Stan Dryden of the Yorta Yorta people with his didgeridoo leads the National Reconciliation Week procession in Melbourne in 1998. Clapping hands is the then Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Councillor Ivan Deveson.
Photo: Heath Missen, courtesy The Age
|
Chapter 5 PARTNERSHIPS - WORKING TOGETHER The Council has been required by its legislation to undertake initiatives for the purpose of promoting reconciliation between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the wider Australian community and to foster an ongoing national commitment to co-operate to address Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander disadvantage.
These partnerships sought to address disadvantage, improve relationships and promote understanding. In practical terms, this has meant a focus on addressing disadvantage through education, employment, health, housing and justice issues. The main partners in this regard are Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, governments at all levels and parts of corporate Australia. The Council's work with corporate Australia, faith groups, women's groups, ethnic communities, youth, service and sporting organisations, unions, the media and non-government organisations has focused largely on community education, improving relationships and the more symbolic aspects of the reconciliation process. In many instances, Council's partners have taken initiatives in carrying out the work in their own groups and communities, so that Council's role has been simply to make contact, at times providing seed funding. In most cases the partners have pursued Council's vision because of their own commitment and with little or no ongoing connection with the Council. The issue of education, which is consistently identified as the most critical factor in achieving improvements for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and attitudinal change in the wider Australian community, is addressed at the end of this chapter. |
Partners in Reconciliation
Commonwealth, State and Territory Government
Throughout its life, but especially in its last term, Council has sought to involve government in relation to addressing disadvantage and encouraging economic independence. At the same time, Council recognises the importance of involving Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as partners in any work that is done to address disadvantage. Council recognises that without this participation, the cycle of welfare dependency, which many are currently debating, is likely to continue.
|
Land rights and fundamental human rights have to be recognised but the flip side to that is responsibility. Noel Pearson (2000) |
A united Australia which respects this land of ours; values the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage and provides justice and equity for all.
Beginning with the Commonwealth Senate on 16 March 1994, most Houses of Parliaments have now passed resolutions supporting both the vision and reconciliation generally.
Council's 1996 research found that the community strongly believed that governments need to take the lead, particularly in addressing the issues of health, custody levels and education. Australians are prepared to see significant government spending if they are convinced that it will lead to major improvements.
Once the Council began developing its documents in earnest, it sought to involve governments as early as possible in their development. Council was convinced that a whole-of-government approach to the delivery of services was the only way to achieve real improvements in relation to health, housing, education, employment and justice issues. This view built on the 1992 Council of Australian Governments' National Commitment to Improved Outcomes in the Delivery of Programs and Services for Aboriginal Peoples and Torres Strait Islanders.
Through the National Commitment , all governments agreed to a planning framework that identified needs and established clear and measurable objectives, outcomes and performance indicators, as well as the interests and responsibilities of each sphere of government in relation to policy, operations and funding. This planning framework recognised the importance of working within agreed processes between local communities and governments, and also recognised the cultural diversity of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders peoples.
In late 1999, Council organised round-table meetings for State, Territory and Commonwealth senior officials to exchange views and ensure a whole-of-government approach to the key issues of health, housing, education, employment and justice. Throughout the development of its strategies, Council gained input from all relevant agencies at all levels of government.
Following the extensive consultation process, the Council synthesised the input from meetings and written responses as it moved towards finalising the reconciliation documents. One result of the extensive consultation was the participation of the Prime Minister, all Premiers and Chief Ministers in Corroboree 2000, where they symbolically made commitments to Council's vision and spoke of their plans for advancing reconciliation.
|
Perhaps the hardest lesson that non-indigenes have yet to learn and have not mastered is that assimilation is not the way to go. Dame Roma Mitchell (1997) |
The ensuing formal commitments from all levels of government are set out in Chapter 8 and Appendix 2.
Ministerial Council for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs (MCATSIA)
The Ministerial Council for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs (MCATSIA) provides a forum for members to discuss issues of mutual interest and aims to foster a shared responsibility for the development of national policy. It also seeks to achieve a coordinated approach to the planning, funding and provision of services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians.
At the September 1999 meeting, the Chairperson of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation and the Minister Assisting the Prime Minister for Reconciliation were invited to address the MCATSIA meeting. This meeting encouraged participation in the Council's consultations on the Draft Document, and recognised the importance of education to achieving reconciliation.
In April 1999 the Ministerial Council on Employment, Education, Training and Youth Affairs (MCEETYA) made improved educational outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians a priority issue through the establishment of a Taskforce on Indigenous Education. MCATSIA decided they should actively support MCEETYA in this endeavour wherever possible.
Stan Dryden of the Yorta Yorta people with his didgeridoo leads the National Reconciliation Week procession in Melbourne in 1998. Clapping hands is the then Lord Mayor of Melbourne, Councillor Ivan Deveson. Photo: Heath Missen, courtesy The Age |
COAG is the major means by which Australian governments meet to develop policy and strategies to achieve a coordinated approach to mainstream service delivery. At its meeting of 3 November 2000, COAG recognised that reconciliation was an ongoing issue in the life of Australians and a priority issue for all governments that would require a concerted and sustained effort over many years.
