ReconciliACTION was started in 2002 by a group of Indigenous and non-Indigenous young people from metropolitan, regional and remote New South Wales, with the support of Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR) and the NSW Reconciliation Council. 

ReconciliACTION soon grew to become a national network which included young people from across Australia. Between 2002 and 2008 the young people in the ReconciliACTION Network organised a number of major projects including the 2005 Freedom Ride re-enactment. Projects were also organised in Victoria, with the support of groups like Reconciliation Victoria, at in Canberra by Australian National University Students (ReconciliACT).

The aims of the network included community education, advocacy, support for young people working to overcome racism in their local communities and skills and leadership development.

Check out the Projects page (coming soon!) for information about some of ReconciliACTION’s projects, which may give you some ideas about projects to run in your local school, university or community. All the projects organised by ReconciliACTION were run by young people aged between 16 and 29 years. 

Aims and Objectives

In 2004, the young Indigenous and non-Indigenous people involved in ReconciliACTION got together to discuss their vision for a reconciled Australia.

They agreed that the objectives of the ReconciliACTION Network would be to work for a just, equitable and reconciled Australia which:

• Acknowledges our shared history
• Celebrates diversity of peoples and cultures, both Indigenous and non-Indigenous
• Promotes the social, cultural and economic well-being of all Australians
• Recognises the rights of all Australians, particularly the distinct rights of Indigenous Australians as first peoples and
• Is founded on the self-determination of its Indigenous peoples

And that the ReconciliACTION Network should support and promote the role of young people in achieving a just and reconciled Australia by:

• Developing projects and campaigns based on education, advocacy and action
• Promoting networks of relationships between young people and youth, reconciliation and social justice organisations
• Supporting young people to overcome racism in their local communities, particularly in regional and remote areas
• Developing the leadership skills of young people
• Providing a mechanism for the voices for our members in the Reconciliation movement