An important week in the Australian calendar, National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is a chance to learn and better understand our shared histories, cultures, and achievements. NRW 2026 will be celebrated between 27 May and 3 June. During this time, it’s important for all Australians to participate and consider how we can collectively contribute to achieving reconciliation.
According to the Reconciliation Australia website, reconciliation is fundamentally viewed as striving for strengthened relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non-Indigenous peoples. Australia’s colonial past was characterised by devastating land dispossession, violence, and racism for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Despite reconciliation efforts affecting positive change in the last 50 years, there is still more ground to be made in ensuring Australia becomes a just, equitable, and reconciled nation.
Reconciliation is an ongoing journey that reminds us that while generations of Australians have fought tirelessly to effect meaningful change, future gains are likely to take as much, or more, effort. This doesn’t mean complete reconciliation is unachievable, only that getting there will take immense collective efforts.
According to Reconciliation Australia, complete reconciliation is based on five dimensions: historical acceptance, race relations, equality and equity, institutional integrity, and unity. These don’t exist in isolation. They are interrelated. Improving one dimension will improve other dimensions.
For example, a greater historical acceptance of the wrongs committed against Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples has the potential to improve race relations. By extension, this can lead to greater equality and equity.
National Reconciliation Week 2026 Theme
Key to this is a collective, national effort towards achieving reconciliation. This year’s National Reconciliation Week theme, ‘All In’, aligns with that.
‘All In’ is a call to action for all Australians: Commit wholeheartedly to reconciliation every single day. This theme indicates that reconciliation cannot be achieved with masses watching from the sidelines. It is something we all must take action on and form a key part of.
Additionally, it reminds us all that reconciliation and advancing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights isn’t a passive activity, and it is not solely the responsibility of First Nations people, who have carried the weight of championing, explaining, and acting for far too long.
In the words of Reconciliation Australia, ‘Reconciliation will not happen by itself, and it will not happen without all of us.’ This year’s theme, ‘All In’, reinforces that message.
As part of the ACA’s pursuit of reconciliation, the Association has established a Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). At the end of 2024, the two-year Innovate Rap was completed. Not all actions and deliverables were completed within the two-year period; given the aspirational or long-term timeframes required to embed these items, this was expected.
These aspirational deliverables remain a core part of the ACA’s reconciliation future and are set for incorporation in the Association’s next plan. This plan is under development. In the interim, the ACA continues to build on and complete key RAP deliverables and actions.
The ACA’s Reconciliation Action Plan
A key deliverable of the ACA’s RAP has been building and delivering cultural safety training for members. A pilot training was provided to members at the Annual Conference in Melbourne in 2025 and is again being offered in the Adelaide Big Tent Conference in August this year.
The intent of the ARRPN committee has been to develop cultural safety training for ACA members that can be delivered flexibly, incorporating key components and relevance for all chiropractors, alongside exposure to local history and experiences.
Ahpra has signalled a future where there will be an expectation that registered health professionals have participated in cultural safety training and are actively developing and implementing cultural awareness skills and principles in practice.
ACA Reconciliation Initiatives
We encourage all members to register for the cultural safety training at this year’s Conference. The session will be held on Friday, 21 August, from 1:00pm to 5:00pm, and is free for members. To register, click here.
A long-term goal of the RAP is to encourage and support more Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to become chiropractors. A key way to achieve this goal is through the ACA’s National Study Grant Scheme, which provides funding for one year of a chiropractic course in Australia.
The Grant is designed to assist Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students in chiropractic to complete their studies and join the health workforce. We are delighted to announce that this year’s Grant recipient is Timothy Borthistle from Central Queensland University. We wish him all the best in his studies and look forward to welcoming him into the profession.
The ACA thanks the ARRPN Committee, Board, staff, and members who have supported and contributed to the ACA’s RAP activity and successes over the past year.
National Reconciliation Week provides chiropractors and healthcare providers alike with a chance to reflect on the impact colonisation has had and continues to have on the health of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders. Further, NRW serves as a reminder of the importance of cultural competency in delivering equitable.
Through adopting the principles of reconciliation within their practices, members can contribute to the broader effort of closing the health gap and fostering holistic wellbeing for all Australians.