CLOSING THE GAP

Reconciliation through national icons
As part of their Reconciliation Action Plan, the Sydney
Opera House has developed Aboriginal perspectives of
Bennelong Point: Guwanyi Walama. Anywhere in Australia,
students in Years 3 to 6 can take a free virtual tour from
their classrooms through the history of Bennelong Point and
the Gadigal lands of Sydney Cove before 1788. Guwanyi
Walama enables students outside of Sydney to explore the
Opera House and connect with stories of the First Peoples.
Aboriginal perspectives of Bennelong Point: Guwanyi Walama. Photo credit Suzannah Wimberley
Reconciling with Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander people
Reconciliation is an ongoing process of
acknowledgement of the past and commitment to
move forward together. The Government supports
Reconciliation Australia to raise awareness of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories,
cultures, identities and successes and to build
relationships, respect and trust between the wider
Australian community and our First Australians.
Its flagship Reconciliation Action Plan program
builds commitment to reconciliation in workplaces
across the country, strengthening respect and
understanding between Aboriginal and Torres
Strait Islander Australians and other Australians.
In 2015, Reconciliation Australia also launched
Narragunnawali: Reconciliation in Schools and Early
Learning to foster pride in Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander histories and cultures in the more than 21,000
early learning services, primary and secondary schools
in Australia. Narragunnawali guides the development of
Reconciliation Action Plans for schools and early learning
services and provides access to curriculum resources
to support meaningful reconciliation in the classroom.
Rebuilding family connections for
the Stolen Generations
This year marks the 20th anniversary since the Bringing
Them Home report highlighted the tragedy of the
Stolen Generations and brought the need for change
to the attention of all Australian people, leading to
the National Apology in 2008. Eight Link-Up services
across Australia continue to trace family connections
for members of the Stolen Generations and where
possible arrange for reunions to be held with family on
traditional lands. Link-Up coordinated family reunions
are often seen as a seminal aspect of the healing
journey to improved wellbeing and resilience.
The Healing Foundation was established in 2009,
following the Apology, to help Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander peoples heal from historical
traumas. Since 2009, the Foundation has engaged
over 20,000 Indigenous Australians in communitybased
healing projects across 90 communities and
distributed grants in over 70 communities nationally.
The centrality of culture as a tool for healing is
consistently and strongly noted as a critical success
factor in health programs. Rather than being
incidental or an added extra, connection to culture
and spirituality are the key components through
which healing takes place. Through involvement in
collective healing activities, participants develop
skills to help manage trauma and grief.
The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander Studies (AIATSIS) Family History Unit provides
Link-Up services with research expertise for complex
cases and works to build capacity to handle these
matters. The Unit also provides family history research
services to Indigenous people through guided self-help
and research assistance. AIATSIS has developed online
research tools which support guided self-help family
tracing for all Indigenous people. As well as this
day-to-day work, the Unit has designed, in collaboration
with Link-Up services, a Certificate IV in Stolen
Generations Family Research and Case Management.
This was first piloted in two locations (New South Wales
and South Australia) from February to June 2016.
CLOSING THE GAP: PRIME MINISTER'S REPORT 2017
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