Aboriginal cleansing ceremony in the foyer of the medical school. Traditional Custodian Wally Bell is handing out gum leaves and branches to the crowd.

Reconciliation Action Plan

Our Reconciliation Action Plan sets the strategy on how the Joint Colleges are committed to reducing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.

The University’s vision for reconciliation is to be a place of learning that respects Indigenous culture and diversity: a place where Indigenous and non-Indigenous people come together to engage with their chosen discipline, contextualized by an understanding of our shared history. ANU will make an important contribution to reconciliation by furthering scholarly learning, research and public knowledge of Indigenous issues. ANU will be a place where Indigenous culture is both respected and celebrated.

In advancing these University goals, Joint Colleges, will provide a supportive learning environment where Indigenous Australians can realise their potential and achieve their aspirations. The Colleges will make a significant contribution to improving higher education and employment outcomes for Indigenous Australians. They will have strong and mutually beneficial partnerships with local, national and international Indigenous communities, with a particularly strong focus on making a world-leading contribution in research and teaching in Indigenous Health and Indigenous Natural Resource Management. These relationships will provide for the sharing of knowledge and ideas and the opportunity to listen and learn from Indigenous Australians about the past, their current circumstances and their vision for the future.

Joint Colleges Reconciliation Action Plan Committee

The objectives of the Joint Colleges RAP committee include:

  • engaging Science staff and students in the process of reconciliation
  • identifying key stakeholders, partners and opportunities for the Joint Colleges to engage in reconciliation
  • developing, implementing and coordinating a Science RAP
  • providing an interface between the Joint Colleges and the ANU RAP committee
  • promoting and raising the awareness of reconciliation among Science staff and students
  • promoting and raising the awareness of the Indigenous heritage and cultural resources of off-campus sites of Science activity, such as the ANU Kioloa Coastal Campus and the Siding Spring Observatory