Chaplain's Chat  & Student Welfare

National Sorry Day and National Reconciliation Week

This Thursday 26 May, we celebrate National Sorry Day. Sorry Day is a day of commemoration and remembrance for the so-called Stolen Generations - the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children forcibly removed from their families, communities and cultures between the 1800s and the 1970s. Here is a link to Stolen Generations telling us their stories https://www.stolengenerationstestimonies.com/

From this Friday 27 May until next Friday 3 June we also celebrate National Reconciliation Week. National Reconciliation Week celebrates the relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and all other Australians. The dates draw attention to significant historical events. The 27 May marks the day in 1967 when the referendum was passed for the Australian Government to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders and to allow them to be recognised in the census. The 3rd of June marks the day in 1992 that led the Australian Government to recognise native title and acknowledge Indigenous Australians as the original occupants of Australia (Mabo title). 

This year's theme, 'Be Brave. Make Change' challenges us all to tackle the unfinished business of reconciliation. During the week, Reconciliation Australia is asking everyone to make change for the benefit of all Australians, beginning with brave actions in their daily lives – where they live, work and socialise.

The children’s picture book, Two Mates by Melanie Prewett encourages thinking about reconciliation. This is a link to a reading of that book https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XED4vbbYyXI 

More information about Reconciliation Week can be found at  https://nrw.reconciliation.org.au/about-nrw/ 

Sarah McIntosh

Chaplain