Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation

The Council - Charting The Way

The Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation was established as a statutory authority on 2 September 1991 when the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation Act 1991 received the Royal Assent.

Its first members were appointed on 15 December 1991. Like other appointees over the Council's life, they were prominent Australians drawn from Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and wider communities, bringing a comprehensive range of views and approaches to the Council's deliberations.

The preamble to the Act sets out some of the reasons for, and circumstances surrounding, the enactment of the legislation. The preamble reads:

Because:

(a) Australia was occupied by Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders who had settled for thousands of years, before British settlement at Sydney Cove on 26 January 1788; and

(b) many Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders suffered dispossession and dispersal from their traditional lands by the British Crown; and

(c) to date, there has been no formal process of reconciliation between Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders and other Australians; and

(d) by the year 2001, the centenary of Federation, it is most desirable that there be such a reconciliation; and

(e) as part of the reconciliation process, the Commonwealth will seek an ongoing national commitment from governments at all levels to cooperate and to coordinate with the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission as appropriate to address progressively Aboriginal disadvantage and aspirations in relation to land, housing, law and justice, cultural heritage, education, employment, health, infrastructure, economic development and any other relevant matters in the decade leading to the centenary of Federation, 2001.

Vision statement of the Council

A united Australia which respects this land of ours; values the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander heritage; and provides justice and equity for all.

Eight Key Issues for Reconciliation

Council defined eight key issues as essential to the process of reconciliation in its first strategic plan. These issues were identified by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as essential to any understanding of their past, their position in the present and their hopes for the future. The key issues were the basis of the Council's community education program throughout its life. They are:

• a greater understanding of the importance of land and sea in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander societies;

• better relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the wider community;

• recognition that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures and heritage are a valued part of the Australian heritage;

• a sense for all Australians of a shared ownership of our history ;

• a greater awareness of the causes of disadvantage that prevent Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from achieving fair and proper standards in health, housing, employment and education;

• a greater community response to addressing the underlying causes of the unacceptably high levels of custody for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples;

• greater opportunity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to control their destinies ;

• agreement on whether the process of reconciliation would be advanced by a document or documents of reconciliation.

The Council's Early Focus

Community Action aimed to bring people together to work on issues of common concern, and to promote cooperative approaches and solutions. It also promoted positive change in local communities and community organisations to support reconciliation activities.

Communication and Public Awareness promoted better understanding, knowledge and attitudes in the broad community, and in targeted sectors, leading to support for, and involvement in, the reconciliation process.

Consultation sought and recorded the views of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and the wider community about reconciliation and the key issues. Australians for Reconciliation coordinators acted within each State and Territory to promote reconciliation at a community level.

The Councils Final Goals

Create Documents of Reconciliation - Achieve recognition and respect for the unique position of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Indigenous peoples of Australia through a national document of reconciliation and by acknowledgment within the Australian Constitution.

Develop Partnerships in Reconciliation - Gain the commitment of governments, business, peak organisations and community groups to form partnerships which will achieve social and economic equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Build The People's Movement for Reconciliation - Encourage and support the people's movement for reconciliation to achieve justice and equity for all Australians, to embrace the unique place of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in the life of the nation and to ensure that the work of reconciliation continues beyond the life of the Council.

Documents of Reconciliation

The documents comprise the Australian Declaration Towards Reconciliation and the Roadmap for Reconciliation . The Australian Declaration Towards Reconciliation is an aspirational statement that Council hopes all Australians will embrace. The Roadmap for Reconciliation sets out four national strategies identifying ways governments, community groups, organisations and individuals can implement the principles of the Declaration to help improve the lives of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and achieve reconciliation.

National Strategies for Reconciliation

Achieving Economic Independence

Overcoming Disadvantage

Recognising Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Rights

Sustaining the Reconciliation Process

This information was extracted from the Council For Aboriginal Reconciliaition Final Report: Reconciliation Australia's Challenge.