Pro Vice-Chancellor's message

Since its inception in 1993, Reconciliation Week has become a signature event in most workplace calendars throughout Australia and it’s no different at the University of Adelaide.

Amongst other things, Reconciliation Week opens a space for staff and students to better understand and appreciate Indigenous peoples, their cultures, and their wellbeing in the context of our own personal and professional lives.

Reconciliation will mean different things to each of us.

I believe this week provides both the opportunity to reflect on the present and to imagine a new shared future, something better than what we have now.

This year’s theme – be a VOICE for generations – encourages us to give effect to this commitment where we can. This is not a prescriptive exercise. We will all have different ideas about how we might demonstrate our support. Reconciliation week invites all of us to make a difference, to do something new, something better than what we have now.

At the heart of the VOICE are its design principles which ensure Indigenous Australians have a say over the decisions that impact them directly. How can we enable Indigenous students, staff and communities to have a VOICE in what we do and how we do it here at the University of Adelaide?

The fields of possibility are what we can imagine. I warmly encourage all of you to at least start a conversation about these questions during Reconciliation Week.

Professor Steve Larkin | Kungarakan
Pro Vice Chancellor - Indigenous Engagement