Reconciliation News - December 2007 - Reconciliation Australia

Many good reasons for optimism

We anticipated a busy year with the 40^th anniversary of the 1967 referendum, and it’s turned out even busier – from the massive Indigenous artwork developed for Australia Day 2007 all the way through to Prime Minister John Howard’s election eve commitment to hold a reconciliation referendum.Read more
Raymattja honoured

Reconciliation Australia director and distinguished NT community leader Raymattja Marika has been awarded an honorary Doctorate in Education from Charles Darwin University.Read more
Youth on the move

Reconciliation Australia has entered into a partnership with the National Indigenous Youth Movement of Australia (NIYMA) to support the aims of its young Indigenous membership. NIYMA is a not-for-profit, independent organisation that represents the interests of its young Indigenous members, aged between 18 and 30.Read more
Healing Place

It’s a national tragedy that Indigenous Australians have an average lifespan of 17 years less than non-Indigenous Australians, due largely to the disparity in rates of disease and chronic illness.

This gap must be bridged as the cost in human and economic terms is enormous. So alternative methods of delivering health care and improving physical and mental health and wellbeing deserve serious consideration. Read more
Barbara is a runner-up!

Our chief executive Barbara Livesey was named runner-up in the Equity Trustees Not-for-Profit CEO Awards, in the innovation category.

Barbara said she was pleased to receive the award and that the credit should go to the entire Reconciliation Australia team – Board and staff.

‘Everyone at Reconciliation Australia works incredibly hard because we’re all so passionate about what we do. Any recognition that I might receive is due to our combined efforts,’ she said.

Play Your Part

We’re calling for poets, songwriters and artists, in fact anyone with a creative streak and a passion for reconciliation to showcase their work on our website – www.reconcile.org.au.. Read more
Reconciliation Queensland recruiting members

Reconciliation Queensland Inc (RQI) plans to soon have its website up and running again and would like to connect and interact with people or groups across the State who share an interest in reconciliation. RQI has formed informal partnerships with kuril dhagun, the Indigenous Knowledge Centre at the State Library of Queensland and Kooemba Jdarra, a local Indigenous Performing Arts group located at The Judith Wright Centre. Already RQI members and supporters have attended performances that promote understanding of Indigenous issues. Read more
Time to Listen Up!

Reconciliation Victoria has helped establish the Listen Up! campaign in response to the Federal Government’s intervention in the NT. Launched in October, Listen Up! is a coalition of concerned organisations and individuals seeking a better response to Aboriginal and Islander disadvantage by listening to Indigenous voices, communities and services. Read more
Noonga fosters reconciliation

Calling all sceptics, armchair critics, truth seekers or Queensland residents who have never met an Indigenous person, here’s your chance to play a part in reconciliation. Read more
Closing for Christmas

Reconciliation Australia’s office will remain open until Christmas, closing at 5 pm on Christmas Eve and will reopen in the New Year on Wednesday 2 January.

The Board and staff of Reconciliation Australia hope the festive season treats you well and we wish everyone safe and happy holidays with plenty of time to relax with family and friends before taking the plunge into 2008.

The book on unfinished business

A new book exploring the 10-year reconciliation process implemented by the Hawke Government from 1991 to 2000 has arrived on Australian bookshelves.

Unfinished Business was written by Dr Andrew Gunstone, Head of the Centre for Australian Indigenous Studies in the School of Humanities, Communications and Social Sciences at Monash University. It is the first book to explore the process, analysing its successes and failures and the factors that affected it. Read more
Calling all dentists...

For most Australians a toothache can be remedied fairly quickly – a quick needle in the gum, some skilled drilling work and pretty soon it’s all sorted. But for Indigenous people in north Queensland a sore tooth can ache for 12 months or more. And by then a minor problem can turn into something far worse.

Up around Cairns and the Atherton Tablelands, there’s a dental black hole even though the local Indigenous health service, Wuchopperen, has two fully equipped dental rooms and a mobile dental van ready to travel to outlying communities. What they need are dentists.

To turn this need around, Wuchopperen introduced its Filling the Gap Indigenous Dental Program to source volunteer dentists to work in their rooms in Cairns for one or two weeks at a time. In return their flights, accommodation and registration with the Queensland Dental Board are paid for.

In its first 18 months the program attracted 34 dentists who tended to 1,727 patients. But Wuchopperen still needs more volunteers.

For the dentists that sign up, the experience is both enjoyable and challenging. Dr Flora Galoustian who has a practice in Balmain in Sydney said her time at Wuchopperen was a real eye-opener.

‘Here in Balmain, the worst scenario would be that someone is on anti-depressants – but the medical history there is just amazing – everyone has rheumatic fever and there would be at least two or three in one day with diabetes or high blood pressure or something else,’ Dr Galoustian said.

‘I’m so glad I did it. I would like to go again and make it a yearly thing. Even though each day was a really full day’s work – I worked through my lunch hour as well to see the maximum number of patients – it was very refreshing.’