A full outline of the commitment by COAG to advancing reconciliation is included in Chapter 8 and Appendix 2.
Local Government
Local government is one of Council's most valued partners in achieving reconciliation. Local governments, because of their on-the-ground presence, their potential for local leadership and their role as managers of social and physical infrastructure, are of critical importance to nation-wide reconciliation.
Australia's local government councils began acknowledging this role in the early 1990s. In many cases, local government moved from indifference to leadership, as the stereotypes of discrimination were replaced by a genuine effort in many places to address inequity and unite communities for the common good. The Council's vision statement has been widely endorsed by local governments.
In recent years, local government has been active in negotiating agreements with local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. It has also embraced the symbolic side of the reconciliation processes by actions such as flying the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags and establishing symbols of reconciliation.
National Local Government Policy
In 1992, the Australian
Local Government Association (ALGA) - the peak organisation of local councils - through
its participation in COAG became a signatory to the National Commitment to
Improved Outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders Peoples . It
also became an active participant in the Ministerial Council for Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander Affairs.
|
The commitment developed by the Australian Local Government Association which has been adopted by many councils across Australia. |
In 1992 ALGA appointed a full-time Aboriginal Affairs Policy Officer whose tasks included developing cooperative projects with ATSIC and with the Council. In 1994 and 1995 ALGA received two rounds of funding from the Federal Government to help generate reconciliation projects in local communities throughout Australia.
|
There is a growing understanding of the role of traditional law and customs in caring for country and a growing understanding of the importance of access to country for the conservation of Indigenous culture. Equally Indigenous communities, particularly those living in proximity to minerals development, are recognising the industry's role in a dynamic Australian economy to provide investment, innovation and job opportunities. This is reconciliation working on the ground. Campbell Anderson, Chairman, Business Council of Australia, Managing Director, North Limited (1998) |
The 1996 General Assembly adopted a statement on community tolerance that called on local councils throughout Australia to support the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation's vision and to address the special needs of disadvantaged groups. The General Assembly also called on local government to negotiate agreements with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
The 1997 General Assembly carried a motion recognising the validity of native title. It also expressed its deep and sincere regret at the hurt and distress caused by policies which forcibly removed Aboriginal children from their families and homes.
These motions were in keeping with local government's recognition of the need for partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as part of addressing the needs of entire communities throughout Australia.
At Corroboree 2000 in Sydney in May, the President of ALGA, Councillor John Ross, formally presented local government's statement of commitment to Council Chairperson, Dr Evelyn Scott. This statement, adopted by the Executive of ALGA in February 2000, is now being adopted and supported by local councils throughout Australia. The four-point commitment will continue to strengthen the many initiatives being undertaken by councils.
The important aspect of this national level activity is that it has flowed through to practical and ongoing reconciliation activities by local councils, most of which have adopted reconciliation policies as part of their philosophical and management objectives.
Local Government Resources
|
An obvious area for cooperation between local governments and Aboriginal communities is in the development of regional plans and agreements. Councillor John Ross, Australian Local Government Association (2000) |
The Council also provided a small grant to assist ALGA publish its booklet, Celebrating Community: Local Government Reconciliation Program, which described 49 different local government reconciliation projects conducted in 1994-95 under a grant program initiated by the then Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, the Hon Robert Tickner. The purpose of the booklet was to encourage local councils that had not yet joined the reconciliation process to consider ways of getting started. Celebrating Community was launched in August 1995 jointly by the Council Chairperson, Mr Patrick Dodson, and ALGA President, Mayor David Plumridge.
In 1998 ALGA added the publication Justice and Equity for All to its earlier initiatives. This booklet laid down a set of principles and case studies to further encourage local authorities to engage in reconciliation.
Local Councils Remember Program
In March 1996, through a joint project with ALGA, the Council announced the Local Councils Remember Program. The program is designed to establish appropriate memorials to recognise and commemorate people and events associated with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage. Eight pilot projects across Australia began the project.
In another joint exercise, the Council and ALGA sponsored a number of projects under 'Bringing People Together' during National Reconciliation Week. These involved schools, libraries, councils and community organisations in a wide range of local events, displays, seminars, receptions, welcomes to country and flag-raising ceremonies.
'Working Out Agreements' and 'Working with Native Title' Guides
In June 1998 the Council hosted the launch of an important resource produced by ALGA, Working Out Agreements: A Practical Guide to Agreements Between Local Government and Indigenous Australians. The guide provides practical step-by-step advice for developing a local or regional agreement. Its topics include ensuring all parties have equal bargaining power, identifying the issues and considering geographic factors. It also makes suggestions on the content of agreements and how to conduct negotiations. Case studies give examples of the agreements already in place. These include umbrella or framework agreements, native title and land use agreements, memoranda of understanding about certain aspects of governance, service delivery, protocols, resources development, cultural heritage management, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural and intellectual property rights. The guide was produced in association with ATSIC and the National Native Title Tribunal.
