National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.
The National Reconciliation Week (NRW) 2025 theme, Bridging Now to Next, reflects the ongoing connection between past, present and future.
Bridging Now to Next calls on all Australians to step forward together, to look ahead and continue the push forward as past lessons guide us.
In the #NRW2025 theme artwork created by Kalkadoon woman Bree Buttenshaw, native plants − which are known for regenerating after fire and thriving through adversity − symbolise our collective strength and the possibilities of renewal. This is a time for growth, reflection, and commitment to walking together.
Australia’s history of reconciliation is not a linear one, we have made great strides and experienced disappointing setbacks. Twenty-five years ago, Corroboree 2000 brought together Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander and non-Indigenous leaders in a historic call for reconciliation.
The dates for NRW remain the same each year; 27 May to 3 June. These dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey – the successful 1967 referendum, and the High Court Mabo decision respectively.
Reconciliation must live in the hearts, minds and actions of all Australians as we move forward, creating a nation strengthened by respectful relationships between the wider Australian community, and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
We all have a role to play when it comes to reconciliation, and in playing our part we collectively build relationships and communities that value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories, cultures, and futures.
Check out the Resources page for Posters, banners, social tiles, colouring-in sheets, t-shirts and other files for use at home, work and school and information about National Reconciliation Week, the 2025 theme and the reconciliation process in languages other than English spoken in Australian homes (https://www.reconciliation.org.au/our-work/national-reconciliation-week/). Shared histories, cultures and achievements to help achieve reconciliation in Australia can be acknowledged through art and science. In 2015 with funding from Inspiring Australia, the Australian Society for Parasitology entered into a unique partnership with indigenous artist Bernard Lee Singleton. Bernard created a magnificent painting, Gula Guri mayin (which means “Heal the body”), exploring themes of parasites and health and can be viewed below.
ASP parasitologists are encouraged to use Bernard’s wonderful artwork to help tell stories and raise awareness of the impact of parasite-related illness on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities. Communities have a much better chance of managing these conditions if people understand the lifecycle of the parasite involved. See more about Gula Guri mayin on the ASP website
https://www.parasite.org.au/outreach/gula-guri-mayin/
Find out more about National Reconciliation Week https://www.reconciliation.org.au/ #NRW2025 #BridgingNowtoNext
