Reconciliation Australia CEO Karen Mundine walks us through why truth-telling is essential to achieve real change and why, despite widespread support, many Australians feel they don’t know where to start.
Bridging the gap between awareness and action is critical to building momentum, deepening understanding, and driving the collective effort needed for justice and a more equitable future.
Truth-telling is critically important for both symbolic and practical reasons. By truth-telling, I mean, the many and varied processes that enable a fuller and more accurate account of Australia’s history. Processes that help us to develop a shared understanding of the injustices perpetrated against First Nations peoples and their impacts, as well as the unique strengths and contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. These are precursors for justice and healing, for grassroots and structural change, and for a future where policies and practices do not repeat the mistakes of the past.
These paradigm shifts require a whole-of-nation reckoning with the legacies of advantage and disadvantage on which Australia has been built. We must acknowledge and actively address the systemic injustices and discrimination which continue to shape the lives of First Nations communities. However, we will not achieve that without both personal and institutional responsibility. Non-Indigenous Australians need to be brave in owning that they have benefited from that legacy and therefore have a meaningful role to play in addressing the structural inequality it has created.
Truth-telling has been integral to Australia’s reconciliation process since its beginnings. The hard truths told in the Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody were the catalyst for the decade of reconciliation in the 90s, and all that has sprung from it – including the formation of Reconciliation Australia.
The concept of truth-telling, truth-listening and truth-acting is at the heart of why we believe it is a powerful driver of reconciliation. Setting the record straight is critical. However, it will not create a stronger, more united future if there is not a transformational response in the way our governments, businesses and communities operate. This year’s National Reconciliation Week theme, All In, makes clear that reconciliation is not solely the responsibility of First Nations people and that all of us must take action to make change.
Truth-telling: highly valued but not highly participated in
We know that truth-telling is important, and the evidence suggests that most Australians agree. The Australian Reconciliation Barometer – a national research survey undertaken by Reconciliation Australia every two years – tracks the progress of reconciliation between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous Australians. The truth-telling section of the 2024 survey found more than 80% of non-Indigenous Australians believe it is important to learn about the impacts of colonisation and government policy on First Nations peoples. Nearly three quarters of Australians believe it is important to undertake truth-telling. These numbers are even higher for young Australians, multicultural Australians and the employees of the thousands of Australian organisations with Reconciliation Action Plans.
However, the survey also reveals that this is not translating into widespread action. Of the 71% of non-Indigenous Australians who agree that truth-telling is important, only 9% report participating in a local truth-telling activity in the past year.
In 2023 Reconciliation Australia commissioned researchers at the University of New South Wales to investigate barriers to participation in truth-telling. The resulting report, Coming to terms with the past? Identifying barriers and enablers to truth-telling, is a rich resource. Among its many findings is that barriers to non-Indigenous participation include:
- A perceived lack of opportunity
- Anxiety and uncertainty around the appropriate role of non-Indigenous people
- Fear of distress
A key barrier identified by First Nations participants was safety. Protecting people and culture must be the priority. The principle of First Nations led is central, but that does not mean that First Nations people carry all the responsibility. While there isn’t a template for truth-telling there are key principles that should guide the work: co-designed processes, cultural safety and direction from the communities impacted by the legacy of the truths being shared.
Community Truth-telling Pathways
Our newest program, Community Truth-Telling Pathways, is working alongside local communities and other like-minded organisations, to advance a national culture of truth-telling that is First Nations led, place based, strengths focused and action oriented. The program is learning from communities undertaking local truth-telling activities and it has created an online resource hub. The hub is a growing source of practical tools to address identified barriers, supporting communities at different points in their truth-telling journey.
Take action to make change
The evidence tells us that the majority of Australians aspire to better and fairer outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. However, this requires non-Indigenous Australians to step off the sidelines and turn their goodwill into action. Reconciliation will not happen by itself, and it will not happen without all of us.
To learn more about Reconciliation Australia’s Community Truth-Telling Pathways program and available resources, head to reconciliation.org.au/truth-telling
This article is from the 55th edition of Reconciliation News. Read the rest of the issue.