ALGA subsequently produced a comprehensive guide to native title Working With Native Title: A Practical Guide for Local Government, and provided training for councils on the guide.
Reconciliation and Native Title
The Council has always promoted reconciliation as an independent process that should be protected from confrontational debate on specific issues. However it has tried to assist in resolving some matters of central importance. Native title is one such issue.
In 1996, Council contributed to the emerging national debate on how the Native Title Act 1993 was operating in practice. In April 1996, the Council Chairperson proposed a summit between the new Federal Government and stakeholders on how the procedures of the Native Title Act 1993 could be improved, while preserving the essential features of native title rights.
The proposal evolved into a series of meetings of stakeholders from industry groups and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, convened by the Council. The aim was to identify common ground and develop proposals to present to government. A large round-table meeting in June 1996 developed an in-principle position on agreements and the role of representative bodies. During August 1996, the parties consulted with their peak bodies about issues that could form the basis of a joint submission to government.
The meetings were unable to reach agreement on the role of native title representative bodies, the right to negotiate, the threshold test and transitional arrangements. However, the meetings reached broad consensus that voluntary agreements were the preferred option for resolving land-use issues and native title claims, and that such agreements should be given statutory and legal effect under the Native Title Act.
The parties ultimately were unable to agree on the terms of a joint submission and the last meeting took place on 2 September. However, there was general acknowledgment that the process had been helpful in facilitating discussion and should be reactivated at any time the parties believed this would be useful.
In the period following the High Court's W ik judgement in December 1996, the Council put forward the view that coexistence was an essential element of reconciliation, and urged all parties to continue to negotiate in good faith towards an outcome that would be in the best interests of the nation.
At the Australian Reconciliation Convention in May 1997, and in October of the same year, Council put the view that aspects of the proposed Native Title Amendment Bill 1997 would harm the reconciliation process.
In December 1997, at her first media conference, the new Chairperson said she believed the Council should provide moral leadership in the search for a national accord on native title. She urged all parties to 'double their efforts, open their hearts and minds, and work together to achieve a compromise'. The new Council supported this approach at its first meeting in March 1998.
Partnerships to achieve benchmarks in relation to service delivery
In November 1997, the Council convened a two-day workshop to discuss how benchmarks could be used to ensure adequate standards in service delivery to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in areas such as health, housing, education, employment, infrastructure and community justice.
The workshop was attended by more than 60 people representing all spheres of government, academics and ATSIC and other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations. Participants agreed that the establishment of a national framework for benchmarking services to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians was an achievable goal and that the framework should be built on principles ensuring reciprocity in accountability by all parties, including both governments and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations involved in service delivery.
Proceedings of the workshops were published in the report Towards a Benchmarking Framework for Service Delivery to Indigenous Australians - Benchmarking Workshop 18-19 November 1997.
The need for benchmarking is emphasised in the National Strategy to Overcome Disadvantage, which is part of the Roadmap for Reconciliation. Since the 1997 workshop, much of Council's work with governments at all levels has focused on achieving improved outcomes and being able to measure progress in relation to health, housing, employment, education and justice.
Progress in relation to this work is included in Chapter 8.
Corporate Australia
The Mining Industry
Early in its life, Council identified the mining industry as being of central importance in achieving reconciliation because their business was closely connected with land, much of it belonging to or claimed by Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander peoples.
To assist in commencing discussions with the mining industry, the Council produced two booklets in 1993. These were Making Things Right: Reconciliation after the High Court's Decision on Native Title and Exploring for Common Ground: Aboriginal Reconciliation and the Mining Industry.
 Participants at the Joint Committee on Aboriginal Land and Mining (J-CALM) at Camp Coorong, South Australia, in March 1994. |
Council set up the Joint Council on Aboriginal Land and Mining (J-CALM) in March 1994 to improve communication between the mining industry and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and to increase the number of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people employed in the mining industry.
A meeting of senior mining executives and senior Aboriginal leaders at Camp Coorong, South Australia, laid the groundwork for a joint approach to issues of common concern. Discussion centred on ways to develop structures that could reconcile the values of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the mining industry for the benefit of all Australians. Council's booklets, released in 1993, provided valuable grounding for the meeting.
Interaction between miners and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples has continued through meetings, scholarships and the provision of job opportunities. Examples of these include a 'Doing Business with Aboriginal Communities' conference in Alice Springs in June 1995 and the 1996 statement of support for Council's vision by the Minerals Council of Australia. In May 1999, the Minerals Council of Australia and the Australian Youth Foundation jointly launched a major scholarship program for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth. Some 20 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students were chosen to take up the first round of scholarships.
