Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are the original inhabitants of this land, living in connection with it from time immemorial. All Australians must recognise and respect the rights, traditions, and culture of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The dispossession of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, denying their sovereignty and their rights, was a great injustice that continues to reverberate in Australia today. In 2017, the Uluru Statement from the Heart was released. You can read the statement here. The statement is an invitation from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to all Australians to walk together towards a better future. It says: We seek constitutional reforms to empower our people and take a rightful place in our own country. When we have power over our destiny our children will flourish. They will walk in two worlds and their culture will be a gift to their country. We call for the establishment of a First Nations Voice enshrined in the Constitution. Together supports this cause and is in full support of a referendum to establish the First Nations Voice. Our 2022 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Conference was an an important part of the process to empowering the voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander workers and this work will continue in 2023. As a union we recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the original, sovereign custodians of this land. We stand in solidarity with their desire to be heard and their desire for substantive reform of Australian institutions in the interests of justice.
In October Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander delegates and members came together on Yaggera and Turrabul country in Meanjin (Brisbane) for the second Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Conference. Members were led by co-chairs Maria, Yonnipin, Kevin and Aggie to get to know each other and have in-depth conversations about the issues most important to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members at work and in the community. The big topics of conversation were Path to Treaty, tackling institutional racism, workforce issues and accommodation and housing issues in remote and regional areas. Members heard from the Secretary of the WA branch of the Australian Services Union, Wayne Wood, who shared his story as an Aboriginal secretary, his branch’s campaigns against privatisation and the power of being union. A big thank you to the co-chairs for all of their hard work in bringing this conference together and facilitating these important conversations. Members are looking forward to creating a Together network for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander delegates to continue the conversations before the next conference in 2023. You can see more photos from the conference here!
This year, the theme for NAIDOC week is “Get Up, Stand Up, Show Up”. As a union we are committed to achieving justice for all Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people in Australia. In the words of the NAIDOC Committee, “Getting Up, Standing Up, and Showing Up can take many forms. We need to move beyond just acknowledgement, good intentions, empty words and promises, and hollow commitments. Enough is enough. The relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non‑Indigenous Australians needs to be based on justice, equity, and the proper recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights.” Union members in particular support constitutional recognition for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People and we are calling on the new federal government to implement the Uluru Statement From The Heart. All union members and all Queenslanders should support the spirit of NAIDOC Week and the theme of getting up to end disadvantage and injustice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. NAIDOC Week 2022 is between 3 July and 10 July. Find local NAIDOC week events near you here.
Sorry Day is held every year on 26 May. This is a day to commemorate the fact that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were forcibly removed from their communities, as documented in the Bringing Them Home report of 1998. Policies of forced removal began in the 1880s and continued until the 1970s. They were enacted by both state and federal governments. The deep trauma of forced removal affected the lives of many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, and it continues to affect their lives and communities today. Members of Together are committed to redressing the wrongs of the past and securing justice for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Recognition of past wrong requires that we commit to remedying current injustice and building a better future. Sorry Day 2022 is the fifth anniversary of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, which was made in 2017. Together has endorsed and supports the Uluru Statement from the Heart. We call for it to be implemented in full. The new Australian federal government has committed to implementing the Statement from the Heart in full and Together supports that commitment. Learn more about Sorry Day here. Learn more the Uluru Statement from the Heart here.
