National Reconciliation Week 2023

“Be a Voice for Generations” is the theme for National Reconciliation Week 2023 (NRW23), from 27 May to 3 June, and urges us to use our words and actions to create a better Australia as we head towards this year’s Voice to Parliament Referendum. NRW23 is a time for us all to learn about how each of us can make a contribution to achieving reconciliation in Australia and to learn about our shared histories, cultures and achievements. We are encouraged to be a voice for Reconciliation in tangible ways in our everyday lives, in our communities and in our workplaces.

We recognise that to reconcile means that non-Indigenous Australians have to acknowledge Australia’s past colonial history. At JNC we recognise the past genocide and atrocities enacted against First Nations Peoples and Communities. We acknowledge the continuing inequality, injustices and discrimination that persists in this country today and are endured by First Nations’ Peoples. These are reflected through high rates of incarceration, suicide, infant mortality, and homelessness experienced by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. We acknowledge the wrongs committed both past and present.  We acknowledge that we are on what always was and always will be Aboriginal Land.

There is a long way to go in the healing journey of reconciliation and we hope that in different ways we can make our small contribution. At JNC we are committed to working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples to collectively contribute to creating a community where justice and equity prevails for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples.

We are also committed at JNC to strengthening our community and recognise that in order to do this we must build better relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, based on respect for the many diverse Indigenous languages and cultures of this Country.

JNC also supports the implementation of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, starting with the establishment of a First Nations Voice to Parliament enshrined in the constitution. JNC supports the YES vote for the upcoming Voice referendum, acknowledging that ‘the Voice is just a first step, which will pave the way for the other components of the Uluru Statement, treaty making and truth telling.’

JNC acknowledges that whilst the Voice Referendum is a Legislative process, the Cultural Business that is the Voice to Parliament will always belong to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. JNC understands that from a non-Indigenous perspective, the Voice to Parliament Referendum, is not an instrument of permission from the non-Indigenous community, but it is an indication that the non-Indigenous community of Australia wishes to commence the journey toward meaningful conversation in regard our colonial past with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples, who are the reason and purpose of a Voice to Parliament.

We hope that this important first step, at this historic point in time, will contribute to creating an Australia that is a place of truth telling, truth to power and power sharing that will ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples will be able to speak truth to power, ensuring that all Australians can live in a truly equitable society.