Reconciliation Australia campaign addresses some ‘unfinished’ business
A new public awareness campaign has been launched to mark the 10th anniversary of the Bridge Walks for Reconciliation.
Reconciliation Australia’s “Unfinished Oz” campaign, created by Droga5, asks Australians to recommit to reconciliation and “help finish Oz”.
The campaign features well-known Australian faces, including Jack Thompson, Jonathan Thurston, Andrew Denton, Natalie Bassingthwaighte, Sigrid Thornton, Adam Goodes, George Negus, Ernie Dingo, Shannon Noll, Neil Perry and Gyton Grantley.
A new website called Unfinished Oz will be central to the campaign, allowing people to register their support and place themselves on a map of Australia found on the site with a pixel of light.
Unfinished Oz users will be connected to other people on the map and the site will offer a range of ways for people to get involved in the reconciliation process.
The aim is to create an online people movement, connect all of the individual pixels of light and ultimately complete the map of Australia.
Shelley Reys, Reconciliation Australia board director, said: “Reconciliation is about improving the relationships between the first Australians and other Australians so we can build a better future we can all share in.
“That can only happen when we respect our differences, celebrate our diversity and defend what we have in common. And that‘s what we‘re asking all Australians to do so we can start seeing things with fresh eyes.”
The launch coincides with the 10th anniversary of the Bridge Walk for Reconciliation across Sydney Harbour Bridge where more than 300,000 people walked in support of Indigenous Australians and reconciliation.
This was followed by walks in all other capital cities and many other towns – in total involving around a million people. The final walk took place in Melbourne in December 2000 and attracted another 300,000 people.
Full talent list for the Unfinished Oz campaign:
- Natalie Bassingthwaighte
- Steve Bisley
- Andrew Denton
- Ernie Dingo
- DJ GoodWill Karla Grant Gyton Grantley Adam Goodes
- John Howard (the actor) Marcia Hines
- Jimmy Little
- Neil Perry Margaret Pomeranz Paul McDermott George Negus
- Shannon Noll Mikey Robins Wendell Sailor
- Dan Sultan
- Jack Thompson
- Sigrid Thornton
- Jonathan Thurston
- Stan Walker
- John Waters
Tim Burrowes founded Mumbrella in 2008. He worked on Mumbrella until 2021. At various points he was editor, content director and editor-at-large.
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I don’t get why they changed the indigenous eyes to blue…
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The government has said sorry -that was the long awaited response being requrested. What more is there to say?
People need to just be Australian – undivided by background, colour, culture. etc Most Australians are a mixture of many races and cultures, even most of those who call themselves Indigenous are mixed.
Let’s all move forward together.
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