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Finding Common Ground:
Towards a Document for Reconciliation

Documents of Reconciliation > Relevant Council Publications >

1. A Document For all Australians

Reconciliation between Australia's Indigenous peoples and other Australians is central to the renewal of this nation as a harmonious and just society which lives out its national ethos of a fair go for all.

From 'Call to the Nation' adopted by 1,800 participants at the Australian Reconciliation Convention, May 1997.

As we move towards the Federation centenary, Australians are discussing what sort of society we want to create during our second century as a nation.

For many Australians, it is very important to set the record straight between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the wider community before we start the new millennium. Many Australians are uncomfortable that there has never been proper recognition of the relationship between the original inhabitants of this continent, and the people from many lands and cultures around the world who have made this land their home over the past 200 years.

The Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation proposes that achieving broad agreement on a reconciliation document would be a significant factor in setting the record straight.

Setting the goal

When the Federal Parliament established the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation in 1991 by a unanimous vote, it directed the Council to undertake a range of functions. One of these was

To consult Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders and the wider Australian community on whether reconciliation would be advanced by a formal document or formal documents of reconciliation.

and after that consultation

To report to the Minister on the views of Aborigines and Torres Strait Islanders and of the wider Australian community as to whether such a document or documents would benefit the Australian community as a whole, and if the Council considers that there would be such a benefit, to make recommendations to the Minister on the nature and content of, and the manner of giving effect to, such a document or documents.

Broad support

Since it was established, the Council has sought the views of a very wide range of people on this issue through various means including discussions, independent surveys, and questionnaires distributed in connection with the Australian Reconciliation Convention in May 1997.

In 1996 the Council commissioned a major independent research survey of community attitudes on issues related to reconciliation. This included questions about whether some form of agreement between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and the wider Australian community would help relations between them. This survey showed that a big majority (about 75 per cent) of people thought that agreements at national, regional and local levels would improve relations. A similar majority supported agreements between Indigenous communities and industry groups such as farmers and miners.

The Australian Reconciliation Convention

In May 1997, the Council convened the Australian Reconciliation Convention to enable a broad cross-section of Australians to review progress in the reconciliation process and to plan an agenda of achievable goals for the final three-year term of the Council (January 1998 to December 2000). Participants at the convention urged the Council to produce a document or documents of reconciliation in time for the centenary of Federation.

In the months leading up to the convention, about 10,000 people attended over 100 meetings around Australia, and forwarded views and suggestions to the convention itself. These meetings also overwhelmingly supported proposals for a document or documents of reconciliation.

Council's Goals in its final term

When the Council drew up its Strategic Plan for its final term in the light of the outcomes of the convention, it identified three major goals. The first goal is to

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 Constitution of this country.

The Council firmly believes that this goal can only be achieved with the widest possible involvement of the Australian community. To this end, the Council has established a process to enable all interested Australians to have their say about the form and content of a document.

And if broad agreement can be reached on a document, the Council wants it to be open to all Australians to record their support for it and their commitment to making its principles a reality in their own lives. The process established by the Council includes:

  • wide distribution of a Draft Document for public discussion and comment;

  • nationwide consultation meetings over the second half of 1999;

  • supply of a feedback sheet to record responses from meetings, groups and individuals;

  • consideration of the responses by the Council; and

  • presentation of the Council's final proposals to a major national event in May 2000.

Over the last few months, the Council has developed a Draft Document for Reconciliation after extensive consultation with a wide range of prominent people from the Aboriginal, Torres Strait Islander and wider communities. The Draft distills the experiences of the Council and the many thousands of Australians who have worked for reconciliation over the years in their communities, workplaces and organisations. In this Draft the Council seeks to:

  • express the Australian people's hopes and aspirations for reconciliation;

  • state the main issues and challenges for reconciliation today; and

  • outline strategies which will enable all Australians to work together towards a reconciled nation.

How can Australians have their say?

From July to November this year, Council members will attend the consultation meetings in regional centres to hear the views of the Australian people. The Council will also try to take part in other discussions in local, workplace, sectoral and interest groups.

Individuals and groups can also express their views through the feedback sheets which will be widely distributed from July.

The Council especially encourages Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, organisations and groups to consider the Draft and provide their views.

How will Council respond?

Following these extensive consultations, the Council will consider all the responses it receives, both from meetings and through the feedback sheets. It will draw on these responses to draft its final proposals which it will launch at a major national event to be held in Sydney in late May 2000.

The Council wants the participants at this event to represent the nation as a whole in all its diversity of regions, sectors, interest groups and cultures. If the Council judges that there is broad community consensus on the form and content of a document of reconciliation, it will seek the support and in-principle commitment of these participants for its final proposals.

How will the document make a difference?

In the weeks and months after the event, the Council will continue to seek the support and commitment of all Australians and their representative bodies to the principles and strategies set out in its final document proposals. The Council may establish registers which will enable individuals, groups and organisations to formally record their support and commitment.

The Council will also encourage communities and organisations in all sections of society to take practical steps relevant to their circumstances which will help make reconciliation a reality in the life of the nation and all its citizens.

In particular, it will ask parliaments and governments at all levels to adopt any final document and make commitments relevant to their jurisdictions and responsibilities.

The Council strongly believes that broad agreement on a reconciliation document would be a fitting way for Australia to mark the symbolic year 2000 and prepare for the centenary celebrations in 2001. This document, and practical commitments to make reconciliation a reality in people's lives, would also be an effective way to draw together the strands of the reconciliation process so far, and establish a framework for continuing the process beyond the life of the Council.

The next section of this booklet briefly outlines the historical reasons why the Council believes Australia needs a document of reconciliation.

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