Sorry Day is held each year on 26 May to remember and acknowledge the Stolen Generations.
Dr Alison Atkinson-Phillips is a member of the Bringing Them Home Committee, supported by the Uniting Church WA. She is also the author of ‘Survivor Memorials: Remembering trauma and loss in contemporary Australia’, and worked as Media and Communications Manager at the Uniting Church Centre from 2005 to 2012. She reflects on what Sorry Day means to her.
When the Uniting Church WA gathers, we often share in a Welcome to Country or an Acknowledgment of Country. Both are significant ways the church can acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the land, but there are some important differences.
A Welcome to Country is only led by Traditional Custodians; whereas an Acknowledgment of Country can be led by anyone, and acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of that place. A Smoking Ceremony is a process of cleansing and healing, which can also take place with a Welcome.
On the Sunday before Australia Day, Uniting Church congregations across the country hold worship services to reflect upon and lament the effect of the invasion and colonisation of this nation upon First Peoples.
The observance of a Day of Mourning was endorsed by the 15th Assembly arising from a request of the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC). All Uniting Church in Australia congregations are invited to hold worship services that reflect on the effects of invasion and colonisation on Australia’s First Peoples and our identity as a nation.
Uniting Church WA congregations are encouraged to explore how they can walk on the covenanting journey with the Uniting Aboriginal and Islander Christian Congress (UAICC).
In 1994, the Uniting Church in Australia entered a covenant with the UAICC, agreeing that together they will work towards justice and forgiveness. Mount Pleasant Uniting Church and Maaman “O” Miya Uniting Church, in Coolbellup, have had a covenantal relationship for more than 20 years, which began with a friendship between the late Rev Dr Les Brockway and the late Rev Garlett. The congregations worship together sometimes, share each other’s spaces, and do activities together.
Wesley College launched its Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) at a NAIDOC Celebration Breakfast in July.
“At Wesley, we are committed to shaping and living a reconciled future where non-Indigenous and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples enter into a deep relationship with one another, forged by mutual respect, equality and shared histories,” said Wesley College Headmaster, Ross Barron.
The Uniting Church WA calls on the State and Federal Governments to protect ancient Aboriginal heritage sites by reforming Aboriginal Heritage Acts, in close consultation with Traditional Owners. They also called for Traditional Owners and knowledge holders to retain access and control over Aboriginal Heritage sites.
The decisions were made at the 44th Annual Meeting of the Synod of WA where more than 150 Uniting Church members from around Western Australia came together to discuss issues of importance in the life of the Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of Western Australia, and the wider community this weekend, Friday 11 to Sunday 13 September.
The Uniting Church WA calls on the State and Federal Governments to fund and support Aboriginal organisations to reduce the number of Aboriginal children in Government care. The Uniting Church WA also called for the age of criminal responsibility to be raised from 10 to 14 years in Western Australia.
The calls were made at the 44th Annual Meeting of the Synod of WA where more than 150 Uniting Church members from around Western Australia came together to discuss issues of importance in the life of the Uniting Church in Australia, Synod of Western Australia, and the wider community this weekend, Friday 11 to Sunday 13 September.
When George Floyd died at the hands of police in the United States, Americans took to the streets and sparked global outrage. In Western Australia, thousands of people have supported the Black Lives Matter movement – online and via protests – even amidst the global COVID-19 pandemic. While Scott Morrison claimed this was an American issue not relevant back home, Australia disagreed and called out the more than 400 Indigenous Australians who have died in custody since the 1991 Royal Commission into Aboriginal Deaths in Custody.
On Monday night, as Western Australians enjoyed what remained of the WA Day public holiday, a group of Nyungars gathered in Forrest Place with other People of Colour and more than a thousand supporters.
Chants of ‘Black Lives Matter’ echoed through the otherwise quiet Perth streets.
Uniting, previously known as UnitingCare West, invite you to join them in getting involved with Reconciliation Week – 27 May to 3 June.
Reconciliation Week marks two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey – the 1967 Referendum acknowledging Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and the High Court Mabo decision, respectively. National Reconciliation Week is preceded by National Sorry Day on 26 May.