This year tens of thousands of Australians will once again choose to join First Nations peoples in commemorations, concerts, Survival Day marches and faith gatherings to mark the start of this continent’s colonisation.

Even more Australians will spend 26 January re-evaluating what our national day means and how we can create a better country and a better date for celebrating it – one that all Australians, including First Nations people, can celebrate.

Reconciliation Australia CEO, Karen Mundine said debate around celebrating our national day on the 26 January is a positive reflection of Australians coming to terms with the terrible history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ dispossession.

‘The support of First Nations events by non-Indigenous Australians is a welcome sign of our country’s growing maturity and understanding as more and more Australians join the movement for reconciliation and justice,’ Karen Mundine said.

‘Truth-telling is critical to Australia being able to celebrate together; a common understanding of our shared history is essential. Unity, justice, and national pride is dependent on truth.

She pointed to a May 2024 Ipsos poll Australians’ Perceptions of First Nations Issues which found that “57% of Australians believe there should be retelling of Australia’s history from Indigenous perspectives.”

‘The Ipsos poll and our own 2022 Australian Reconciliation Barometer both indicate that the efforts of First Nations people and the reconciliation movement to better inform Australians of our history have resulted in a growing awareness of the impact colonisation has had, and continues to have, on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

‘National unity and improved social cohesion are dependent on a broader telling of history and a common understanding of our shared history is essential in the creation of a national day for all Australians.

‘National unity cannot be built on selective versions of history that exclude, brush over or silence the voices and experiences of First Nations peoples.

‘Nor can unity be achieved by refusing to discuss alternative dates for Australia’s national day in the face of legitimate and long-standing objections from First Nations and other Australians.’

This year’s National Reconciliation Week theme: Bridging Now to Next reflects this ongoing connection between past, present, and future and calls for all Australians to step forward together.

It reminds us that progress in reconciliation is not always linear and includes both great strides (2000 bridge walks) and disappointing setbacks (2023 Referendum).

Ms Mundine urged Australians to have respectful conversations about finding a way through the current debate and creating a reconciled and more just country; one that we can all celebrate.

• See ANTaR’s list of events for 26 January 2025.
• Sign the Not a Date to Celebrate petition calling for inclusion and respect on 26 January.