Religions for Peace Australia supports First Nations, and the Proposal for an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. In this 2023 National Reconciliation Week, Reconciliation cannot be confined to individual actions; it must permeate all aspects of society. One avenue for transformative change lies in early childhood education. By embedding reconciliation in the curriculum, we can shape the next generation’s understanding of our shared history, cultures, and achievements.
Indigenous
Aboriginal elder to visit Vatican for Australia’s Reconciliation Week
Dr Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr Baumann, an Australian aboriginal elder, teacher and artist, will be in the Vatican from the 29th May to the 3rd June. During her stay in the Vatican, Dr Ungunmerr Baumann will meet with senior officials, discussing faith, ecology, and reconciliation with Indigenous peoples. There will be a meeting with the Pope.
Saying Yes to the Voice will herald a better future for us all
Truth-telling is essential. We cannot fall into the racist trap of dismissing authenticated stories of the past as a ‘black armband’ view of history, that pejorative label cynically employed by former prime minister John Howard, writes Sister Patty Fawkner, Congregational Leader of the Sisters of the Good Samaritan.
Colonial Bondage: Liberating Theological Education by Prof. Anne Pattel-Gray
On Wednesday 2 November 2022, Professor Anne Pattel-Gray delivered her inaugural Professorial Lecture entitled, “Colonial Bondage: Liberating Theological Education”. The event was held at St Paschal Chapel in Box Hill, the land of the Wurundjeri nation.
2021 Sydney Peace Prize winner is The Uluru Statement from the Heart
The Uluru Statement from the Heart is a call for peace. It is a game changer. The statement is a rallying call to our citizens to ‘walk with us in a movement of the Australian people for a better future’. Uluru provides the leadership that we desperately crave to achieve respect, recognition, and reconciliation. The 2021 Sydney Peace Prize winner is The Uluru Statement from the Heart.
Senator Dodson criticises failure to reduce ‘awful blight’ of Aboriginal deaths in custody
Senator Pat Dodson, who worked on the 1991 royal commission into Aboriginal deaths in custody, has criticised 30 years of government failure to “relieve this awful blight on this nation’s history”. In a speech to the Senate on Wednesday, Dodson demanded the federal government make it a “top priority” to pressure the states and territories to take action on reducing Aboriginal incarceration rates and deaths in custody.
Truth Telling in Australia – Video
Pax Christi Australia – in collaboration with Religions for Peace Australia, jointly presented “Truth Telling in Australia” which was given by Sherry Balcombe, of Aboriginal Catholic Ministry. This session was recorded at Kildara Centre, Stanhope St, Malvern on Sunday 27 June 2021.
B’nai B’rith Human Rights Oration: Uluru Statement from the Heart
The B’nai B’rith Human Rights Oration will be delivered by Professor Marcia Langton AO, on Sunday 11 July 2021 at 7:30 PM to 9:30 PM. This event will be available online and in person. The Patron of the Oration is Mark Leibler AC, renowned for his tireless support of Indigenous rights and empowering Indigenous communities.
Indigenous Reconciliation and Faith: Walk Alongside to Build Religious Inclusivity and Acceptance
At the Annual General Meeting of Religions for Peace Australia (6 June 2021), Indigenous Woman Dr Anne Patel-Gray gave one talk about her work Walk Alongside to Build Religious Inclusivity and Acceptance and – as a Christian theologian and Doctor of Theology – told that Australia is not longer exclusively a Christian country but is now a multicultural and multifaith nation. The road forward for religions in Australia is an Interfaith road. In this article, we bring you the video of Dr Anne Pattel-Gray’s talk, and an overview of her work,What is Walk Alongside?
Truth Telling in Australia
Pax Christi Australia – in collaboration with Religions for Peace Australia, will jointly present the June Agape session, “Truth Telling in Australia”. The guest speaker will be Sherry Balcombe, of Aboriginal Catholic Ministry. The session will occur at the Kildara Centre, Stanhope St, Malvern on Sunday 27 June at 1:00pm (for lunch), presentation commences at 2:00pm
The wisdom of deep listening
Many Indigenous languages have a word that means something like “deep listening”. In Ngan’gikurunggurr, a Northern Territory language, that word is dadirri. We hear from renowned Aboriginal elder and Senior Australian of the Year, Dr Miriam Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann, who advocates for a kind of listening — a quiet awareness — that sums up a whole way of being.
UN World Interfaith Harmony Week Lecture 2021
On 10 May 2021, the Parliamentary Friends of Multiculturalism in partnership with Religions for Peace Australia and the Canberra Interfaith Forum hosted the annual UN World Interfaith Harmony Week Lecture at the Theo Notaras Centre. The lecture was given by the indigenous Senator, Sen. Patrick Dodson. The topic addressed by Senator Dodson was Reconciliation and Multifaith: Aboriginal Worldviews and the Christian Heritage.
The Yoo-rrook Justice Commission: some facts about truth-telling
In the Wemba Wemba language Yoo-rrook means “truth”. The Wemba Wemba, also known as the Wamba Wamba, are a people from north-west Victoria and the NSW Riverina.
Muslims Endorse the Uluru Statement
The Australian National Imams Council – a peak leadership body of Australian Muslims, attests that Before 1770, Muslims engaged with the Aboriginal people of this land. The Council supports the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
2020 Narrm Oration
The University of Melbourne presents the 2020 Narrm Oration by Associate Professor Michael-Shawn Fletcher on the topic of Our Country, Our Way: How Indigenous people and knowledge can save Australia’s environmental and social unravelling. The Oration will be delivered online on Thursday 26 November 2020, at 6PM.
In Conversation: Loving Country: A Guide to Sacred Australia
Bruce Pascoe & Vicky Shukuroglou in conversation will discuss their new book, Loving Country: A Guide to Sacred Australia online on 10 December 2020 at 6:30pm. Loving Country is a powerful and essential guidebook that offers a new way to travel and discover Australia through an Indigenous narrative.
Victoria: NAIDOC Week 2020 – Virtual Events
NAIDOC Week is an Australian observance lasting from the first Sunday in July until the following Sunday. The acronym NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee. It has its roots in the 1938 Day of Mourning, becoming a week-long event in 1975.
Due restrictions for Coronavirus pandemic, Naidoc Week was deferred.
Due the Ring of Steel and numbers of people who can gather together – Victorian National NAIDOC Week 2020 celebrations will be held ONLINE from the 8-15 November. This will be a Virtual NAIDOC Week.
Uluru Statement: Invitation to walk from heart extended in 64 languages
Young Lilia Tan moved to Australia from Singapore three years ago but she already understands that her school in Canberra is on Ngunnawal land.
The school’s welcome to country acknowledges its traditional owners, the Ngunnawal people, before ending with Always Was, Always Will Be, the theme of this year’s NAIDOC (National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee) week.
Coinciding with NAIDOC, the Uluru Statement of the Heart’s invitation to all Australians to walk with them for a better future has been translated into 64 languages ranging from French to Arabic, Armenian, Urdu, Rohinga, Hebrew and Mandarin.
