The ARB is the only national research study that measures the progress of reconciliation between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and non-Indigenous Australians.
It measures attitudes towards reconciliation using five identified dimensions of reconciliation — race relations, equality and equity, unity, institutional integrity and historical acceptance — to inform data collection and analysis.
To be able to track Australia’s progress towards a more unified nation.
These dimensions of reconciliation do not exist in isolation; they are interrelated. Reconciliation cannot be seen as a single issue or agenda; the contemporary definition of reconciliation must weave all of these threads together.
For example, greater historical acceptance of the wrongs done to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples can lead to improved race relations, which in turn leads to greater equality and equity.
At its heart, reconciliation is about strengthening relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous peoples, for the benefit of all Australians.
As the ‘father of reconciliation’, Patrick Dodson, has said, “Reconciliation must transcend Australian political theatre and promote a sense of national unity.”
In a just, equitable and reconciled Australia, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children will have the same life chances and choices as non-Indigenous children, and the length and quality of a person’s life will not be determined by their racial background.
Recently, the 2024 Barometer was released as a series of snapshots.
This was the first Barometer since the Voice to Parliament referendum.
According to Reconciliation Australia, “these snapshots provide a point-in-time understanding of the attitudes and behaviours among different groups of people in order to paint a clear picture of Australia’s reconciliation journey”.
The Barometer showed that Australians of all ages viewed the relationship between non-Indigenous and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as important.
This was especially so for younger people: 91 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds believed the relationship was important compared to 85 per cent in the general community.
The survey also showed younger people were more optimistic about Australia becoming a more unified country.
As the report noted, the possibility of unity and support for actions that celebrated national unity and identity was prominent in the minds of younger Australians: 74 per cent of 18- to 24-year-olds and 72 per cent of 25- to 34-year-olds believed that all Australians could become united.
This was significantly higher than the 64 per cent recorded for the general population.
It also reflected a changing attitude to the past and a more positive approach to the future.
The Barometer’s results indicated that young Australians could acknowledge the reality of Australia’s shared history and show an understanding of the importance of the underlying principles of reconciliation and most importantly, a determination to confront and correct the injustices of the past.
Ninety-one per cent of 18- to 21-year-olds and 90 per cent of 25- to 34-year-olds believed it was important to learn about the impact of colonisation and government policy on First Nations Australians.
The importance of having a complete factual history of the settlement of our country — one that includes not just a settler history — is crucial to an acknowledgement and understanding of our often uncomfortable and challenging history.
And this, in turn, is the basis for change — for correcting the injustices of the past.
In Victoria, the nation-leading work of the Yoorrook Justice Commission has resulted in a comprehensive and full accounting of the colonisation of our state — Truth Be Told – Official Public Record — tabled in the Victorian Parliament on July 1.
The report — the result of four years of evidence from Aboriginal community members and organisations, government ministers and department officers, church and other organisations as well as descendants of the early colonisers — clearly documents the relentless and brutal way land was acquired, including the government-sanctioned killings and removal of Aboriginal people from traditional lands, the removal of children and the ongoing impacts of this dispossession and theft.
Finally, we have a history that includes both sides of the story.
The basis for moving forward.
This full history — the full truth of the settlement of Victoria — now places a responsibility on those who have benefited from the taking of the land, to acknowledge this uncomfortable truth.
As Gunditjmara woman and Victorian Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisations chief executive Jill Gallagher said recently, “We don’t blame anyone alive today for these atrocities but it is the responsibility of those of us alive today to accept the truth — and now all Victorians today must accept, recognise and reconcile with these factual findings.”
The Barometer also looked at First Nations people’s experience of racism. In the past six months all racist indicators — verbal abuse, being refused entry into a venue, refused service in a shop, being prevented from renting or buying a property, and physical abuse, showed an increase over the last decade since 2014.
“For many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, racism is an everyday reality and the experiences of racism in all contexts remain consistently and unacceptably high,” the survey concluded.
The Words in Action column, published on March 6, 2017, reported the Reconciliation Barometer 2016 survey result. Almost half — 46 per cent — of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians experienced at lease one form of racial prejudice in the six months prior to the survey.
Now, eight years later, this figure has risen to 54 per cent. The blatant racism experienced during and after the referendum is still with us.
A positive finding from the latest Barometer is that young people in Australia are more likely to recognise racism — the first step in making change.
It will be our young people who will shape the future.
The findings of the most recent Reconciliation Australia Barometer give us hope that young people’s positive attitudes towards unity, cultural understanding and the significance and importance of truth-telling will mean a more unified nation — one that can accept our historical truths, correct the injustices of the past and celebrate the uniqueness and wonder of a continent that has such an amazing story to tell.
To find out more about the Reconciliation Australia Reconciliation Barometer visit reconciliation.org.au
To find out more about the Yoorrook Justice Commission Report, Truth Be Told – Official Public Record, visit yoorrook.org.au
17°C