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Reconciliation in 2004 - the outlook is positive after key gains in 2003

By Jackie Huggins - posted Thursday, 18 December 2003


They have bound together the symbolic and practical by recognising that a strong sense of who you are and how you feel about yourself, your culture and your place in society affects how you behave and how you take responsibility for solving your own problems.

This growing awareness of how the past affects the present has led to a more pronounced readiness to assess what works, to review what doesn’t and to set aside sectoral, jurisdictional and competitive differences to allow for greater national coordination of knowledge and experience.

After somewhat of a lull in the national reconciliation debate in recent years, 2003 has brought people back to the table with renewed vigour and more focused on tangible outcomes.

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Reconciliation Australia has been encouraged by the honesty of debate during the year and the preparedness of people to think hard and creatively. It is a positive sign for the quality of national debate that submissions to the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Inquiry into Capacity Building in Indigenous Communities about the issue of a treaty, for example, recognise the long term nature of this debate.

A thorough review of policy is being recognised as imperative given the mismatched demographics of Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australia with rising numbers of young Indigenous people too disadvantaged to be making constructive contributions to society coupled with reduced numbers of productive citizens in an ageing, non-Indigenous population.

The scope of review being conducted at the federal level has given interested people the opportunity to be frank about a range of interconnected issues. Without ignoring the urgency of the situation in communities, nor the scope of the task, all sectors have showed a willingness to put aside the ad hoc and engage seriously over the long term.

Interestingly, this maturing of the discussion has resulted in government being held more accountable on its own rhetoric, as the community, including Indigenous communities and corporate Australia, become more engaged in national discussion. The big questions are being asked about how we can work together to get better results for Indigenous people and better results for the nation.

The reconciliation debate has thrived this year and, encouragingly, much of it has been focused more on strategy and less on areas of disagreement.

We have seen serious common ground develop in discussions on addressing Indigenous disadvantage, and on an execution of reconciliation which sees government, business and the community working in partnership.

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Making it Count

History demonstrates the gap between, on the one hand, words of good intention and, on the other, real action that leads to better outcomes. The challenge for all parties involved in reconciliation is to ensure that the opportunities created in 2003 are seized.

How do we make them count? How can we use them to progress aspirations that are shared by all Australians - Indigenous and non-Indigenous?

While not every Australian would identify reconciliation as a national priority, the great majority share a concern about Indigenous disadvantage. They are keen to see problems resolved and all citizens given equal opportunity to make a contribution to Australia.

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This is a summary of the 2003 Reconciliation Report. The full report is available here (pdf, 796Kb).



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About the Author

Jackie Huggins is Deputy Director of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Research Unit at the University of Queensland and Co-chair of Reconciliation Australia.

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