Australians urged to walk together for reconciliation
It was an iconic moment Reconciliation Australia chief executive Karen Mundine said, and one being remembered 25 years later as Reconciliation Week begins with the theme "Bridging Now to Next".
"That was such a great moment, to see so many people came out in force and say 'I want to be part of this work, I want to be part of reconciliation'," she told AAP.
Reconciliation Week is held each year between May 27 and June 3, marking the successful 1967 referendum, and the High Court Mabo decision respectively.
Ms Mundine said to understand where Australia found itself, it was important to understand the past, the triumphs and the setbacks, and the truth of its history.
"'Bridging Now to Next' is really about learning from history, it's about grounding us and where we are today and then using all of that combined knowledge to chart a new path forward," she said.
Ms Mundine said 25 years after the bridge walk, there was still a need for reconciliation in Australia, with the issues of voice, treaty and truth-telling, raised in the Uluru Statement from the Heart not yet dealt with.
"(During the referendum) we weren't able to convince enough Australians to get that over the line," she said.
"That's the job of reconciliation to get out there and broaden the Australian community's understanding about history and understanding that impact on First Nations people, not just in the past but as it happens today."
Monday marked eight years since the Uluru Statement from the Heart was issued, an anniversary that brought up a lot of emotion for Allira Davis.
The Cobble Cobble woman is a co-chair of the Uluru Youth Dialogue and Australia still has a long way to go to meaningfully recognise Aboriginal people.
"We still need structural reform in place," she said.
"We still need something that represents us.
"Unfortunately, Closing the Gap is not working. We've only met four of the 19 targets ... something needs to change."
But just as the thousands who crossed the harbour bridge for reconciliation in 2000, Ms Davis said there were plenty of people who stood with First Nations people in October 2023, and continue to do so.
"We do have 6.2 million friends that did vote yes," she said.
"In terms of reconciliation, I think our non-Indigenous brothers and sisters are still walking with us."
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