25 May 2017
National Reconciliation Week ‘Let's take the next steps'
This National Reconciliation Week we reflect on two significant anniversaries in Australia's reconciliation journey—50 years since the 1967 referendum and 25 years since the historic Mabo decision.
The dates that bookend the week are significant milestones in the reconciliation journey. This annual event is a time to celebrate and a time to stop and think about two very important anniversaries in our history and what they mean for us.
May 27 is the anniversary of the referendum that removed clauses from our Australian Constitution that discriminated against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
And, June 3 marks the date of the 1992 High Court's judgement in the Mabo case, which gave legal recognition to the special relationship Indigenous people have to the land and paved the way for Indigenous land rights known as Native Title. These events were part of the beginning of this nation's journey to recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the first Australians and traditional custodians of the land - a road we are still travelling.
All Australians are invited to participate in our nation's reconciliation journey. Reconciliation must live in the hearts, minds and actions of us all as we move forward, creating a nation strengthened by respectful relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous peoples.
As we commemorate these significant milestones, all Australians are asked to be a part of the next big steps in our nation's reconciliation journey.