Melbourne dentist, Dr Swann Lam, had never treated Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander patients before and found many were in desperate need of an on-going dental service.

‘I found it was quite easy to take a week off to do this and I really enjoyed the interaction with the patients, and the challenges of trying to motivate them to help prevent dental problems in difficult circumstances. I’m thinking of going back again soon,’ Dr Lam said.

Between them, Dr Galoustian and Dr Lam treated 114 patients, performing 218 fillings, 18 extractions and 64 radiographs in a single week.

It’s a wonderful program that benefits both the dentists and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Any dentist with a week to spare will find it personally rewarding while improving Indigenous wellbeing. To express your interest please call Gael Kennedy on 0403 131 410 or Uri Windt on 0418 208 755 or email Uri at uri.windt@tarwin.net. More information about the Wuchopperen health service and the Filling the Gap program can be found online at www.wuchopperen.com.

Power of poetry

Abbi-Jo Anderson sent in the following composition saying each student in her Year 3 class at Bellbird Public School in NSW was asked to write a poem about reconciliation. ‘In my own words I told my mum what I thought reconciliation was about and together we came up with this poem. I hope you enjoy it.’

Reconciliation

by Abbi-Jo Anderson & Nicole Sargant

Reconciliation is for the whole nation

Equality all about negotiation

Cultured to upset

Only we didn't forget

Not only did it captivate

Catastrophe began to navigate

I'll begin to reconcile

Leave all the others in denial

It really did begin to isolate

And then the problems, we must locate

Together we must demand just

Intending to fix is a must

Oh no, it's not supernatural

No, it's sorry to the Aboriginal!

We have mail

Referendum postscript

Leonie Loveday from Abbotsford in Victoria wrote to us with thoughtful comments on the 1967 referendum and its aftermath.

In 1967 I was just 16 years old – too young to vote in the referendum that overwhelmingly conveyed to Aboriginal Australia the support the people had at grassroots from those who had dispossessed Indigenous people from their country. Read more

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In this issue

"September" Movie Give Away

Reconciliation Australia has 12 double passes to the movie September to give away with this edition of the HTML newsletter!

Set in the sweeping West Australian wheat belt in 1968, September tells the story of two 16 year old boys, one black and one white, whose pure and unaffected friendship begins to fall apart under the pressures of a changing social and political climate.

The first 12 people to email Brooke Pettit at Reconciliation Australia with their full name and postal address will win a double pass to see September. The movie will be screened in Sydney, Canberra, Melbourne, Brisbane, Gold Coast, Adelaide and Perth. The tickets are valid from Mondays to Fridays from November 29 until December 20 2007 (excluding public holidays and discount days).

Theme for National Reconciliation Week 2008

The theme for National Reconciliation Week 2008 will be revealed on Reconciliation Australia's website next week! Make sure you visit www.reconciliation.org.au to find out what it is!

Rappers set the beat

It seems that organisations everywhere are talking about RAPs these days but it’s not the rap music that grew from hip hop and street culture, it’s our successful program of Reconciliation Action Plans!

So just what is a RAP? What makes it special? What impact will it have? And why should every organisation in Australia have one? These are just some of the questions our RAP team has been addressing lately in meetings with all kinds of organisations, large and small, around the country. Read more

The music of reconciliation

Australian bands Silverchair and Powderfinger finished their historic Across the Great Divide tour in Newcastle in October insisting it was ‘just the start’ of their reconciliation journeys. Members of both bands spoke passionately about their experiences meeting Indigenous elders and talented young people, learning something of Aboriginal culture through stories, dance and music, and spending time with people in communities.Read more

Voices from the heart

‘We want to keep our culture, we don’t want to lose it, we don’t want to lose Warlpiri. We want to keep it strong, we want to speak our own language.’ Nancy Napurrula Oldfield, Yuendumu.

Reconciliation Australia in partnership with Indigenous media organisation Warlpiri Media and The Australian newspaper is helping to bring the voices, thoughts and feelings of a remote community in the Northern Territory to Australians everywhere. Read more

Farewell to Jackie

In deciding to prune back her many commitments, Reconciliation Australia’s much-loved Co-Chair, Jackie Huggins AM, has announced that she will leave the organisation in December. Here is an excerpt from a speech Jackie made in May to the Sydney Institute where she talked about her decision to move on.

Being involved in reconciliation has brought me into contact with the best of people, both black and white. Which is why my decision to retire from my formal role as Co-Chair of Reconciliation Australia at the end of the year feels very strange and already quite scary. Read more

Sorry seems to be the hardest word

The issue of an apology, 'saying sorry' to the Stolen Generations, has long occupied a high profile place in national debates about reconciliation. Many Australians argue they owe no apology as they were not responsible for past wrongs experienced by Indigenous people. Others see an apology as an essential first step in healing the hurt.

