Meaningful reconciliation cannot occur without truth-telling about the dispossession of Australia's traditional owners upon colonisation and the ongoing impacts of this, central Victorian Aboriginal leaders say.
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National Reconciliation Week runs from May 27, the anniversary of the successful 1967 referendum, to June 3, the anniversary of the Mabo High Court decision. This year's theme is 'Grounded in Truth, Walk Together with Courage'.
Both Dja Dja Wurrung Clans Aboriginal Corporation chief executive officer Rodney Carter and Raylene Harradine, the chief executive officer of the Bendigo and District Aboriginal Co-operative, said there was some truth lacking in Australia's telling of history and people's understanding of it when it came to the nation's traditional owners.
Graham Atkinson, a long-time advocate, echoed a similar sentiment, adding there was a direct link between colonisation and the current unequal status of Indigenous Australians.
"As a member of my own first nations people, the Dja Dja Wurrung people, we believe there is still a lot of unfinished business to discuss which has been hidden by Australia's reluctance to include the true story of what happened when first contact occurred and the consequences that flowed from the contest for land and resources," Mr Atkinson said.
But there is optimism that Australians will open up and accept their history, and move further on the path to reconciliation.
"We can see increasingly writers and storytellers sharing many chapters of our history that put simply is factual and balanced and a form of truthfulness... I am comforted that future generations will embody what is right and just and see that there can be no honour unless the truth is told," Mr Carter said.
Mr Atkinson said younger generations were "hungry to hear the true story of European settlement".
Reconciliation was a process, Ms Harradine said, that both Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal people needed to take part in.
Mr Atkinson agreed. "It is not a one-way street of unfulfilled promises aimed at solving the Aboriginal problem. From our side it is not our problem but one that requires the genuine commitment from all Australians to resolve," he said.
Ms Harradine said this process needed to begin early, in education, so the impact was felt as communities grew. Mr Carter reflected on his heritage, built by his ancestors over tens of thousands of years.
"That's a history we want protected and supported to continue, its our shared history, and we should all want to be a part of that," he said.
For Ms Harradine, reconciliation meant an Australia where everyone was on an equal footing - a future for young Indigenous Australians free from racism.
The Central Victorian Indigenous Film Festival is held during Reconciliation Week, featuring films created by, starring and telling the stories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. For events, click here.
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