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Oxfam Australia's recent report, Close the gap: Solutions to the Indigenous health crisis facing Australia, highlighted the work that still needs to be done to provide for Australia's Indigenous population, and National Reconciliation Week events are bringing Indigenous perspectives to the forefront of individual and political thought. At this time we need to remember that the work we do to create a harmonious country must begin with the ways that we educate and care for our children.
Read Oxfam Australia's Close the gap: Solutions to the Indigenous health crisis facing Australia report.
Australia's commitment
National Reconciliation Week runs from 27 May to 3 June 2007. The week was established as an annual period to renew our commitment to reconciliation, and to learn about and celebrate the cultures and histories of Australia's Indigenous people. This year marks the eleventh anniversary of the week and also the 40th anniversary of the 1967 referendum which recognised Indigenous Australians' right to vote.
Visit the National Reconciliation Week website.
Reconciliation and early childhood
Recently, Early Childhood Australia's Every Child magazine featured an article by acting CEO of Reconciliation Victoria, Frank Hytten, explaining the responsibility of all Australians to act for reconciliation. The article also highlighted that true reconciliation must begin with the ways we care for and educate our children.
'Racism is taught—and if it is taught, then we can teach differently. We can teach the seeking of knowledge and an understanding of the "other" and we can teach enjoyment—rather than fear—of the unknown.'
Day care, preschools, kindergartens and primary schools are the places where many children first truly encounter other cultures and start developing long-term attitudes about them. As Australia becomes more and more multicultural, we cannot afford to ignore our responsibility to make sure these services are supported in their work of encouraging children's appreciation of diversity.
Visit the Reconciliation Victoria website.
Highlighting Indigenous success stories
The new issue of Every Child also showcases places where child care is at the heart of neighbourhoods. Thriving Indigenous communities that don't usually appear in the headlines—where the education and care of children unite people of vast diversity.
View the contents of Every Child magazine – Challenging practice and challenging practices – Vol. 13 No. 2 2007.
Further reading
Related news items on the Early Childhood Australia website:
Related resources on the Early Childhood Australia website:
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