There's a long story that comes before today.
Below you can find a variety of key documents that help us understand the story of Aboriginal people in Australia.
As you read the history of The Closing the Gap initiative may you take the steps into the story, the story of injustice in these lands now called Australia, and the need for action.
On 13 February 2008, Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made a formal apology to Australia’s Indigenous peoples, particularly to the Stolen Generations whose lives had been blighted by past government policies of forced child removal and Indigenous assimilation.
Bringing Them Home is the Australian Report of the National Inquiry into the Separation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children from Their Families.
The Redfern Park Speech was made on 10 December 1992 by Australian Prime Minister Paul Keating at Redfern Park in Redfern, New South Wales. The speech dealt with the challenges faced by Aboriginal Australians.
A royal commission in 1991 investigated Aboriginal deaths in custody over a 10-year period, giving 339 recommendations. Its recommendations are still valid today, but very few have been implemented.
The Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody (RCIADIC) (1987–1991) was a Royal Commission appointed by the Australian Government in October 1987 to study and report upon the underlying social, cultural and legal issues behind the deaths in custody of Aboriginal people and Torres Strait Islanders, in the light of the high level of such deaths.
A 2014 call for Treaty by Concerned Australians
The 1975 Racial Discrimination Act promotes equality before the law for all people and makes discrimination unlawful.
In 1988 at the Barunga Festival Prime Minister Bob Hawke was presented with two paintings and text calling for Indigenous rights.
An Act to constitute the Commonwealth of Australia, on the 9th July 1900.
In August 1963 members of the clan groups living in the area of Yirrkala sent these petitions to Parliament.
The Statement from the Heart issued in May 2017
Each year National Reconciliation Week celebrates and builds on the respectful relationships shared by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and other Australians.