National Reconciliation

The theme for National Reconciliation Week 2020 - In This Together – is speaking to us in ways we could not have foreseen when announced last year, but it reminds us whether in a crisis or in reconciliation we are all IN THIS TOGETHER.​

National Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.​

Reconciliation must live in the hearts, minds and actions of all Australians as we move forward, creating a nation strengthened by respectful relationships between the wider Australian community, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.​

When we come together to build mutual respect and understanding, we shape a better future for all Australians.​

At its heart, reconciliation is about strengthening relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous peoples, for the benefit of all Australians.​

Prayer of the Aboriginal People:

God of Holy Dreaming, Great Creator Spirit, from the dawn of creation you have given your children the good things of Mother Earth.​

You spoke and the gum tree grew.​

In the vast desert and the dense forest, and in the cities and at the water’s edge, creation sings your praises.​

Your presence endures as the rock at the heart of our Land.

When Jesus hung on the tree you heard the cries of all your people and became one with your wounded ones: the convicts, the hunted, and the dispossessed.

The sunrise of your Son coloured the earth anew, and bathed it in glorious hope.

In Jesus we have been reconciled to you, to each other and to your whole creation. 

Lead us on, Great Spirit, as we gather from the four corners of the earth; enable us to walk together in trust from the hurt and shame of the past into the full day which has dawned in Jesus Christ.   

Amen.