Important dates in the Reconciliation calendar
There are a number of dates significant to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples that are celebrated with all Australians . Some key dates the nation embraces every year, including NAIDOC Week, National Sorry Day and National Reconciliation Week.
View the Speech Pathology Australia Reconciliation Action Plan.
National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children's Day
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children's Day is celebrated each year on 4 August. It is a time to for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families to celebrate the strengths and culture of their children. It is an opportunity for all Australians to show their support for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children, as well as learn about the crucial impact that culture, family and community play in the life of every child.
In 2022, the theme for the day is: My Dreaming, My Future. The theme highlights the importance of supporting strong family and community connections to help our children achieve strong spiritual and cultural wellbeing and to form proud cultural identities.
More information about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children's Day is available from the Children’s Day website.
NAIDOC Week
Indigenous Australia has a proud history of getting up, standing up, and showing up.
From the frontier wars and the earliest resistance fighters to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities fighting for change today—Indigenous Australian continue to show up.
It is crucial at this time that the momentum of the struggle is not lost.
The theme for NAIDOC Week 2022 is Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up!
It requires a genuine commitment by all Australians to Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! and support and secure institutional, structural, collaborative, and cooperative reforms.
Getting Up, Standing Up, and Showing Up can take many forms.
It is time to move beyond just acknowledgement, good intentions, empty words and promises, and hollow commitments.
The relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non Indigenous Australians needs to be based on justice, equity, and the proper recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights.
How to get involved in NAIDOC
Information about events during NAIDOC Week is available online.
Download the 2022 National NAIDOC Week Poster and display it somewhere prominent, and help promote the week and the week’s theme. Learn more about the 2022 National NAIDOC Week Poster.
National Reconciliation Week
National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is an opportunity for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures and achievement, and to explore how all Australians can contribute to achieving reconciliation in this country. Speech Pathology Australia supports NRW.
The dates for NRW remain 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.
The National Reconciliation Week 2022 theme is “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 all Australians.
This year National Reconciliation Week is asking everyone to make change beginning with brave actions in their daily lives – where they live, work, play and socialise. The week 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.
Download the National Reconciliation poster and display it prominently to promote the week's theme. A range of social media resources are also available to help support the week. #NRW2022 #BeBraveMakeChange
National Reconciliation Week 2022 events
National Reconciliation Week is all about events.
Visit the Reconciliation Australia website and search to find public events. NB. detail relating to these events may change at any time due to government COVID-19 restrictions.
Useful resources
Start your journey to reconciliation here…
Talks and presentations
There are many incredible talks, but here are a few that speak strongly to reconciliation:
Recommended films
- Rabbit Proof Fence (drama)
- Storm Boy (drama 1976 or 2019)
- Bran Nue Dae (entertainment)
- Beneath Clouds (drama)
- The Sapphires (comedy)
- Toomelah (drama)
- Freedom Ride (documentary)
- Black Chicks Talking (documentary)
- Stolen Generations (documentary)
- Vote Yes for Aborigines (documentary)
- Beyond the Dreamtime (documentary).
National Sorry Day
National Sorry Day is held on 26 May each year.
On 26 May 1997 the landmark Bringing them Home report was tabled in the Australian 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.
The first National Sorry Day was held on 26 May 1998 to commemorate the anniversary of the report and remember the grief, suffering and injustice experienced by the stolen generations.
While the Bringing them Home report was published over twenty years ago, it remains a significant document. Many of the report's recommendations are yet to be implemented, members of the Stolen Generations and their families continue to be affected by the trauma caused by forced removal and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children are still removed from their families at a very high rate.
On the 26 May 2017 the First Nations National Constitutional Convention released the Uluru Statement from the Heart calling for “constitutional change and structural reform” to empower Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and ensure they are rights-holders within their country.
The Healing Foundation is a National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisation that partners with communities to address the ongoing trauma caused by actions like the forced removal of children from their families. The organisation is passionate about strong spirits, strong culture and strong people. Members can explore their website and informative resources across their page to build on your knowledge as all of us strive to heal together.
National Close the Gap Day
National Close the Gap Day is conducted on the third Thursday in March each year. In 2022, National Close the Gap Day is on 17 March.
Closing the Gap acknowledges the ongoing strength and resilience of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in sustaining the world’s oldest living cultures.
Closing the Gap is underpinned by the belief that when Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have a genuine say in the design and delivery of policies, programs and services that affect them, better life outcomes are achieved. It also recognises that structural change in the way governments work with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people is needed to close the gap.
The Partnership
In March 2019, a formal Partnership Agreement on Closing the Gap (the Partnership) was established between the Commonwealth Government, state and territory governments, the Coalition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peak Organisations (the Coalition of Peaks) and the Australian Local Government Association. For the first time, Australian governments shared decision making with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peak representatives to develop a new National Agreement on Closing the Gap (the National Agreement).
Learn more about Closing the Gap in Partnership.
How to get involved in National Close the Gap Day
- Register an activity. (There are downloadable online resources to support your event.)
- Invite friends, workmates and family to join you
- Take action by signing the Close the Gap pledge and asking your friends and colleagues to do the same
- Call, tweet or write to your local Member of Parliament and tell them that you want them to Close the Gap
- Listen to and share the stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people on Facebook - visit the Close the Gap Facebook page.
- Share your photos and stories on social media. Use the hashtag #ClosetheGap.
Anniversary of the National Apology
‘Sorry Day’ and the Anniversary of the National Apology (13 February) are two separate days.
‘Sorry Day’ is held annually on the 26 May.
The Anniversary of the National Apology, 13 February 2008, is a day that commemorates the event when Kevin Rudd – the then Prime Minister of Australia – made a formal apology to Australia’s Indigenous Peoples and whose lives had been blighted by past government policies of forced child removal and assimilation.
'Sorry Day' has been held every year since 1998. The first Sorry Day took place one year after the tabling of The Bringing Them Home Report in Parliament. Having a day of commemoration was actually one of the recommendations within the report.
The National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families was conducted by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) and their final report, titled The Bringing Them Home report, was tabled in parliament in 1997. The report handed down 54 recommendations in response to these findings, many of which have not been implemented by any government since.
To learn more, read the full article on the SBS (Special Broadcasting Service) website: 10 things you should know about the National Apology.
Source: Racism. No Way, viewed 10 February 2020