As a Settlement provider, we see part of our role at Spectrum is to support newly-arrived communities to learn about the land, history, and stories of Australia’s First Peoples – who have called this Country home for 65,000 years.

Reconciliation, we believe, is a fundamental part of a healing, hopeful, connected and diverse future in Australia. And Settlement providers are an important ally in building such a future. At the launch event, our incredible roster of First Nations speakers invited us to embody this year’s Reconciliation Week theme – to be ‘all in’.

As Senator Jana Stewart highlighted, this is not just a responsibility but an invitation to “become part of a story 65,000 years in the making.”.

And for organisations like Spectrum and our sector partners, it begins with small and meaningful steps – listening, learning, and centering First Peoples in our ways of understanding our work and Country.

Through our Reconciliation Week work, one common message was that many migrants miss out on opportunities to learn about the country to which they are arriving – what it means to live on unceded land, the resilience and activism of Australia’s First Peoples – and the difference that solidarity and shared support can make.

As many of our new arrivals navigate a new life in Australia, understanding Australia’s history and treatment of First Peoples can help to better understand the systemic factors that can impact their own settlement journey.

While their experiences are not the same, many of our newly-arrived communities have understanding of displacement, injustice and persecution that can provide a bridge to connecting with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories, and understanding their resilience through two centuries of systemic harm and hardship.

Additionally, as one of our own team members reflected, “I am so proud of my culture, proud of my language and who we come from. So I want to understand Australia’s First Nations cultures, who they are and the land they come from too.”.

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A message of gratitude

We were truly honoured to welcome Wurundjeri elder Uncle Andrew Gardiner for our Welcome to Country, along with distinguished presenters Karen Mundine (CEO of Reconciliation Australia), MP Christine Couzens, artist Amy Allerton, Darebin City Mayor Emily Dimitriadis, along with messages of support from Senator Jana Stewart and Hon Julian Hill MP for this important movement.

The First Peoples Assembly of Victoria, SBS, NITV and X-Factor winner and author Isaiah Firebrace were central to the importance of beginning this journey in a powerful and connected way.

We’re grateful also to Rikki Marks award-winner Rylie Cadd, Project Merahi Youth Ambassador Zainab Muradi, Value Nation co-founder Mohammed Yassin, and Spectrum leaders Immacolata Navazio and Kelsey Dattoli, who prepared insightful contributions of lived experience and meaningful allyship between First Nations and migrant communities.

Our catering was also an abundance of welcome supplied by SisterWorks social enterprise. We were touched by how many of our staff and even family members arrived on the day to help in practical ways – showing that the power of allyship is present in small, concrete actions.

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Beyond Reconciliation Week, our commitment continues to walking alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, and in partnership with newly-arrived Australians.

Our Reconciliation Action Plan Working Group is moving forward, inspired by First Nations activists, ongoing resistance, and the words of our Youth Ambassador Zainab.

“Like any scar, healing only begins when we stop looking away. You cannot build a strong future while ignoring the pain that shaped the past.

As a refugee, I understand what it means to lose a sense of home.

To lose safety.

To lose identity.

So when I hear the stories of Aboriginal people, I don’t just hear history. I hear survival and it makes me reflect on what kind of Australian I want to become.”