Actions of Mining and Development companies
A number of mining and development companies have introduced their own policies and approaches to reconciliation that address the symbolic and relationship side of reconciliation as well as practical aspects. Several companies, including Pasminco, Normandy Mining and BHP's Cannington have developed strategies to promote effective and culturally sensitive work practices and training packages which they use to support better working relationships and conditions for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers. Rio Tinto has established many community-based projects as part of its reconciliation policy commits the company to achieving growth in opportunity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people at its mine sites. Normandy and Pasminco have affirmed recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' relationship to the land and developed agreed principles by which negotiations can be carried out. North Limited has sought closer long-term community and business relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. MIM Holdings has sought to involve Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as partners not just as employees. At the Australian Reconciliation Convention in 1997, Hamersley Iron won a Reconciliation Award for its training programs.
 One of the two National Rail locomotives carrying the work of artist Bessie Liddle from the Jukurrpa Artists Corporation in Alice Springs, throughout outback Australia. Photo: National Rail |
The Council's Industry Committee established early contact with employers and union groups to enhance employment prospects for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the private sector, and to end discrimination in the workplace.
The Council developed an information package Working As One , comprising a video, booklet and poster containing positive examples of the contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as employees, employers and partners in business and economic development. The package was distributed to employers and unions. Council found it useful in dealings with the Australian Council of Trade Unions and the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, both of which have developed extensive reconciliation initiatives.
The Council supported the second National Indigenous Business and Economic Conference (NIBEC) held in Brisbane in August 1995, and initiated a series of Reconciliation Business Lunches. The aim of the initiative was to bring Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and other business people together for lunch on a user-pay basis to share information and create networks.
The Council added the Business and Reconciliation booklet to its series of sectoral booklets and distributed it through NIBEC, and business and industry associations.
Peak business organisations have continued to work in partnership with Council to support the fuller participation of Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders in business. They have contributed to the development of Council's documents and have actively sought commitment by their constituents to Council's strategies.
Many outstanding partnerships have been developed in business and industry, for the benefit of all Australians. The businesses mentioned below that have developed partnerships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are just a small indication of the level of commitment to reconciliation by this important sector.
The Gwydir Valley Cotton Growers' Association is an example where industry is a partnership between black and white, and mutual negative perceptions in Moree are gradually changing. The National Rail Corporation has celebrated its ties with outback Australia and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities by painting two of its NR Class locomotives with Aboriginal designs. National Rail is also involved with the Tangentyere Night Patrol, a voluntary body supported by the Tangentyere Council Inc. in Alice Springs
The Body Shop has done much for reconciliation for many years, recognising that reconciliation is one of the most important issues facing the Australian community. It has participated strongly in National Reconciliation Week, training all staff to be able to discuss issues with the public and sponsoring the 'Thumbs Up for Reconciliation' campaign in 1998. It collected signatures for the Sorry Books distributed by Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation in 1998 and for Council's Pledge Books in 2000.
The Body Shop also works with several Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities to develop their own businesses through the program First Australians Business (FAB). FAB, also supported by ATSIC and the Department of Education, Training and Youth Affairs is an 18-month pilot program designed to assist young people initiate, develop and maintain economically viable and culturally appropriate businesses. The program provides one-on-one mentoring by experienced business owners and people who are skilled in specific industries or professions.
Westpac Banking Corporation supports a number of initiatives to benefit Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Their actions include a six-month personnel exchange program with ATSIC to enable staff from both organisations to enhance their skills and knowledge of each other's work and cultural environments.
Faith Groups
Australia's faith communities have been strong supporters of reconciliation. From the earliest days of the Council, faith groups have recognised the potential of the reconciliation movement to acknowledge the wrongs of the past and heal the nation.
In collaboration with the Council, in September 1993 the faith groups introduced a Week of Prayer for Reconciliation. The first observance was celebrated by a gathering in the Great Hall of Parliament House, Canberra, of 400 religious leaders from all major Christian denominations, as well as Jewish, Islamic, Baha'i and Hindu faiths.
 National launch of the Week of Prayer at Bourke Street Primary School, Sydney, 27 May 1994. |
The Council's Advisory Group of Faith Communities has continued to promote the week-long series of church services and spiritual reflections across the country, with a different theme each year, now as part of National Reconciliation Week.
Other reconciliation activities within faith communities have included the development of resolutions, covenants, or similar documents acknowledging the need for reconciliation. Examples of these include the Covenant Statement made in July 1994 by the Uniting Church National Assembly, which has led to the establishment of the National Covenanting Agency. A unanimous resolution by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry in December 1994 supported the ongoing activities of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation and encouraged the efforts of all organisations pursuing Jewish/Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander dialogue with the aim of dispelling bigotry and ignorance. The Anglican Board of Mission and Anglicare established the Anglican Reconciliation Working Group in 1999 to encourage an Australia-wide Anglican Church participation in the reconciliation process. The working group is supported by the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Anglican Council. The Aboriginal Catholic Ministry Melbourne has expanded its activities to people across Victoria and the nation. The Ministry's activities enable Aboriginal people to maintain their cultures and spirituality within the confines of the Catholic Church, as well as educating the wider Catholic community about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, their cultures, histories and spirituality.
