Brave. Make Change.
Be Brave. Make Change.
About National Reconciliation Week
National Reconciliation Week—27 May to 3 June—is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to see how we can all take action towards achieving reconciliation in Australia.
The dates are the same every year 27 May to 3 June and they commemorate two significant anniversaries:
27 May 1967: 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: 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.
