Reconciliation NSW

Reconciliation NSW Reconciliation NSW is the peak body for reconciliation in NSW.

Our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous members work together to advance reconciliation. Reconciliation NSW raises awareness and understanding of reconciliation and First Nations issues, we are advocates for social justice, equity and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples rights. We amplify and are led by the voices of First Nations People in the grassroots movement for reconciliation.

Despite a forecast of cold and intermittent rain, 300 people gathered in Armidale on Sunday for the 15th Annual Reconcil...
04/06/2026

Despite a forecast of cold and intermittent rain, 300 people gathered in Armidale on Sunday for the 15th Annual Reconciliation Bridge Walk. We were glad to support this year's event.

Co-hosted by Armidale ANTaR and the Armidale Aboriginal Cultural Centre and Keeping Place the morning began with a Welcome to Country from Elder Hazel Vale, before the crowd walked through the cleansing smoke prepared by Bob Blair and crossed Stephens Bridge together.

Back at Curtis Park, the young dancers of the Lyāmbay Aboriginal Dance Group from Armidale Secondary College performed in the light rain. Fiona Lovelock gave this year's Bridge Walk speech, and described what reconciliation looks like to her:
"Quietly. Consistently. Honestly. Chipping away at denial, and making space for truth to be heard. And if we get it right, it won't just change relationships, it will change this country."

Michelle Wheatley, Armidale's 2026 Citizen of the Year, gave the vote of thanks, and the morning finished with blue skies, time to yarn, sausages from Homes North and chicken curry from headspace.

The Armidale Bridge Walk has run for 15 years now, one of many Local
Reconciliation Groups doing this work across NSW in their own communities, year after year. If you would like to find a group near you, or start one, we would love to hear from you.

📷 PatsyAsch

A Year 6 student stopped the room at our National Reconciliation Week Breakfast last Thursday.Her name is Cailey. She's ...
04/06/2026

A Year 6 student stopped the room at our National Reconciliation Week Breakfast last Thursday.

Her name is Cailey. She's from Rosemeadow Public School, and the winner of the 2025 Schools Reconciliation Challenge writing category. Her poem, A Mother's Call, takes the idea of Country as mother and asks what it might look like to give back.

In a room of 200 CEOs, Ministers and community elders, with more than 20,000 watching online, she read her poem out loud.

Quietly. Without flourish.

The line that stayed with the room: "We must take the hand that held us and hold it."

Read A Mother's Call in full at https://reconciliationnsw.org.au/src-winners/a-mothers-call.

The 2026 Schools Reconciliation Challenge is open now. Students in Years 3 to 10 across NSW have until 21 August to enter. If you're a teacher or you know one, this is your sign.

📷 Kess Media

Reconciliation Australia

Today, 3 June, we honour Mabo Day, a day of immense historical truth, justice and community strength.Thirty-four years a...
03/06/2026

Today, 3 June, we honour Mabo Day, a day of immense historical truth, justice and community strength.

Thirty-four years ago today, the High Court of Australia handed down the Mabo Decision, permanently overturning the legal myth of terra nullius (land belonging to no one). Through the fierce determination of Eddie Koiki Mabo and the Meriam people of Mer (Murray Island), the Australian common law finally acknowledged the thousands-of-years-long, unbroken connection that Indigenous peoples hold with their traditional lands and waters.

While Eddie Koiki Mabo passed away shortly before seeing his decade-long battle won, his voice continues to resonate deeply. From the modern monuments raised in his honour to the tireless advocacy of his daughter, Gail Mabo, the story of the Mabo Decision is a living, breathing legacy.

Today, we see that legacy carried forward proudly by young people marching in our communities, flying the flags, and keeping the fire of justice burning bright.
Happy Mabo Day.

Let’s keep listening, learning and walking together in truth.



📸 Historical Portrait (Slide 1): Eddie Koiki Mabo of Murray Island, 1953. Miles Family Photographs. Courtesy of the State Library of Queensland.
📸 Modern Monuments & Events (Slides 2, 3, & 4): Sculpture commemorating Eddie Koiki Mabo and the Mabo Decision (2022); Gail Mabo speaking at the Eddie Mabo Memorial (2017); and Crowd walking down the street in an Eddie Mabo anniversary march. All photographed by Alf Wilson. Courtesy of the John Oxley Library, State Library of Queensland. Licensed under CC BY-NC 4.0.

There are mornings you carry with you. Yesterday was one of them.The room at Cliftons was full before the sun was proper...
29/05/2026

There are mornings you carry with you. Yesterday was one of them.

The room at Cliftons was full before the sun was properly up. 200 people in person, and more than 20,000 watching across the country, from boardrooms and classrooms and kitchen tables, from every corner of NSW and beyond.

It began the only way it could. With Binowee Bayles welcoming us to country, her words holding the room before a single other thing was said.

Royston Noell gave us music. Twice. The kind that doesn't ask for your attention. It earns it.

And then Cailey, a Year 5 student from Rosemeadow Public School and this year's Schools Reconciliation Challenge writing winner, stepped to the microphone and read her poem, A Mother's Call. "We must take the hand that held us and hold it," she said. The room sat still.

Noeleen Timbery spoke about the Gweagal spears. Not just as historical objects, but as ancestors. As living things returned. After 254 years away, they have come home. And to hear that story told in her voice, in a room of people who had chosen to listen, that is what reconciliation actually looks like.

Michael Rose AM reminded us that good intentions are not enough. That institutions have to commit, and stay committed, and be uncomfortable, and show up again.

Minister for Aboriginal Affairs David Harris brought the voice of NSW Government to the room.

And Elley Blacklock and David Roberts held it all together with the kind of warmth that lets hard truths land softly.

Then we walked out into a Thursday in May, changed, in small ways or big ones, by the people we had just listened to.

That is what 'All In' looks like.

To every single person who chose to be in that room or on that screen, to our board, our speakers, our sponsors, and our community: thank you. We see you. We could not have done this without you.

📷 Captured beautifully by Kess Media.

Tomorrow is the day! ☀️As National Reconciliation Week officially begins, we are getting ready for an unforgettable morn...
27/05/2026

Tomorrow is the day! ☀️

As National Reconciliation Week officially begins, we are getting ready for an unforgettable morning at our NRW 2026 Breakfast, featuring a special performance by Thanakwith and Wagadagam artist, Royston Noell .

From his roots in Mapoon to national stages, Royston stands as a voice of hope, pride, and possibility. We are so honoured that he will be sharing his talent and his story with us tomorrow morning.

Let’s go "All In" this NRW. We can't wait to see you there! ✊🏾💛

No one goes All In alone.Tomorrow morning we gather for the National Reconciliation Week Breakfast. The conversation wil...
27/05/2026

No one goes All In alone.

Tomorrow morning we gather for the National Reconciliation Week Breakfast. The conversation will centre on truth-telling and the return of the Gweagal spears, but none of it would be possible without the organisations who chose to stand alongside us.

These are businesses putting genuine commitment behind reconciliation in NSW. To every one of them, thank you.

Partners: Cliftons and GO LIVE
Foundation: Supply Nation
Advocates: Lander & Rogers and Turks
Allies: Baker McKenzie, Gilbert + Tobin Careers Hotel Nelson Housing Plus / Plus Community, Konica Minolta Australia and Printnova.

Reconciliation is not built in a single morning. It is built by those who show up, commit, and stay the course.

Tomorrow, we do it together.

Link in Bio to Purchase Tickets to View 🔗

27/05/2026

The 1967 Referendum was a moment in our shared history where Australians were ‘All In’.

More than 90% of Australian voters voted ‘Yes’ to counting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the census and giving the Australian Government the power to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have always protested and fought against injustices. There was no single moment that sparked the 1967 Referendum, more a groundswell of support for change led by many different people and organisations.

This reminds us that reconciliation and advancing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights isn’t a passive activity, and it is not solely the responsibility of First Nations people, who have carried the weight of championing, explaining and acting for far too long.

Reconciliation will not happen by itself, and it will not happen without all of us.

📌 Understand the events that led up to the ‘67 referendum: https://www.library.gov.au/learn/digital-classroom/1967-referendum/timeline-events-led-1967-referendum

📌 Learn more:https://www.reconciliation.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2025/04/The-1967-Referendum.pdf

National Reconciliation Week begins today.And tomorrow, we gather.For those of us who work in this space, who know the n...
26/05/2026

National Reconciliation Week begins today.

And tomorrow, we gather.

For those of us who work in this space, who know the names, the stories, the long road that brought us here, NRW is not just a week on the calendar.

It is a moment of accountability.

Tomorrow morning, the National Reconciliation Week Breakfast will hold the voice of Noeleen Timbery, reflecting on the Gweagal spears’ return home after 254 years, and what that means for truth-telling in this state.

We are honoured to host this conversation. And we are grateful to everyone who has chosen to show up, in the room, or on the screen.

The livestream is still open for late registrations tonight.

See you tomorrow.

Link in BIO 🔗

Today is a solemn day of remembrance across Australia. We reflect on the profound injustices inflicted upon the Stolen G...
25/05/2026

Today is a solemn day of remembrance across Australia.

We reflect on the profound injustices inflicted upon the Stolen Generations and recognise the ongoing reality of intergenerational trauma.

On this day in 1997, the Bringing Them Home report was released. It laid bare the heartbreaking reality of forced child removals across Australia. The report made 54 recommendations regarding reparations and healing, yet decades later, the work of justice is far from over.

Systemic change requires a community that refuses to look away. By understanding our true history, we take the first step toward meaningful reconciliation.

Image: "Stolen generation children" via Library & Archives NT (PH0238/0001). Licensed under CC BY 4.0.

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94 Cooper Street, Surry Hills, Gadigal
Sydney, NSW
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