PVC- Indigenous Strategy UNSWIS_Final_SIGN OFF_18 October 2018 low res for | Page 9

Truth and Reconciliation
In the 2000s Australia had a formal legislated
process of reconciliation. The Council for Aboriginal
Reconciliation adopted a roadmap to reconciliation
and many people – including the many members of
the UNSW community who participated – remember
the historic walk across the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Since then reconciliation has fallen off the agenda.
In recent years Reconciliation Australia has focused
on Reconciliation Action Plans (RAPs). RAPs are an
important framework but reconciliation requires much
more. Unlike other universities, UNSW is not adopting a
RAP. UNSW is adopting an Indigenous Strategy, aimed
at providing an overarching framework to the already
excellent work UNSW does on Indigenous education,
teaching and research.
One of the reasons we have not adopted a RAP is to
recognise the concern among some Aboriginal and
Torres Strait Islander peoples about the reconciliation
process in Australia. To “reconcile” means to restore
friendly relations between two parties. Moreover, the
twin pillars of reconciliation globally are truth and
justice. Many Indigenous people believe that before the
Australian nation can “reconcile” with First Peoples there
needs to be a national process of truth telling. Of course,
“truth” is a contested concept, like “reconciliation”.
Even so, what many Aboriginal people mean when
they speak about the “truth” is that there is an absence
of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples from
the story of the Australian nation. Universities play an
important role in this respect. Historians especially
play an important role in truth telling. Historians have
a primary role in any society by seeking out stories,
reconstructing historical events, and interpreting and
telling a society stories about itself: how it came to be,
and the stories of the many individuals and communities
that make up a plural nation like Australia. Culture and
the Arts also play a vital role because through visual
art, literary works and music, for example, artists can
contribute to a deeper understanding of Aboriginal
Australia. Medicine and health play a role because they
can explain how recognition of this history may have
an impact on wellbeing and improved health outcomes.
Landscape architecture and built environment can show
a path forward in recognising Aboriginal presence, while
highlighting coexistence of two cultures in one country.
Similarly, the law has and continues to contribute to
storytelling, both about the ways in which the law has
oppressed Aboriginal people but also ways the law can
redeem. This is done through legal processes including
legislation and institutions. All of our faculties have a
role to play in truth telling.
In 2017 at Uluru in the centre of Australia, Aboriginal
and Torres Strait Islander people gathered together
because of a process led by the Prime Minister’s
Referendum Council. Over six months, First Nations
met in 13 locations and at Uluru to discuss what is
meaningful “recognition” to them, and to discuss the
best way forward to close the gap in disadvantage
and to improve the relationship between Indigenous
and non-indigenous Australia. On May 27, 2018, they
issued a call to the Australian people called the Uluru
Statement from the Heart. The people called for “truth
telling” as a key way forward in this process.
Reconciliation is the overarching theme of the
Indigenous Strategy and truth and justice are the well-
established twin pillars of reconciliation. It is intended
to provide the opportunity for UNSW staff and students,
and the broader UNSW community to participate when
and where they can in this important national process.
In doing this we do not want to avoid robust debates or
challenging discussions. After all, universities play an
important role in facilitating discussion and debate.
Equally, UNSW is very fortunate to welcome 20,000
international students from over 120 different countries.
This is an opportunity for these students to also learn
about the ancient polities of the Australian continent.
Contained in this strategy document are recommended
books, movies and documentaries for the UNSW
community to consider if they want to learn more about
historical and contemporary Indigenous culture. With
this strategy we feel strongly that one of the greatest
contributions UNSW can make to Indigenous peoples is
to ensure every single student, graduate, staff member,
and the broader UNSW community, understands the
cultural footprint of the three UNSW campuses they live
and work upon, as well as learn about the rich culture of
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in Sydney
and Australia.
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