When the theme for National Reconciliation Week 2020 was announced last year – “In this together” – they could not have foreseen what we would be living through this year. Whether in a crisis or in reconciliation, we are all #InThisTogether.

Two significant dates take place during National Reconciliation Week each year. Both occasions mark significant milestones in Australia’s reconciliation journey.

27 May is the anniversary of the 1967 referendum in which Constitutional amendments were approved so that Aboriginal people would be counted in the Australian census, and the government would be able to legislate separately for Aboriginal people.

3 June marks the High Court’s 1992 decision – known as Mabo – that ‘terra nullius’ should not have been applied to Australia.This decision recognised that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have rights to the land – rights that existed before the British arrived and can still exist today.

Prior to Reconciliation Week, 26 May marks Sorry Day – a day to remember the terrible effect of past policies to forcibly remove Aboriginal children – the Stolen Generation – from their families.

Cardinia Shire Council is committed to partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander services in fields such as early childhood development, family and community connections, health, justice, education and reconciliation.

We are currently finalising Council’s next Reconciliation Action Plan, which we hope to launch in 2020.

Cardinia Shire Council works closely with three traditional owner groups whose traditional lands are in Cardinia Shire.

You can learn more about these groups and the work they do via their websites: