From 4-6 November, delegates from the 3,300-strong RAP network will gather in Tarntanya/Adelaide to connect and progress reconciliation, and to celebrate excellence in First Nations self-determination.
Reconciliation Australia will celebrate 25 years as an organisation and 20 years of the Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) program at the National RAP Conference 2026.
Over two days, the event brings together a powerful lineup of over 70 First Nations speakers, experts and leaders, who will engage with hundreds of representatives from organisations with RAPs representing the 3,300 strong network.
The conference connects delegates from the health, community services, government, finance, education, corporate and cultural sectors to have constructive, practical conversations on how to embed reconciliation into everyday practice.
The RAP program began 20 years ago with just eight organisations.
Today more than 5 million people across Australia work or study in an organisation with a RAP, creating a movement that builds stronger partnerships with First Nations peoples and provides a structured, measurable and reportable tool for organisations to take meaningful action to advance reconciliation.
RAP organisations employ 62,000 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across the country and procure $5.6 billion dollars-worth of goods and services from First Nations-owned businesses.
‘RAPs play a powerful role in driving positive change in attitudes within their organisations, and ensure that reconciliation is embedded in core business, not just a side project,’ said Reconciliation Australia CEO, Karen Mundine.
‘Nationally, RAPs are recalibrating the Australian business, economic, cultural and political landscape, creating the conditions that lead to structural change to drive impact against Closing the Gap priority reforms.
‘The Conference theme, All In for Reconciliation, makes clear that reconciliation is not a spectator sport nor is it exclusively the work of First Nations peoples. It takes all of us, and we all must step away from the sidelines and take bold, courageous actions that create change every day.’
National RAP Conference 2026 Program Highlights
Host
John Paul Janke NITV/SBS National Indigenous Affairs Editor
Opening Address
Kyam Maher South Australian Deputy Premier
Opening Keynote
Tanya Hosch AM Director of the GO Foundation; Dale Agius South Australian Commissioner for Aboriginal Children and Young People
Truth-telling Plenary
Dr Jackie Huggins AM Director Partnerships and Innovation, University of Queensland; Travis Lovett Executive Director, Centre for Truth-telling and Dialogue, University of Melbourne; Rachel Perkins Director First Nations Strategy, Screen Australia; Tanya Denning-Orman Director, First Nations, SBS
Anti-racism Plenary
Maria Dimopoulos CEO Settlement Council of Australia; Senator Jana Stewart Senator for Victoria and Chair of the Inquiry into racism, hate and violence directed at Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people; Professor Nareen Young Director UTS Centre for Indigenous People and Work
Day Two Keynote
Selwyn Button Commissioner Productivity Commission; Shona Reid Chief Executive Aboriginal Family Support Services, South Australia
Respecting First Nations Rights Plenary
Francis Nona Senior Lecturer Queensland University of Technology; Ngarra Murray Director, Matha; Brooke Scott Executive Manager First Nations Strategy Commonwealth Bank.
The Conference will also include over 20 practice-led breakout sessions on diverse topics such as attracting and retaining First Nations talent, your role in First-Nations led truth-telling, RAP actions and Closing the Gap, RAPs and impact measurement for action, understanding Indigenous cultural and intellectual property, and how organisations can drive self-determiation and economic participation.
Indigenous Governance Awards 2026 (IGA) winners will be announced and celebrated at a gala dinner on the first night of the conference, presented by Narelda Jacobs OAM and featuring a special performance by Emma Donovan.
