Our commitment to Reconciliation
The University of South Australia seeks to respond to the challenges of nationhood and national identity in a way that comprehends Australia's past and gives hope for our future. In 1997, we became the first university in Australia to issue a Statement of Commitment to Australian Reconciliation.
We expressed our public commitment to the achievement of Australian Reconciliation between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people, a commitment based firmly upon:
- Acknowledgement of the unique position of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as the Indigenous peoples of Australia and the original owners of this land, and recognition of their loss of land, children, languages, health and kin;
- The belief that reconciliation is a prerequisite for Australia to reach a mature nationhood which acknowledges the past, understands the present, and faces a future confidently based on the co-existence of rights;
- Acceptance that educational institutions have a particularly valuable contribution to make to the process of reconciliation by educating the Australian community about the cultures, languages, history and contemporary experiences of Australia's Indigenous peoples;
- Our special responsibility to provide leadership in the areas of Indigenous research and education, by virtue of its founding Act.
In 2000 we reaffirmed our commitment to reconciliation, with the unveiling of symbolic reconciliation rocks at each of the University's six campuses.
In October 2005 the University Council endorsed a recommendation that Indigenous content be a compulsory and assessable component of all undergraduate programs by 2010.