Discover our Indigenous history and culture
Explore these resources suggested by the ACT Reconciliation Council.
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australia is made up of many different and distinct groups, each with its own culture, customs, language and laws.
Australia's First Peoples have been living on our continent for thousands of years. They are the world’s oldest surviving culture. A culture that continues to be expressed in old and new ways.
Start a conversation today
- Uluru Statement From the Heart read the full statement from First Nations about where they believe we should move forward.
- Close the Gap learn more about the campaign to bring health, education, employment and other life outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples equal to other Australians.
- It Stops with Me learn more about racism and the work to eradicate it.
Be part of reconciliation
Reconciliation is everyone’s business. It’s what happens where we live, work and play. There are many ways you can contribute, in your home, community, business or school.
Reconciliation will not be achieved until Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have equal and equitable access to the same opportunities that non-Indigenous people have.
You can start a Reconciliation Action Plan in your organisation for a proven and structured approach to advancing to reconciliation.
Or join the conversation and host a National Reconciliation Week event with friends, family or colleagues.
Explore Indigenous music, art, film and books
ABC Indigenous has various playlists on Spotify. Find music created and inspired by Indigenous Australians.
Listen to ACT Indigenous on Spotify
See
Explore local Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art galleries, museum exhibitions and online collections
National Museum of Australia
- visit the National Museum in Acton to see the First Australians exhibition
- search the online Indigenous Collection
National Gallery of Australia
- visit the National Gallery in Parkes to see the Aboriginal memorial
- search online for First Nations programs and exhibitions
National Library or Australia
- search the National Library online Indigenous Collection
Canberra Museum & Gallery
- find out about the Possum-Skin Cloak
Local galleries
Watch
Find movies and documentaries created or inspired by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
- Our Generation - Land/Culture/Freedom (Sinem Saban & Damien Curtis)
- Samson and Delilah (Warwick Thorton)
- Rabbit Proof Fence (Phillip Noyce)
- Bringing Them Home (Human Rights & Equal Opportunities Commissions)
- First Australians (Rachel Perkins & Darren Dale)
- Yolgnu Boy (Stephen Johnson)
- Stolen Generations (Darlene Johnson)
- From the Heart: Kerry O'Brien in conversation with Rachel Perkins
- Rachel Perkin’s series the Australian Wars
- Thomas Mayo Ted Talk
Find them at:
Read
Find books by Indigenous Australians. Head to your local Library to find titles from Indigenous Australians. Start with these titles:
- Dark Emu by Bruce Pascoe
- Hey Mum, What’s a Half-Caste? by Lorraine McGee-Sippel
- Tiddas by Anita Heiss
- My Place by Sally Morgan
- Mununja the Butterfly by Don Bell
- Blood on the Wattle by Bruce Elder
- Fair Skin Black Fella by Renee Fogorty
- Little Book of Red Black and Yellow by Bruce Pascoe (AISTSIS)
- The Cherry Pickers by Kevin Gilbert – a play
- Black is the new White by Nakkiah Lui – a play
- The Cherry Picker’s Daughter by Kerry Reed Gilbert – a memoir
- If Everyone Cared by Margaret Tucker – an autobiography
- Growing Up Aboriginal in Australia – edited by Anita Heiss with contributions from across Australia
- Holding Up the Sky (Aboriginal Women Speak)
- Bringing Them Home from the Human Rights & Equal Opportunities Commissions
- Welcome to Country by Marcia Langton - Welcome to Country highlights ways to engage and deepen our knowledge and appreciation of the First peoples through travel.
- Talking to My Country by Stan Grant - Talking to My Country sees Grant tell a personal story of growing up in a racist country and the urgent need to transform society.
- A Rightful Place: A Road Map to Recognition - This collection of essays aim to pave a road towards recognition, both culturally and constitutionally.
Truth Telling is an opportunity for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to record evidence about past actions. And to share their culture, heritage and history with the broader community. Watch some examples of truth telling in practice.
The National Apology to the Stolen Generations
Delivered by former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on 13 February 2008. Members of the Stolen Generations were invited to hear the National Apology first-hand in the gallery of the House of Representatives chamber at Parliament House. Watch the video here.
AIATSIS Explore
Watch at home to teach young children why Country is important to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. For children in grades 3 to 4. Learn about the First Peoples of Australia and the strong connection they have to the land through Indigenous artefacts at the National Museum of Australia. See how language, country and spirituality are linked.
National Museum of Australia Classroom Resources
On this 2019 episode of The Point, the team joins a panel of guests to explore truth-telling in Australia with a focus on the key moments in our history since colonisation. Journalist Jack Latimore examines the impact that the Frontier Wars have had in preventing a treaty from being signed. Reporter Ella Archibald-Binge explores the little-known chapter of Australia's South Sea Islander history, 25 years after they were formally recognised by the Federal Government. Hosted by Rachael Hocking and John Paul Janke. Available on SBS on Demand.
The Point, NITV - SBS
A focus on Burke and Wills shows the different perceptions of the Australian landscape between Indigenous and European people:
How they viewed the land and how Europeans renamed land that already had names. How Europeans claimed the Australian land which already had inhabitants and the different maps by the two peoples. The different understanding of the landscape and how people survived on and off the land.
National Museum of Australia Classroom Resources
The experience of a stolen generation child. The history of what happened until Sorry Day and the laws that were used. Banning of language and other Aboriginal practices. And the places and institutions where stolen generation children were taken.
National Museum of Australia Classroom Resources
A Q&A video from ABC iview. This show allows people to ask questions that you can’t often ask people for fear of judgement. The answers to these questions are from people in the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander community.
ABC iview
Map of Colonial Frontier Massacres, Australia, 1788 to 1930
A key part of truth telling in Australia is understanding our frontier violence. Newcastle University researchers have researched hundreds of massacres that occurred right across Australia. See their findings in an interactive map
Newcastle University
Intergenerational Trauma Animation
How the trauma of the Stolen Generation affects the modern Indigenous Australian community through the cycle of trauma.
Short video from The Healing Foundation on YouTube
The Uluru Statement From The Heart – an idea whose time has come
This TEDxCanberra talk published in 2018 features Dean Parkin, one of the participants in writing the Uluru Statement. Dean introduces the context of the Statement and reads it out and explains the different parts. Dean suggests things the Australian community can do to support the Statement. Dean also talks about Makarrata and why it’s important to the Aboriginal community.
Tedx
Ask us anything: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people
The University of Sydney interviews its Indigenous staff and students to confront myths and stereotypes of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.
The University of Sydney
The Legend of Sturt’s Desert Pea
The Making Peas/ce movement started with the recognition of the Desert Pea blood flower as a memorial symbol. the pea is a symbol for the First Peoples who died through the effects of the colonisation of Australia. Watch this short video by Arrernte woman Bev O'Callaghan. Bev has partnered with Floral activist Hazel Davies to help the little pea flower sing its song of truth and hope.
Download the resource list
Read a printable list of these Reconciliation resources.