In a landmark speech to the Sydney Institute in October, the Prime Minister said if re-elected he would call for a referendum to formally recognise Indigenous Australians in the Constitution. However he reiterated his opposition to a formal apology saying it would take Australia backwards.

As you’ll see from the following quotes, opinions vary. We’d love to hear your view about the need for an apology and whether you think it worthwhile or meaningless. Please send your thoughts to Brooke Pettit and we’ll post them on our website – reconcile.org.au. Read more

Colouring the Canning Stock Route

Anthropologist John Carty recently returned from a five week journey along the Canning Stock Route, a 1,850km track through the Western Australian deserts connecting the towns of Wiluna and Halls Creek. John was part of a team embarking on the first stage of the Canning Stock Route Project*, an innovative program of creative partnerships fostering artistic exhibitions, oral history research, publications, multimedia and Indigenous employment and training. John talks about the background and aims of the project. Read more

We're banking on NIMMA

The report details both the immediate commitments and future options and actions to improve financial literacy and services from NIMMA project partners in Government agencies, community organisations and the financial services industry. The project was coordinated by Reconciliation Australia.Read more

Agree or Disagree?

Intentional Intervening - or going backwards to go a different way?

Harry Scott is the Executive Officer of Tapatjatjaka Community Government Council. His observations on the intervention in the Titjikala community provide an important on the spot perspective – what he thinks is working and what is not, and how the people of Titjikala feel about it. Here is an extract from Harry’s article which you can read in full on our website www.reconcile.org.au

We are going back to ration days, was the first response from the people of Titjikala.

The community has about 250 people, is about 120 km south of Alice Springs, and one of the first four communities to experience the intervention.Read more

Feeling the spirit at Garma

Reconciliation Australia invited a group of 20 influential women from business, government, media and community organisations to this year’s Garma Festival of Traditional Culture. One of Australia's most significant cultural exchange events, Garma is also a key educational forum, and an award-winning model for authentic, insightful Indigenous tourism. Many of the women in our group made important personal connections over the five days and journalist Tracee Hutchison wrote an account of their experience. Here is an extract from her story which is published in full on our reconcile.org.au website.

It’s 4.30am on a cool August morning in North East Arnhem Land and a group of women is making its way along a bush path by torchlight. No-one is speaking. Only the sound of footsteps and breathing breaks the silence. Read more

Our calendar girls shine

Our Co-Chair, Jackie Huggins, recently launched the RAW 2008 Aboriginal Women’s calendar, the ideal Christmas present to keep track of your appointments while celebrating the beauty and diversity of Australia’s Aboriginal peoples!Read more

A song, a memory and a monument

On a Saturday morning in September, a large group of people stood under a tree at Artuwarapanha – the birthplace of Walter ‘Apa’ Coulthard in the Northern Flinders Ranges.

The group had gathered to celebrate and commemorate the life of Walter Coulthard – an Adnyamathanha man who fought for Aboriginal rights throughout his life. Born around 1902, Walter Coulthard was instrumental in the handing back of Mt Serle and he was also very vocal about removing missionaries from his land. These actions brought him both friends and enemies. While he was ostracised by the missionary at Nepabunna for his actions, he made a very close friend of the Premier Don Dunstan and this friendship lasted for the rest of his life. Read more

GOVERNANCE BULLETIN - Workshops for Success

In preparation for the recent launch of the 2008 Indigenous Governance Awards (IGA) Reconciliation Australia conducted a series of Sharing Success workshops. The first was held earlier this year in Penrith, and two further workshops took place in Port Hedland and Mt Isa. Our IGA project partner, BHP Billiton, has operations in these two regions, and in Port Hedland one of the local organisations, Wangka Maya Pilbara Aboriginal Language Centre, was a finalist in the 2006 IGA.Read more

GOVERNANCE BULLETIN - It's time to nominate!

Nominations are now open for the 2008 Indigenous Governance Awards (IGA) that identify, celebrate and promote effective Indigenous governance. Created by Reconciliation Australia in partnership with BHP Billiton, the national IGA highlight Indigenous success through strong leadership, good management, effective partnerships and brave, creative thinking.Read more

You can donate to Reconciliation Australia

There’s no doubt that the 40^th anniversary of the 1967 referendum has helped reinvigorate reconciliation. Recalling the passion and persistence of the campaigners who fought so hard for change four decades ago has reminded us at Reconciliation Australia why the quest for true harmony between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians is so important.

While 2007 has been one of our busiest years, the promise of a bipartisan referendum in the next 18 months means that 2008 will see us embark on many new adventures as we continue down the reconciliation road.

Our work in forging partnerships, educating the community and promoting Indigenous success will be part of our wider role of informing all Australians in the lead up to a referendum vote.

Your donation helps us continue to make a real difference to the lives of Indigenous people and to shape a future in which Indigenous children enjoy the same life opportunities as non-Indigenous children. Click here to make a donation.

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