Smits/19
The fostering of public discussion was central to the Council’s aims. Aboriginal activists
had identified as central the need to build a better relationship between Aboriginal and non-
indigenous Australians, more community awareness of the problems facing the Aboriginal
community, and a sense of shared ownership of Australian history. Many reconciliation
activities were thus designed for local communities, and relied upon grass-roots work for their
success. Local indigenous groups and regional governments cooperated on reconciliation
projects and wrote their own joint statements of commitment, or reconciliation documents.
These local efforts were planned to culminate in a national Reconciliation Document by 2001.
Reconciliation Australia is an independent and non-governmental organization - symbolizing the
shift in status of reconciliation over the last ten years from a government-sponsored initiative to
a popular movement.
The importance of public discussion and debate in the reconciliation process was
increasingly emphasized by the Council, largely in response to the unexpected levels of
community interest in the project. Under its Community Action strategy, it aimed to consolidate
and extend “advocate networks” of reconciliation supporters across a broad range of
communities, sectors and organizations. It also established processes of local consultation with
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities on the reconciliation issue. Under the
auspices of the Council for Reconciliation, a network of community organizations sprang up in
the 1990s which discussed the historical treatment of local indigenous people, as well as current
relations, and worked on projects to improve the situation of local communities and promote
Convention