This Reconciliation Week, we reaffirm our commitment to supporting First Nations peoples in their call for a national truth-telling process and meaningful structural reform.
Knowmore is proud to support National Walk for Truth, a growing movement calling on the Australian Government to establish a national truth-telling process, built in genuine partnership with First Nations peoples.
Our staff joined campaign lead, Travis Lovett, on the first and final days of his 905km journey from Melbourne to the doors of Parliament House, where he delivered an invitation to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on behalf of thousands of First Nations peoples and their allies.
Speaking outside Parliament House, he called for truth-telling, healing and meaningful national change, stating:
Come and listen. Come and learn. Come and stand in the hard places with us…
Give this nation the chance to know itself in full light, to tend to what has been broken, and to walk on, not as strangers fenced in by fear, but as one people beneath one wide sky, diverse as the stars, and held always by this beautiful land we all call home.
Knowmore’s Elder in Residence, Aunty Glendra Stubbs, joined the final day of the walk on Ngunnawal Country in Canberra and reflected on the significance of the growing movement for a national truth-telling process:
It was moving to be in Canberra and to see so many good people support our call. We remember everyone who has walked with us, for generations, in our journey towards truth and healing. It is time for this country to take up our invitation and commit to national truth-telling.
Victoria has led the way, with the Yoorrook Justice Commission undertaking Australia’s first formal truth-telling process into historic and ongoing injustices experienced by First Nations peoples. This process demonstrated how truth-telling can support healing and transformational change.
It is now time for the truth of this nation to be heard, and for the Australian Government to fulfil their promise to First Nations peoples.
If you would like to support the call for a national truth-telling process, you can add your name to the Open Letter to the Prime Minister.
Knowmore is a community legal centre that provides free, independent legal advice and multidisciplinary support for survivors of child sexual abuse.
For more information or to arrange media interviews with a local representative, contact media officer Barbara Charan on 0418 232 906 or email via media@knowmore.org.au