Women's organisations
Women's organisations have been working in many different ways to provide leadership and action on reconciliation, notably in rural areas. The Council has sought the engagement of women's organisations, initially through a video and leaflet, Talking Together, designed to raise awareness within women's organisations.
In 1996 the Council contracted the Australian Institute of Women's Research and Policy (AIWRAP) at Griffith University, Queensland, to consult with women's organisations. The purpose was to ensure that the views of women were heard at the 1997 Australian Reconciliation Convention and to advise on ways that more women's organisations could be encouraged to join the reconciliation process. AIWRAP's report to Council, Circle Across Australia, contained a number of recommendations which the Council was able to implement. The consultations in the development of this report and its recommendations had the immediate effect of involving more women in reconciliation projects.
There was a great similarity of views among all women consulted in this process. They strongly expressed the view that it was women who nurture and heal society, keeping families and communities together, and working towards a brighter future for all young people. Many individual women and women's organisation from the wider community said they wanted to meet Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women - to hear their stories, explore mutual experiences and be shown how they could help.
Women's reconciliation groups have been especially effective in developing relationships and lasting friendships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and women from the wider community. Some, like a Sydney-based one, have run workshops, and produced booklets and videos. Some, like the National Council of Single Mothers and their Children, have adopted a reconciliation policy. Others, like a group of Queensland women, have collected stories from women - Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and others - about their personal experiences in the process we now know as reconciliation.
|
We want a fair settlement. We talk about equality. We should be able to come to the table with the people we are going to negotiate with on equal terms, and that really means equally informed and able to participate. Majorie Thorpe, Council Member (1998) |
The Council since its inception has worked to promote reconciliation to the many communities from non-English speaking backgrounds, with particular attention to the ethnic language newspapers and SBS. SBS covered some sessions of the 1997 Reconciliation Convention live, as well as the Corroboree 2000 event, as a service to all Australians.
In 1996-97 the Council cooperated with the Federation of Ethnic Communities Councils of Australia to conduct a major research project about the knowledge and attitudes of non-English speaking people concerning Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and reconciliation, and to hold seminars around the country leading up to the 1997 convention. This enabled ethnic communities to fully explore and accept the special relationship of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to the land.
Ethnic communities continue to be strong supporters of the reconciliation process. They are represented on State Reconciliation Committees (SRCs) around Australia (see Chapter 6 for more information about SRCs) and organised breakfasts to ensure their members understood what Council was trying to achieve through its documents. They provided feedback on draft versions of the document. The Chinese community of Sydney provided sponsorship support for Corroboree 2000 by providing commemorative hats for participants at Saturday's meeting at the Opera House.
Non-government organisations (NGOs)
Non-government organisations (NGOs) have been actively involved in the reconciliation process. In 1997, the Human Rights Council of Australia worked to engage development agencies, human rights organisations and social service agencies in the process. Their project assisted NGOs to identify potential reconciliation activities and encouraged them to incorporate these into their mainstream operations. World Vision offered to resource continuing coordination and monitoring of NGO engagement.
Community Aid Abroad has supported reconciliation, especially in Tasmania where it has assisted with public rallies for reconciliation and developed and distributed information about the journey of healing. Social Service organisations such as VCOSS have distributed materials, convened meetings with the wider NGO community, raised funds to support the work of Sorry Day Committees, promoted best practice in achieving reconciliation and participated in workshops convened by the Council.
 Launch of the AYPAC Youth Policy. |
'There can be no reconciliation without young people' was the catchcry of the Australian Youth Policy and Action Coalition (AYPAC) who put much imaginative effort into securing commitment to reconciliation among young people.
In November 1997, AYPAC launched its Compact '98 - Youth Sector Compact of Commitment to Reconciliation . This provides a framework to help members include practical reconciliation activities in their normal operations.
The Compact includes the Council's eight key issues, information on native title and the Stolen Generations, and contacts for obtaining further information.
The coalition aimed to produce another compact in the year 2000 and subsequently the Council contributed towards a reprint of Compact '98 so that it could be distributed to other sectors of the community and used at the National Youth Reconciliation Conference in Darwin in July 1998. The work of the Coalition ceased following its defunding in 1999.
STARS - Students that Action Reconciliation Seriously
STARS is an independent non-government organisation established to promote and facilitate reconciliation amongst Australian youth. STARS began at the Australian Reconciliation Convention, largely through the efforts of students from Kormilda College in Darwin, who pledged to hold a student reconciliation convention modelled on the Melbourne one. They have shown remarkable initiative and commitment and been highly successful in promoting reconciliation among young people.
In 1998, the Kormilda STARS, in collaboration with students around Australia, and working with members of the Council, organised the National Youth Reconciliation Convention in Darwin. A further National Youth Convention was held in Geelong in 1999. The vision of STARS is 'To bring hope for a united Australia that honours the Indigenous people of the land. DARE TO BELIEVE.'
