Yamma,
Welcome to the Cultural Events section of our website.
Here you will find details of important cultural events that ZSIC encourages you, your organisation and community to acknowledge and engage with.
Please add them to your annual event and activity calendar.
Please click here to Contact Us for a yarn about your reconciliation journey,
or if you wish to share any feedback.
National Reconciliation Week – Annual event, 27 May to 3 June each year
Be a voice for reconciliation!
National Reconciliation Week – 27 May to 3 June – is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.
Reconciliation is about establishing and maintaining a mutually respectful relationship between Aboriginal and non-Aboriginal peoples in this country, and live in the hearts, minds and actions of all Australians as we move forward, creating a stronger nation.
Reconciliation is also about creating equity and equality, closing the gap, and building relationships to do this. Let’s help close the gap.
Respectfully, some deadly ways you could support and learn about reconciliation and bring Reconciliation Week to life are:
- Learn about significant events in reconciliation
- Acknowledge Traditional Owners and Country
- Explore Indigenous histories & culture
- Reflect on National Sorry Day
- Attend and participate in a Reconciliation Week event, check out local activities near you on the NRW Calendar.
- Be a Voice for reconciliation - print a flyer and poster for your workplace, or change your online meeting background to help spread the word
- Register or hold a private reconciliation event
- Have a yarn up on your RAP (Reconciliation Action Plan)
- Get ready for NAIDOC Week celebrations.
ZSIC encourages you to find out more about Reconciliation. The dates for NRW are the same each year; 27 May to 3 June. These dates commemorate two significant milestones in our reconciliation journey — the successful 1967 referendum, and the High Court Mabo decision respectively.
Helpful Links:
Sorry Day (National Day Of Healing) – Annual event, 26th May each year
National Sorry Day is a day to acknowledge the strength of Stolen Generations Survivors and reflect on how Australians can all play a part in the healing process for the people and nation.
Sorry Day is an annual ceremonial event. Sorry Day is an Australia-wide observance held on May 26 each year and gives people the chance to come together and share the steps towards healing for the Stolen Generations, their families and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Respectfully, take time to reflect on the ongoing impacts of past injustices and intergenerational trauma experienced by the Stolen Generations, their families, and communities.
National Reconciliation Week (27 May to 3 June) commences the day after Sorry Day.
Why observe Sorry Day?
To achieve reconciliation, it is imperative that all Australians acknowledge the true history of our nation, and the damaging effects colonisation continues to have on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.
Sorry Day carries great significance for the Stolen Generations and other Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. During the 20th century, Indigenous children were forcibly removed from their families, Country and culture to be assimilated into white Australian culture. They are known as the “Stolen Generations.”
The first National Sorry Day was observed in 1998, a year after the first “Bringing Them Home” report — the result of a government inquiry into child-removal of the 20th century — was brought before the Australian Parliament.
The Australian government officially offered an apology to Indigenous Australians in 2008, and adopted the goals of “Closing the Gap” and equality for Indigenous peoples of all generations. The National Apology formally acknowledged the injustices of past Government policies and practices that forcibly removed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children – the future Elders of their sovereign nations and the Elders of tomorrow.
Helpful Links:
NAIDOC – Annual event held during the first week of July
Celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia in the first week of July each year (Sunday to Sunday), to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth.
Respectfully, ZSIC encourages you to support and get to know your local Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander communities through some deadly activities and events held during NAIDOC Week.
The week is celebrated not just in Indigenous communities but also increasing in workplaces, schools, government agencies and local councils for example.
Some ways you could celebrate are:
- Display the National NAIDOC Poster or other Indigenous posters around your workplace
- Organise a smoking ceremony
- Invite local some deadly Indigenous musicians or dancers to perform at your workplace
- Invite local Elders and community leaders over for a yarn and /or Give a Welcome to Country at your workplace
- Invite an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander sportsperson or artist to visit you
- Host a community BBQ or breakfast
- Host your own Indigenous trivia quiz
- Hold an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander arts and crafts activity
- Work with an Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander artist to produce an artwork representing your organisation
- Visit local Indigenous sites of significance or interest
- Attend and participate in local NAIDOC community events.
Helpful Links:
Organisations We Support &/Or Work With
