National Reconciliation Week
National Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.
National Reconciliation Week runs from 27 May to 3 June each year. These dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey — the successful 1967 referendum, and the High Court Mabo decision respectively.
National Reconciliation Week 2023
This year’s theme, ‘Be a Voice for Generations,’ urges everyone to use their power, their words and their vote to create a better, more just Australia for all of us.
National Reconciliation Week will be recognised and celebrated in Hobsons Bay with events to engage, inform and entertain residents of all ages.
Find out more about National Reconciliation Week
Special events in 2023
Poetry Tree exhibition opening
Newport Library
Saturday 27 May, 10am–11am
Celebrate the beginning of Reconciliation Week with us! Reflect on the natural world found on our doorstep and enjoy reading and listening to the work of Hobsons Bay’s young poets as they use their voices for reconciliation. Have a go at your own walking poem, using our Poetry Tree as a guide, then get hooked on the first episode of My Place as you munch on salt bush flavoured popcorn and sweet tea created using the spices of Mabu Mabu kitchen.
Find out more
National Reconciliation Week: A History in Posters
Hobsons Bay Civic Centre
23 May to 6 June, Monday to Friday, 8.30am–5pm
National Reconciliation Week started as a Week of Prayer for Reconciliation in 1993 and has blossomed into a nationwide event celebrated by hundreds of organisations and individuals around Australia.
Learn the history of this week through the past 13 years of posters, marking the journey of all Australians to discover about our shared histories, cultures and achievements, and explore how we can all contribute to reconciliation.
Find out more
The Colour & Sound of My Totem: film and exhibition
Hobsons Bay Civic Centre
24 May to 6 June, Monday to Friday, 8.30am–5pm
In 2022 at Woods Street Arts Space, children were invited to participate in a series of creative workshops with a group of Indigenous artists and Elders.
Together they explored totems through colour, music, song and dance and created a turtle totem. They held a performance at Woods Street Arts Space in Laverton. This film showcases and celebrates the project’s journey and the totem created through the workshop program.
Find out more
Q&A with author Paul Callaghan
‘The Dreaming Path: Indigenous thinking to change your life’
Online: Hobsons Bay Libraries EnviroCentre YouTube channel
Paul belongs to the land of the Worimi people, and discusses his personal life experiences which led to finding his own dreaming path. The conversation reveals the power of Aboriginal spirituality that Paul has found.
Content warning: This video discusses depression, and suicidal thoughts.
Watch online now