Cultivating Peace
DOV in Australia

Continuing the Journey of Reconciliation

Walking with Australia's Indigenous Peoples in their search for justice, and continuing the journey of Reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples, are issues of the highest priority for the Decade to Overcome Violence in Australia.  These, together with working for a just Australian refugee policy (see links here) are the major national issues for the NCCA within the Decade to Overcome Violence.

What Churches (and others) can do for Reconciliation

Churches, and others, can do many things to assist the process of Reconciliation

* (above all) making deeper relationships with Indigenous people within and beyond the churches:  listening to people's stories, learning about Indigenous culture, offering support and apologies where appropriate

* marking and celebrating the Week of Prayer for Reconciliation and remembering Indigenous issues in prayer and worship at other times

* discovering the story of the local land and community, and acknowledging prior ownership of church land by appropriate means

* supporting Indigenous claims for justice and recognition

* checking out examples of positive steps forward, such as:
The Aboriginal Women's Healing House

Contact NATSIEC for further details and resources 

Exploring Treaty

The New South Wales Ecumenical Council has produced a resource kit to enable Australians to explore the possibilities of a Treaty, or treaties, to take forward the process of reconciliation.  The title - Unfinished Business - "with the consent of the natives..." was deliberately chosen.  It uses words which were part of the original instructions to Lieut. (later Captain) James Cook in 1768.  Before setting out on the voyage which brought him to the east coast of the "imagined Southern continent", he was secretly instructed by the Office fo the Lord High Admiral "to take possession of convenient situations in the country...", but "with the consent of the natives".
James Cook ignored those words, and they have been disregarded ever since!

Even now however, a treaty - or something like it - could honour the sentiment behind those words, acknowledging Australia's First Peoples as the prior custodians and fulfilling the hope that they have a genuine voice in their own destiny in their own land.

This would have ramifications beyond the mere signing of a document, and include redressing many injustices: "dispossession of land; removal of children from their families; loss of culture, language and spirituality" (from 'A Statement by Representatives of the Churches in NSW to the Indigenous People of Australia" Dec.1997)

...violence is a recognised product of the dispossession suffered by Indigenous Australians.  That violence has caused violence must also be recognised.  A treaty, with its formal recognition of the status of Indigenous Australians can set the spiritual, psychological and organisational context for the recognition of violence in our midst and thus commence its elimination. (Prof.Michael Horsburgh)