Australia’s reconciliation situation is worse than that of post-apartheid South Africa.
As we celebrate National Close the Gap day, it is time we focus on the real gap that needs to be closed - the gap in trust between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. For this is one gap that we can all take responsibility for closing once and for all.
When we hear the Close the Gap catch cry we immediately think of the shocking news headline statistics:
- An Aboriginal man is expected to live 11.5 years less than the Australian average.
- An Aboriginal baby is twice as likely to die before their first birthday.
- An Aboriginal girl is 32 per cent less likely to finish her high school education.
We can continue to recount these statistics like a politician with an overused campaign slogan, but until we realise that these are just the symptoms of the underlying trust gap, we will not make our desired impact of ‘closing the gap’.
The underlying trust gap was unearthed in Reconciliation Australia’s recent Barometer Report. The report, compiled by AusPoll, found that 91 per cent of non-Indigenous Australians do not trust Indigenous Australians and 88 per cent of Indigenous Australians do not trust non-Indigenous Australians – figures which are truly embarrassing for our country.
The figures are even more embarrassing when they are compared to the South Africa’s Reconciliation Barometer report - an annual report released by the Institute of Justice and Reconciliation that measures post-apartheid South Africa’s reconciliation process.
With the South African report providing much of the framework for the Reconciliation Australia report, we are able to infer some comparisons between the two reconciliation movements - in particular the measurement of trust between each country’s racial groups.
For all the racial turmoil South Africa has experienced over recent generations, one could be forgiven for thinking that Australia’s racial trust was further advanced than South Africa’s. However, in 2007 only 44 per cent of South Africans found people of another race to be untrustworthy – much less than the 90 per cent mistrust rate between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.
That same 2007 report found a positive correlation “between the perceived knowledge of other groups and the extent which respondents are willing to trust other groups.” I would expect that a non-Indigenous Australian’s lack of knowledge of Aboriginal history and culture has had a similar effect on trust within Australia.
It is time that we take the next essential step forward. Indigenous culture is core to our country’s past, and it will be essential for our country’s future. It is time that we look to fill the knowledge void that has created such a gap in trust between the Indigenous people of this country and the rest of Australia.
Understanding 60,000 years of Aboriginal culture is something that is beautiful and something we as Australians should value and be proud to experience - it shouldn’t be something that embarrasses us on the international stage.
Education is the key to our reconciliation and our school kids should be rightfully taught the beauties of the oldest living culture in the world – and no, that doesn’t mean that our schools have one day a year where the kids eat ‘bush-tucker’.
Finally we need to celebrate the uniqueness of the 200+ Indigenous nations that make up this wide brown land – and that doesn’t just mean a token celebration each time an international sporting event or American celebrity come to town.
The reconciliation movement has come a long way, but as the statistics show there is still a long way to go. No longer should we wait for the government or someone else to get it right, for it is clear that every Australian now has the power to make the next move.
So today, I ask you to open both your heart and your mind. Join hands with the rest of Australia to embrace the genuinely amazing history and culture that this country has to offer.
For we will never truly close the gap until we open ourselves up to positive change.
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