Saturday marks the start of National Reconciliation Week, a time to reflect and build on respectful relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other Australians.

For Bendigo Reconciliation Committee co-chair John Bonnice, the week is about the non-indigenous community “really thinking” about the issues, historical and current, that impact on the lives of Indigenous people.

“The responsibility around reconciliation is very much centred on the non-Aboriginal community,” he said. 

He called on the community to reach out, and to be open to listening.

“The week is for creating opportunities for dialogue, for learning, for exchange and building a greater understanding between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people,” Mr Bonnice said. 

That understanding is slowly growing, Mr Bonnice believes.

“What we’ve seen over the past few years is more organisations developing reconciliation in action plans and looking more at their role in reconciliation,” he said. 

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The City of Greater Bendigo was among those to develop its first reconciliation action plan.  

Mr Bonnice described it as one of the most significant things happening in the community. 

However, he said it was critical the plan was active.

City of Greater Bendigo community partnerships manager Steven Abbott said the city was committed to driving identification and implementation of reconciliation issues.

He welcomed the week as an opportunity to reflect on how far the city has come.

“But also to reflect more strategically on the work still to come. There is significant work still for us to do,” he said.

National Reconciliation Week starts on May 27 and ends on June 3.

“TO keep walking together, hand-in-hand.”

That is Rodney Carter’s wish for Indigenous and non-indigenous Australians during reconciliation week, and every week. 

The Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation chief executive officer said the week was “a more structured way” for communities to have critical conversations about reconciliation.

The week is bookended by two significant milestones.

It starts on the 50th anniversary of 1967 referendum, in which 90 per cent of Australians voted to give the Commonwealth the power to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and which recognised them in the census. 

Reconciliation week ends on June 3 – 25 years after the High Court of Australia recognised the special relationship Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have to the land with its landmark Mabo decision.

Bendigo and District Aboriginal Co-operative deputy chief executive officer Baydon Widdicombe said it was important that reconciliation week was celebrated by all cultures to celebrate the diversity and inclusion of other cultures, as well as understanding the history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

Commemorative events in Bendigo start tomorrow, with the opening of the city’s first Indigenous Film Festival at 7pm at Star Cinema in Eaglehawk.

Other central Victorian events celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people include the Nara Dreaming Exhibition.

A sunset ceremony has been arranged for Sorry Day, May 26, from 5pm at the La Trobe University Ironbark Centre on Edwards Road.

The ceremony is intended to acknowledge families, friends and ancestors affected by the Stolen Generations.