When we look backwards over Australian history, we see significant legal progress in addressing legal injustices for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. In 1992, the Mabo Decision rejected something called “Terra Nullius,” which claimed that Australia was a “land belonging to no one” before the British arrived. It was a moment when we legally acknowledged the long-standing laws and rights of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of the land they have cared for and lived on for tens of thousands of years.
Less than 30 years prior to Mabo, Australians voted in the 1967 Referendum to count Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in our national census – they hadn’t been counted until then – and this finally gave the federal government power to address historic disadvantages. Only five years before that, the Commonwealth Electoral Act of 1962 granted Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples – who had faced serious barriers to voting – a guaranteed vote in elections for parties and policies that shaped their lives.
While we’ve made significant legal progress in the past century, culture and education haven’t always kept up. For instance, in Australian history classes, we didn’t always tell the whole truth about frontier violence. It wasn’t until the 1990s that a more honest mainstream curriculum emerged in our schools, although content still varied across states and systems, and among teachers.
First Nations people still carry baggage from past wrongs and experience poor treatment in their daily lives today.
Reconciliation Week at BAC focuses on respect and relationships. It involves understanding history and listening deeply so that our classrooms become places of genuine belonging and shared hope. It flows naturally from our values and ethos as a Christian community, where every individual is a valued child of God.
The 2026 Reconciliation Week theme aligns with our spiritual theme. “Dive in” and “All In” have the same beating heart. Life is not a spectator sport. It requires us all to listen, learn, and act together. It requires us to speak up and share in the act of reconciliation.
This week is not just an event on the calendar; it’s another step in God’s ongoing work of reconciliation in our nation and in our hearts. I hope we dive into that calling with open ears, open hands, and open hearts.
As we pass the words of Micah 6:8 each day on our Secondary campus, we are reminded of the kind of community we are called to be:
“He has shown you, O mortal, what is good. And what does the Lord require of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.
📸 The following photos were taken by Carlos Vera at our Reconciliation Chapel on Wednesday
