“Reconciliation has always had multi-party support across parliaments and must continue to in any future parliament,” Reconciliation Australia CEO Karen Mundine said.

“Progress on reconciliation is what will bond our country together and set the foundation for a more just and equitable nation.”

For Australia to move forward on its reconciliation journey, an incoming Australian Government and Federal Parliament must, within the next term, work in genuine partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples and Reconciliation Australia to:

• Act on the Uluru Statement from the Heart including holding a referendum to enshrine a Voice to Parliament in our Constitution
• Build representative models from the Indigenous Voice Co-design process
• Fully fund and meet the commitments under the Closing the Gap agreement
• Support and progress local, regional and national truth-telling
• Commit to brave action on anti-racism, on children in out of home care, on justice, and cultural protection.

These actions form the backbone of the Roadmap for Reconciliation: Election 2022.

“Reconciliation Australia’s research shows Australians want action.

“We know that more than 90% of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and the general community believe the relationship with each other is important.

“It is the belief in this relationship that drives the growing desire to progress and improve reconciliation.

“We know that almost 90% of the Australian community support formal truth-telling processes, and the majority of Australians want more to be done by government to close the gaps in health, justice and employment.

“The public is on board and our work shows it wants governments to step up too. Australians are looking for leadership and greater ambition on reconciliation.

“Whichever party forms government, it needs to be brave and ambitious when it comes to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs.

“We ask the incoming government and all parties represented in the next parliament to Be Brave. Make Change.

“That’s our National Reconciliation Week 2022 theme which is a challenge to all Australians including governments, to Be Brave and tackle the unfinished business of reconciliation so we can Make Change for our future as a country.”

Read the Roadmap for Reconciliation Election 2022.

Key Actions: Election 2022

The next Federal Government working with parliament must support voice, and work in genuine partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people through:

• Supporting the aims in the Uluru Statement from the Heart, including by introducing legislation setting out support, a timeframe, and process, for achieving a constitutionally enshrined Voice to Parliament.
• Working in partnership with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to progress and co-design implementation of representative models identified as part of the Indigenous Voice Co-design process.
• Working with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander organisations, to appropriately fund and meet the targets and outcomes under the Priority Reforms of the new National Agreement on Closing the Gap.

The next Federal Government must support truth-telling initiatives at a local, regional and national level through:

• Working with Reconciliation Australia to advance and support the truth telling agenda.
• Increased investment in research, including through ARC, research block grants or other funding mechanisms, to uncover the untold, and under-told, parts of our shared history as it relates to the relationship between First Peoples and other Australians.
• Building greater public recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures in the public domain including through memorialisation, renaming electorates and other public places.
• Strengthening the national curriculum to ensure it better encompasses Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history and culture.

The next Federal Government must support building the foundations for a respectful relationship through:

• Funding a long term National Anti-Racism Framework to guide actions on anti-racism by government, the Australian Human Rights Commission, NGOs, business, educators, health professionals, police, other justice authorities, civil society, and the community.
• Establishing a national Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children’s commissioner to help drive progress towards closing the gap in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children in out of home care.
• Strengthening First Nations cultural heritage protection through funding and engaging in a co-design process with the First Nations Heritage Protection Alliance and other First Nations stakeholders and acting on the outcomes of that process to make necessary policy and legislative changes.
• Enhancing Reconciliation Australia’s funding to continue leading the national reconciliation process to support increasing and multiplying our reach and impact with corporate, community, government, education and Indigenous organisations, and support local truth-telling processes.

Read the full Roadmap for Reconciliation Election 2022.