 Chairperson, Dr Evelyn Scott, with Doombul dancers and students of Victoria Plantation Primary School celebrating NAIDOC Week 2000. Photo: Kay Denholm, Herbert River Express |
In time for National Reconciliation Week 2000, STARS produced and circulated a video - STARS - Making a Difference -based on the 1999 convention, which encouraged young people and schools to engage in reconciliation. STARS hope that the video will stimulate other young people to start reconciliation groups and connect with others through the STARS website. They organised the distribution of the video to all secondary schools throughout Australia with the sponsorship of Rio Tinto.
Concerts and music
One very popular way of bringing reconciliation to young people is through concerts and music. In the last few years there have been many reconciliation concerts. In August 1998, the first of 10 national concerts in the Olympic Arts Festival took place at Townsville. This took the form of a reconciliation concert, attended by 10,000 people, with 220 local, national and international artists. Similarly, the Croc Eisteddfods at Weipa, Kununurra and Moree in 1998 and 1999 brought hundreds of children and their parents together, for fun, celebration of cultures, sharing and increasing understanding.
The National History Challenge
Since 1996 the National History Challenge, a nationwide history competition for primary and high school students, has included reconciliation themes. The Council provided sponsorship of a National Reconciliation Prize and Council Member Jackie Huggins has been on the judging panel since its inception.
The work students have produced for the National History Challenge shows a deepening understanding by school students of the impact of British colonisation on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and their cultures. It also shows a greater understanding of the contribution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to Australia's development.
'A Stitch in Time for Reconciliation' banner
For National Reconciliation Week 2000, the Council and The Body Shop jointly invited schools around Australia to contribute to the banner 'A Stitch in Time for Reconciliation'.
The project was designed to be a unifying activity for all schools. Some 10,000 schools were given pieces of calico, cut to A4 size, on which to present a view about reconciliation. More than 1,200 pieces were returned and the clothing company Speakout - a company which trains and employs disadvantaged youth - sewed the pieces together. The banner - a tangible and permanent expression of young people's commitment to reconciliation - was to be unfurled at the launch of this final report on 7 December 2000.
National Reconciliation Week Activities
Many National Reconciliation Week activities have had a strong appeal for youth. Schools across the country have special activities during this week focusing on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and our shared histories. In 1998, the Western Australian National Reconciliation Week activities included a very popular Reconciliation Youth Project with a focus on street music and storytelling.
|
We want to have our say in how our traditional lands and resources are developed. And we want to share in the benefits of such development. William (Tracker) Tilmouth, former Director, Central Land Council (1997) |
From its earliest days Council recognised the potential of the media to be a powerful partner for reconciliation. The media awareness initiatives described in Chapter 3, where Council has run seminars with media people to work through the issues, have resulted in productive working relationships.
The media has been very helpful in keeping reconciliation in the public spotlight, particularly since the 1997 Convention. It has made a major contribution to the situation where 'reconciliation' is now a commonly and openly discussed term, and the issues of reconciliation are more widely understood.
The Justice and Legal Sector
Consultations that resulted in Council's 1995 report Going Forward: Social Justice for the first Australians demonstrated a widespread desire by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for according appropriate recognition and status for customary law within the present legal framework of Commonwealth, States and Territories. In reaching this recommendation and in following it up, Council made many connections with relevant leaders in the legal sector and participated in meetings and forums such as the Indigenous Customary Law Forum of October 1995. Council's position is currently reflected in its document Recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Rights .
Council has also adopted a range of approaches to addressing the over-representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in custody. These have included working with lawyers and police, in collaboration with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. In early 1997, Council sponsored a well-attended seminar in Perth that brought together judges, lawyers and police to consider the reasons for the high representation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in custody and to develop approaches to addressing the problem. In the same year, the Victorian Government, in consultation with Aboriginal communities formed Aboriginal Community Justice Panels throughout the State. The 16 Aboriginal Community Justice Panels undertake a range of activities that improve relationships between police and Aboriginal communities and support Aboriginal people who come into contact with the criminal justice system.
 Friends Megan Cox , five (left) and Robyn Douglas, six, have taken part in the pilot project at the Catholic Holy Rosary School at Windsor in Brisbane to incorporate Indigenous perspectives into schools and the curriculum. Photograph: Paul Wager, courtesy Courier Mail |
A constant theme of Council's consultations has been that 'education is the key' to achieving reconciliation. By this, people imply three things. They seek education of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander youth in culturally sensitive ways to a point where they can participate as equals, with good jobs and economic security. They seek education of decision-makers and people who provide services so that they work through respectful partnerships and relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Finally, they seek education of the wider community to understand the issues of reconciliation.
Education is therefore a recurring theme throughout Council's work, including the strategies outlined in its Roadmap for Reconciliation . To streamline its third-term strategic plan, Council grouped education with youth as it considered its main partners. Partners in achieving Council's broader goals in relation to education include Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, governments, education departments, the private education sector, the tertiary education sector, principals, teachers, unions, the media, parents and students. Council's strategies include actions for all these partners.
In April 1997, the Chief Executive Officers of State and Territory education departments made a statement of commitment to reconciliation and to working collaboratively with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to achieve improved educational outcomes particularly for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.
