Aboriginal Education
The Wiritjiribin Word
Reconciliation Week 2026
National Reconciliation Week is held each year from 27 May to 3 June and provides an opportunity for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to reconciliation in Australia.
The week is framed by two significant dates in Australia's reconciliation journey. On 27 May 1967, Australians voted overwhelmingly in the Referendum to amend the Constitution, allowing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to be counted in the census and enabling the Commonwealth Government to make laws for them. On 3 June 1992, the High Court's Mabo decision recognised that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a continuing connection to Country, overturning the legal concept of terra nullius.
As part of our activities, Camden High School hosted students from Camden South PS, Camden PS, Douglass Park PS and Cawdor PS and it was a great opportunity to share and learn together. Students explored journal entries from British settlers which highlighted the contrast between the declaration of Terra Nullius and the reality of Aboriginal societies across Australia. Through examples from many different regions, they learned about permanent settlements, sophisticated housing structures and well-established communities that existed long before European arrival. Our students worked so well alongside our primary school friends, showing great leadership and collaboration to design and build their own shelters, producing some impressive structures. These have been left up, as they are for our staff and students to enjoy and to generate some discussion around First Nations histories.
