National Reconciliation Week event for whole family

Stepping Black will host a Family Fun Day in the region after receiving a share in $157,500 from the 2022 Queensland Government’s Celebrating Reconciliation Grants program.

An event focused on bringing all ages of the community together will be held next week as part of celebrations for National Reconciliation Week.

Stepping Black will host a Family Fun Day in the region after receiving a share in $157,500 from the 2022 Queensland Government’s Celebrating Reconciliation Grants program.

The event will be held at Bundaberg North State School’s oval on Sunday 5 June from 11 am to 2 pm with a huge range of activities featured including raffles, arts and crafts, indigenous dancers and more.

Zona Hussey-Smith, Stepping Black Indigenous Corporation Australia director, said the Family Fun Day would be a great opportunity to celebrate community and promote reconciliation.

“Families are important to the sustainability of society and by bringing them together, we provide opportunities to restrengthen communities at grassroots level whilst simultaneously encouraging best practice in reconciliation,” she said.

Member for Bundaberg Tom Smith said progressing a Path to Treaty was about facing the full history of the state, a story that is more than 60,000 years old and steeped in ancient culture.

“We all have a role to play in taking meaningful action and deepening our understanding of reconciliation,” he said.

Queenslanders have been called to “be brave and make change” at this year’s National Reconciliation Week launch at Parliament House.

Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships Craig Crawford said the week shines a light on the efforts towards reconciliation between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous peoples.

“The work of reconciliation is ongoing – it lives in our collective hearts, minds and spirit,’’ he said.

“It requires action from all of us, every day, in school, sport, business, and government.”

The theme of this year’s National Reconciliation Week challenges us all to “be brave and make change”.

“By taking time this week to reflect on the journey so far, we can look ahead to the future,” Mr Crawford said.

“We can recommit to the change needed to create a more equitable Queensland, where every person is valued, cultures are nurtured, and society is built on justice, unity and respect.”

At the event, held on National Sorry Day (May 26), Mr Crawford acknowledged the trauma caused to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander families and communities by the forced removal of their children and dispossession of land and culture.

National Reconciliation Week starts on May 27, which is the 55th anniversary of the 1967 referendum to recognised for the first time Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Australian law.

The week ends on June 3, Mabo Day – the 30th anniversary of the day the fiction of “Terra Nullius” was overturned in court.

“Today, we are working toward new milestones on the journey toward reconciliation,” Mr Crawford said.

The Celebrating Reconciliation Grants Program is proudly funded by the Department of Seniors, Disability Services and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships.