Showing My Hand

I'm sorry that when I was growing up, I didn't always treat Indigenous Australians with the respect they deserved.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd is expected to make a full apology to Aboriginal people when Federal Parliament sits next month.

The Body Shop gives kudos to this, a critical step on the journey towards Reconciliation. It's the right thing to do. We also salute Labor's promises to make Indigenous health and education a top priority for the the new Government. Saying 'Sorry' is so simple but so essential to moving on.

The Body Shop has been campaigning for indigenous rights since 1998 when we collected over 100,000 thumb prints in our stores for Reconciliation Week.

Since then we've been involved in a range of practical initiatives with Indigenous communities around Australia, designed to foster greater economic independence. These include setup, maintenance and or the facilitation of the:

• Enterprise Development Workshop,
  
• First Australians Business
  
• Indigenous Enterprise Programme.
• National Indigenous Youth Leadership Group

Back to the present: It's great the Government is doing the right thing... but we also have a responsibility on a personal level to step up. What have our prejudices and behaviour towards Aborigines been in the past. Can we be kinder, more respectful? We can learn more about our rich indigenous culture and history. We can do more to stand up for their human rights for better health and education.

To start, why not say 'sorry' yourself? Australians for Native Title & Reconciliation (ANTaR) has a fantastic, creative way for you to commit to justice for Indigenous Australians, it's called the Sea Of Hands Online. It also gives you the option to sign up to their newsletter! Once you've completed your hand you can check out other peoples! See my hand above or go fish for it online.

Here are some other great websites you should check out:

• ANTaR
  
• The Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS)
• The ABC's Message Stick
  
• Reconcile
• The Australian Museum's Stories from the Dreamtime
  

Watch Missy Higgin's views on saying sorry and Reconciliation below:



Adam Valvasori - Values Manager