Reconciliation Maitland

05/09/2026

So, who is a farmer?

It is a chapter in my book, and it is the question behind a research paper I wrote with colleagues at Charles Sturt on how this country defines Indigenous agriculture. I keep coming back to it because the answer is neither obvious nor harmless.

It sounds like a question for the kitchen table. It is really a question about money.

The definition decides who gets counted, who can get a grant, and who gets asked when policy is being written. Ranger work, wild harvest, bushfoods, carbon and biodiversity farming, looking after Country. Whether that counts as agriculture is a decision somebody makes, and there is funding attached to it.

For most of the last two hundred years the answer has been no, and our farming story has been told as though it began in 1788.

04/09/2026

Heritage can be a powerful force for connection, creativity and community. The National Trust Australia (NSW) is demonstrating exactly how.

They host the Schools Reconciliation Challenge exhibition in their properties across NSW, presented with us. Student work about belonging and this country’s future, hanging inside buildings that carry a great deal of its past.

It reads differently in a heritage house than on a white gallery wall, and that is the point.

The support is entirely in kind, and it takes the exhibition well beyond Sydney into communities that rarely get a touring show.

Thank you National Trust Australia (NSW).

03/09/2026

Education has the power to shape the future, with reconciliation a part of the journey.

We're delighted to welcome Catholic Schools Broken Bay (CSBB) as a partner of Reconciliation NSW.

As one of the largest education providers across the Central Coast and the North Shore and Northern Beaches of Sydney, CSBB plays an important role in supporting young people to learn, grow and engage with the rich histories, Cultures and contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Through this partnership, we look forward to continuing to working together, to strengthen cultural understanding, build meaningful relationships with local Aboriginal communities, and create opportunities for truth-telling and learning across all school communities.

Reconciliation starts with education. By equipping students, educators and families with the knowledge and confidence to walk together towards a more just and equitable future, for everyone, CSBB is helping to ensure future generations understands both our shared history and our shared responsibility.

Partnerships like this helps us expand the reach of reconciliation across NSW. If you'd like to support the education, resources and advocacy that make this work possible, consider becoming a member of Reconciliation NSW today.

Together, we can create lasting change.

01/09/2026

01/09/2026

01/09/2026

Even after Murujuga was recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site, the destruction did not stop. Please help Raelene take our fight for Murujuga to the international stage.
Raelene cannot do this alone 👉 https://chuffed.org/project/188812-raelene-vs-albanese-government-un-human-rights-complaint See less

Murujuga is now recognised as a UNESCO World Heritage site. The world has acknowledged what my people have always known: this is one of the most culturally significant places on Earth.

30/08/2026

Something landed on Friday that I did not see coming.

Australia now has its first National statement on First Nations in agriculture, fisheries and forestry, agreed by agriculture ministers around the country.

We have been farming, fishing and caring for this Country for more than 65,000 years. This is the first time governments have written that down together and committed to backing it in.

More than 500 people were consulted. I was lucky to be one of them, and the research I led on defining Indigenous agriculture made it into the statement itself.

A statement is not the finish line. But it is a start we did not have last week.

To every First Nations producer out there doing the work quietly, this one is for you.

Read it at - https://www.agriculture.gov.au/about/commitment/first-nations-aust-ag-fish-forestry/national-statement

Australian Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry