Bridging Now to Next – National Reconciliation Week 2025

The theme for Reconciliation Week 2025, Bridging Now to Next, invites us to reflect on our shared history and move towards a better future. 

You can discover the meaning behind the 2025 National Reconciliation Week theme artwork by Bree Buttenshaw, a proud Kalkadoon woman and talented digital artist from Quandamooka Country.

Look out for local activities near you to participate in the reconciliation conversation.

Reconciliation Week includes a number of significant days:

27 May – Anniversary of the 1967 Referendum

On the first day of Reconciliation Week we mark the anniversary of the 1967 Referendum.

Nearly 91 per cent of Australian voters voted to amend the constitution in 1967. This change meant that First Nations peoples would be counted as part of the population and acknowledged as equal citizens, and that the Commonwealth would be able to make laws on their behalf. 

Read more about the 1967 Referendum: Indigenous referendum | National Museum of Australia

28 May - Walk for Reconciliation

28 May 2025 is the 25th anniversary of the Harbour Bridge Walk for Reconciliation.

The Bridge Walk for Reconciliation and similar events that took place around Australia in the weeks following were collectively the biggest demonstration of public support for a cause that has ever taken place in Australia.

About 250,000 people, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, made their way across the famous Sydney landmark in a continuous stream that lasted nearly six hours.

The march was a public expression of support for meaningful reconciliation between Australia’s Indigenous and non-Indigenous peoples.

Read more about the Walk for reconciliation | National Museum of Australia

29 May – Anniversary of the Torres Strait Islander flag

29 May 2025 is the 33rd anniversary of the Torres Strait Islander flag, which was presented in 1992 at the sixth Torres Strait Cultural Festival. 

The flag was designed by Bernard Namok and was the winning entry in a design competition.

The flag is rich with meaning. The colours represent the Torres Strait Islander people’s connection to the land, sea, and sky – black, green, white, and blue. At its heart lies the white Dhari (dancer’s headdress), a proud emblem of culture, and the five-pointed star, a symbol for sea navigation, representing the five island groups

Read more about the Torres Strait Islander flag - The Mabo Native Title Decision - Reconciliation Australia

3 June – Mabo Day

Mabo Day, celebrated annually on 3 June, commemorates Mer Island man Eddie Koiki Mabo and his successful effort to overturn the legal fiction of terra nullius – literally ’empty land’.

The decision established the legal recognition of Native Title, later reinforced by the Native Title Act 1993, that some Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have rights to certain land because of their traditional connection with their country.

Read more: The Mabo Native Title Decision - Reconciliation Australia

Find out more about reconciliation from Reconciliation Australia.