Council's report to Parliament on its second term, Weaving the Threads - progress towards reconciliation, identified education as a major challenge still to be adequately addressed in the reconciliation process.
Council's national strategies pick up the recommendations of the 1995 social justice submission Going Forward - Social Justice for the First Australians that cultural awareness should be mandatory in pre-vocational teachers' training courses and that it should be included in teachers' in-service training programs.
Education emerged as a major issue from the Australian Reconciliation Convention including the pre-convention consultations, and in every subsequent questionnaire and workshop. The majority of people overwhelmingly stated that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander studies should be a normal part of the school curriculum.
 Gail Mabo (left) taking Kempsey High School students through rehearsals for the 'Living the Dreaming' concert in 1995. |
As mentioned previously, each strategy in Council's Roadmap for Reconciliation includes a strong educational component, recognising the crucial importance of both formal and non-formal education. Building from the public feedback, the Roadmap proposed that:
National Indigenous English Literacy and Numeracy Strategy 2000-2004
Council Chairperson, Dr Evelyn Scott, and Council member, Mrs May O'Brien, are official ambassadors for the Commonwealth Government's National Indigenous English Literacy and Numeracy Strategy. Dr Scott welcomed the release of the strategy in March 2000 as a way of overcoming educational disadvantages suffered by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in a culturally sensitive and respectful way. She said it was based on partnerships between parents, communities, schools, departments and all three levels of government and would seek to ensure that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students reached the same levels of literacy and numeracy as other Australians.
|
Young people have open minds -we all agree that reconciliation needs to happen. Reconciliation is a two-way street and we have to do it together. Michelle Stephens, member of National Youth Roundtable (1999) |
When working from a base line of minimal participation in the education system, any increase is seen as an improvement. Nonetheless, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students still experience educational disadvantage - three percent of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander adults have never attended school; only approximately one third of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children stay on at school through to the final year; and only around 14% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have post-school qualifications. These are national statistics, and noticeably there are large variations between geographical areas and between the States and Territories.
The recent inquiry into rural and remote education by the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC) argues that accessible education is the right of every child and that this right is violated if access is substantially harder for some. The report found that many Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Australians in remote areas get a poor education or no education because of the absence of schools, the inappropriateness of boarding and distance education, poor travel arrangements, insufficient financial assistance especially for boarding costs, and staff turnover and staff quality.
For Aboriginal students in remote areas where there are no secondary schools, the options are limited. Those who want to continue their education but do not want to leave the community can sometimes continue in post-primary studies or classes. These classes are not equivalent to those offered in secondary schools and do not lead to a Year 12 certificate. This is sometimes not recognised by parents and students, who often assume that school attendance past the primary level is equivalent to secondary studies.
The delivery
of education services is primarily a responsibility of the States and Territories,
and there are noticeable variations between curricula and outcomes. For example,
the Year 12 retention rate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students
is 50% in Queensland compared to 11% in the Northern Territory. A recent independent
review of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education in the Northern Territory,
Learning Lessons, highlighted the systemic failure of the Northern Territory
education authorities to accord sufficiently high priority to the needs of Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander students or to effectively deal with the problems
they face. The report made 151 recommendations to improve administration and
delivery of education for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in
the Territory. In addition, the Northern Territory Government announced in 1998
that bilingual education programs would be replaced with English-as-a-second-language
programs.
|
There is no hiding from the reconciliation process on Flinders; the Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people share this small place and all its resources. Both cultures have long memories; both remember grievances and shared triumphs. Reconciliation is not easy when you are as close to the need for it as we are, but we have learnt patience and tolerance and respect for one another, and we will keep it going, and be better for it. Councillor Lynn Mason, Mayor of Flinders Island (1997) |
The educational disadvantage of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students is well recognised. Commonwealth and State Ministers of Education have agreed that every child leaving primary school should be numerate, able to read, write and spell at an appropriate level, and that every child commencing school from 1998 should achieve a minimum acceptable literacy and numeracy standard within four years. National standards have been agreed and the move to an outcomes focus in relation to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander education has produced a fundamental shift in the way that the education and training sector operates.
Successful implementation of COAG commitments (see Chapter 8) should ensure effective monitoring and lay the basis for future ongoing improvements.
Education of all students about our shared histories and cultures
There is strong community support for teaching all students about our shared histories and cultures. Many also recognise that this will not happen without trained teachers, adequate teaching resources and space in the already crowded curriculum.
Significant changes have occurred within Australia's education system since the 1960s when Australian history courses referred to 'the Aboriginal problem' and were based on negative assumptions and stereotypes. However, the Council is conscious that more consolidated action is required to ensure that all pupils receive a grounding in the study of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and histories.
Both state and private education systems in Australia are gradually improving their curriculum materials to enable teachers to teach history which includes the perspectives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
An example is the kit Teaching Aboriginal Studies , which was released in National Reconciliation Week 1999. This kit was a Project of National Significance, funded by the Department of Employment, Education and Training and developed by the NSW Aboriginal Education Consultative Group. One outcome of the project was that the number of Australian Universities with mandatory Aboriginal Studies in teacher education grew from one to nine.
