Canberrans 'burying heads in sand' on Reconciliation Day public holiday: health boss

Guest Author Published June 2, 2022 at 3.49pm (AWST)

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Canberrans have been accused of holidaying the long weekend away against the very intention of Reconciliation Day.

The ACT is the only Australian jurisdiction which has declared the day first observed in 2018 a public holiday.

But a prominent Aboriginal health service boss in the nation's capital has labelled the annual commemoration on Monday as "tokenistic".

It has instead failed to address poor treatment and needs of Ngunnawal people, according to Winnunga Nimmityjah Aboriginal Health and Community Services chief executive Julie Tongs.

"I think people in Canberra bury their heads in the sand," she said.

The holiday is part of National Reconciliation Week from May 27 until June 3, which coincides with the anniversary of the 1967 referendum and High Court Mabo decision.

Ms Tongs said highlighting a day to celebrate and understand Aboriginal culture had fallen on deaf ears in Canberra.

"How many people actually turn up for Reconciliation Day," she said.

"Most of them jump in their car and go down to the coast for the weekend.

"There are a lot of cultural activities that are really important, and I get that, but at the end of the day people just can't come out on one day and be like, 'Everything is great', and then go back to doing what they are doing the next day."

ACT Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith said Ms Tongs had rightly highlighted the experiences of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

But she refuted tokenistic claims of the holiday, pointing to a $20 million commitment to a healing and reconciliation fund.

"Establishing the Reconciliation Day public holiday does not take away from our obligation as a government to continue working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to support their solutions to fix problems," Ms Stephen-Smith said.

The ACT Reconciliation Council host a public event where Canberrans can learn from Indigenous people about their culture, history, and perspective on modern Australia.

The government also funds a Reconciliation Day grants program for sporting clubs, schools and other organisations to undertake activities to promote reconciliation.

Ms Stephen-Smith believed participation in Reconciliation Day has been "consistently strong" every year.

"It is a testament to the enthusiasm in the ACT community for a better understanding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, their culture, and what non-Indigenous Australia can do to help heal the harm caused by colonisation and by historical and ongoing institutional racism," she said.