National Reconciliation Week 2024: Now more than ever, a call for unity and action

The 2024 National Reconciliation Week (NRW), during 27 May – 3 June 2024, themed Now More Than Ever, is a reminder to all Australians that no matter what, the fight for justice and the rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will—and must— continue.

NRW is a time for all to learn about Australia’s shared histories, cultures, and achievements while learning how to contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

Reconciliation Australia, a not-for-profit organisation facilitating reconciliation between wider Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, urges multicultural communities to join hands in tacking the unfinished business of reconciliation the NRW week With 6.2 million Australians voting YES at the recently conducted Referendum, there is evidence of the community’s commitment to better outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. But many members of the migrant community still seem to be unsure of the issues

Reconciliation Australia CEO Karen Mundine further highlighted these issues, saying, “It is clear that while migrant communities have a high level of empathy and nascent support for reconciliation and justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, there is also less information available in the languages spoken by these communities.”

Reconciliation Australia recognises this importance and has therefore translated a number of resources and made them available for culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD) communities to provide background information on reconciliation and the NRW. These resources are available to download from the following link: https://www.reconciliation. org.au/our-work/nationalreconciliation-week/translatedresources. These are available in Arabic, Greek, Italian, Korean, Punjabi, simplified Chinese, Spanish, Thai, traditional Chinese, and Vietnamese.

CEO Karen Mundine thanked the leaders of Australia’s migrant communities for their ongoing support and pledged that Reconciliation Australia would continue to focus on working with Australia’s diverse migrant communities.

"Now more than ever, the work continues. In treaty making, in truth-telling, in understanding our history, in education, and in tackling racism. We need connection. We need respect. We need action. And we need change. Now more than ever, we need reconciliation."