While there is ministerial and senior official support for universal teaching of this history in each State and Territory, the introduction of school-based decision making has meant that it does not happen in some schools because some principals do not support its teaching.
 Students and staff of Nowa Nowa Primary School, Victoria, with Chairperson Patrick Dodson in 1996. Nowa Nowa Primary School was national winner in the youth section of the Australian Reconciliation awards in 1997. |
Education departments at the Commonwealth, State and Territory level all recognise the need for improved curriculum materials if students are to be able to learn about traditional and contemporary Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and histories and our shared history. Many are developing appropriate resources that suit their own needs. Materials recently developed in Tasmania really make the history come alive by including local stories that can be directly presented by local Aboriginal people.
Over its life, the Council has periodically provided materials directly to schools. These have included its quarterly magazine Walking Together, and resources such as badges and stickers for National Reconciliation Week. In 1997, Council funded and approved a 'Streetwize' comic on reconciliation with an accompanying educator's kit. This proved to be a very popular and well-used resource. The Information Kits associated with the Australian Reconciliation Convention in 1997 and the Draft Document for Reconciliation in 1999 were also sent to all schools.
In 1998, all State and Territory Education departments supported an initiative of the South Australian Department of Education to develop a Learning Circle Kit, Towards Reconciliation, for students to use during National Reconciliation Week. Every state school in South Australia and many other schools throughout Australia used this kit during National Reconciliation Week 1998.
A special education category in the Australian Reconciliation Awards in 1997 highlighted some innovative and important initiatives being undertaken in schools and educational institutions across the country. They included classroom projects about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, cultural exchanges between schools and communities, and strategies aimed at more equitable education outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students. The Council promoted the prize-winning projects as 'best practice' models. Council found that many schools wished to keep contact with it, sending in stories for Walking Together and seeking more information to support their various reconciliation activities.
|
Governments have a role in this, but we cannot wait for governments to reconcile our differences. The job of reconciliation, or cooperation, of communication, has to be taken on inside our cities, towns and our workplaces. That is the challenge to the nation and to our national identity. Patrick Dodson, Chairperson, Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation 1991-97 (1997) |
Council has developed materials for use by tertiary institutions to ensure that teachers, doctors and lawyers understand history and cultures and other relevant issues sufficiently to work effectively with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
In May 1996, the Council and the Committee of Deans of Australian Medical Schools launched a project for the production of materials to be used in the training of medical students. The Committee of Deans convened a reference group of nominees from each of Australia's 10 medical schools to assist in the development of the materials, including a video and training manual for cross-cultural medical education. The package, Indigenous Health: A Cultural Awareness Program for Medical Education , was launched by the Minister for Health, the Hon. Dr Michael Wooldridge, at Parliament House, Canberra, on 24 June, 1998. Medical students have welcomed this challenging package for its practical focus on dealing with the sort of real life situations that occur both in hospitals and private practice.
In 1994 the
Council commissioned the University of Wollongong's Law Faculty to develop self-teaching
modules for use in mandatory pre-admission training for lawyers. The Aboriginal
Law Centre of the University of NSW produced an accompanying 30-minute video.
The package was launched in December 1995 at a meeting of the Directors of the
Australian Professional Legal Education Courses and was piloted with the NSW
College of Law. The Law Council of Australia supported proposals for the package
to be incorporated into legal education courses across Australia.
|
Within the union movement positive developments have taken place with the appointment of Aboriginal industrial staff, networks of Aboriginal delegates, representation at the ACTU Executive, and initiatives aimed at employment opportunities and training places. Much more still needs to be done. Jennie George, former President of the Australian Council of Trade Unions |
Improvements in the tertiary education sector
There is extensive support for reconciliation among a growing number of tertiary institutions. For example, the University of Western Australia has undertaken to ensure equitable access to University programs and services. Its bodies include a Centre for Aboriginal Programs, a Centre for Aboriginal Dental and Medical Health and a Centre for Indigenous History and Arts. It also has an Aboriginal Employment Strategy and a program of cross-cultural awareness training for all staff.
Many universities, such as the University of Ballarat have issued a Statement of Reconciliation. Such statements acknowledge past injustice and dispossession and commit the University to developing an understanding in the community of the reality and ongoing consequences of historical dispossession, and to promoting a respect for the culture and traditions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Many universities also hold 'Week of Prayer' activities with their Chaplaincy, teach reconciliation as part of core subjects, and generally endorse the principles of reconciliation.
Education unions
The Independent Education Union has taken a leadership role in educating its members about the truth of the history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians and working cooperatively with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and organisations to overcome the legacy of this history.
The Australian Education
Union has formally apologised to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
for the role that educators and schools had in the removal of Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander children from their families and communities. The AEU
has also made a commitment to an annual National Reconciliation Award for relevant
school initiatives, advocacy for improving resources and outcomes for Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander students, support for mandatory education in Aboriginal
Studies for students and teachers, and for a number of other significant initiatives.
