Reconciliation Week

National Reconciliation Week (NRW) occurs on the 27 May to 3 June and is a chance for all Australians to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture.

It is a time for all Australians to reflect on our shared histories and relationship with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation. The week is framed by the anniversaries of two significant milestones in our reconciliation journey - the successful 1967 Referendum (27 May) and the High Court Mabo decision (3 June).

The National Reconciliation Week theme for 2025, Bridging Now to Next, reflects the ongoing connection between past, present and future.

Bridging Now to Next calls on all Australians to step forward together, to look ahead and continue the push forward as past lessons guide us.

Maribyrnong Reconciliation Choir

For National Reconciliation Week 2025, Reconciliation Australia called on singers across the country to come together to sing the iconic Australian anthem Solid Rock by Goanna.

This song, released in 1982 was a call to action to the broader Australian community to understand the truth of our history and the importance of land rights. It became a classic Australian anthem, as relevant today as it was on its release.

According to songwriter Shane Howard, the inspiration for the song came on a camping trip at Uluru in 1980, where he saw ‘an incredible injustice that needed to be dealt with … I had to reassess my whole relationship with the land and the landscape, and understand that we had come from somewhere else, and we had disempowered a whole race of people when we arrived.’

Council’s newly established Reconciliation Choir raised our voices in support of reconciliation, along with many other choirs across the country.

Thank you to Deaf Children Australia for their generous support in teaching our Reconciliation Choir members Auslan signs for the chorus. Your guidance has helped us make our performance more inclusive and meaningful. We're so grateful for your time, knowledge, and commitment to building connections through language and song.