HIPPY Australia

Today is National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day!

This year’s theme, Living Our Truth, celebrates and honours the importance of truth-telling, storytelling and knowledge shared across generations.

To mark the day, we have created colouring and storytelling resources featuring artworks by Lena Smith. Through art and play, children can share ideas, use their imagination and tell stories in their own way.

Today we celebrate the next generation of leaders, and recognise the important role families, communities, and organisations play in raising strong, confident, and proud children.

Download the activity sheet here:https://assets.hippyaustralia.bsl.org.au/assets/Social_media/HA_ChildrensDay_ActivityPack_LenaSmith_2026.pdf

SNAICC-National Voice for our Children

Tomorrow is National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children’s Day!

This year's theme celebrates Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children growing up strong and proud, guided by culture, community and a connection to Country.

To help celebrate the day we have put together a fun activity featuring Lena Smith’s much-loved animal characters from the HIPPY Australia activity packs!

You can download it here: https://assets.hippyaustralia.bsl.org.au/assets/Social_media/HA_NATSICD_Activity_StoryPuppet_2026.png

Join the celebration and learn more about Children’s Day at SNAICC-National Voice for our Children: https://www.snaicc.org.au/our-work/campaigns/childrens-day/

Happy NAIDOC Week!

This year’s theme ‘50 Years of Deadly’, honours 5 decades of and celebrates the generations who built the movement, the people leading change today, and looks ahead to the next 50 years and beyond.

NAIDOC Week is a time to listen, learn, and celebrate. Talk with your little ones, friends and family about Country, culture and community, and find out what is happening near you.

Find a National NAIDOC Week event near you: https://www.naidoc.org.au/local-events/local-naidoc-week-events

This year’s NAIDOC Week theme, ‘50 Years of Deadly’, recognises half a century of celebrating Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history, culture and achievements each July.

In Australia, we are lucky to live on lands cared for by First Nations people for more than 65,000 years. These lands and waterways are home to some of the richest and oldest continuous cultures in the world. There truly is so much to celebrate; learn and connect with, and NAIDOC Week is an invaluable opportunity to do so.

Read more about the history of NAIDOC Week at https://www.indigenous.gov.au/stories/history-naidoc-week

Today we honour the life and legacy of Eddie Koiki Mabo, a proud Meriam man who fought for more than a decade to have Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ connection to Country legally recognised.

The 1992 High Court ruling rejected the lie of terra nullius. It recognised that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples hold rights to land under traditional law and custom, paving the way for the Native Title Act 1993.

As comes to an end, we reflect on Mabo’s legacy. We are reminded that truth-telling, justice and the recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ continuing connection to Country must be at the heart of reconciliation.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are advised that the following content contains images or names of people who have passed away.

Mabo Day honours the life and legacy of proud Meriam man Eddie Koiki Mabo and celebrates the 1992 High Court decision that officially recognised First Peoples occupied the lands and waterways of what is now considered Australia before colonisation -- and therefore had Native Title rights. This historic decision rejected the concept of terra nullius, which the Crown used to claim Australia was a land belonging to no-one prior to British occupation. The ruling, in favour of Mabo and other claimants, recognised that their people had occupied the island of Mer in the Torres Strait before colonisation.

Today also marks the end of National Reconciliation Week -- but as 2026’s ‘All in’ theme reminds us: reconciliation is a daily commitment, and Mabo’s 10-year legal fight should continue to inspire our advocacy and work for a fairer, more just society.

Every employee and volunteer at BSL is invited to join us on this essential journey.

The Brotherhood of St. Laurence reaffirms its ongoing commitment to reconciliation, truth-telling and self-determination. We are proud to stand in solidarity with First Nations people and to support Australia’s first Treaty process in Victoria.

Photo credit: Reconciliation Victoria

This Global Day of Parents, we’re celebrating parents, carers and parental figures as their child’s first and most important teachers.

For one HIPPY Bundaberg parent and Tutor, joining HIPPY was about giving their daughter the best possible start.

"HIPPY gave me community, purpose, and a chance to provide my daughter with what I missed out on. Not just education, but connection.”

HIPPY Australia supports families across remote, regional and urban communities. With support from local Tutors, fun activities and resources, families build learning into everyday life at home — growing confidence, connection and strong foundations for children’s learning.

Today, we celebrate all parents and caregivers, and the important role they play in helping children grow and thrive.

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HIPPY Bundaberg is delivered locally by CQID

National Reconciliation Week starts today

This year’s theme, All In, reminds us that reconciliation will not happen by itself. It asks all of us to take part and commit to meaningful action, every single day.

HIPPY Australia is committed to working in partnership with First Nations communities and organisations through deep listening, respectful engagement, and meaningful action.

What does being mean to you?

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Reconciliation Australia

National Reconciliation Week begins today, with the anniversary of the Australian Government’s 1967 referendum to ensure First Nations peoples had the same rights as other Australians under the Australian Constitution.

Before this, First Nations people were not officially recognised as part of the population. The referendum was a significant moment of national unity, with 9 in 10 people voting Yes.

NRW is an opportunity to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

This year’s NRW theme, All In, calls on all Australians to actively participate in reconciliation. As Reconciliation Australia notes: “Reconciliation is not a spectator sport and all of us must step away from the sidelines and take action to make change.

“Reconciliation and advancing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights is not a passive activity, and it is not solely the responsibility of First Nations people, who have carried the weight of championing, explaining and acting for far too long.”

For the Brotherhood of St. Laurence, this means moving beyond intention to action - embedding responsibility across every level of the organisation. This Thursday, we officially launch our 2026-2028 Stretch Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) detailing how embedding responsibility across every level of the organisation can be done.

BSL reaffirms its ongoing commitment to reconciliation, truth-telling and self-determination. We are proud to stand in solidarity with First Nations people and to support Australia’s first Treaty process in Victoria. And we congratulate Travis Lovett on his National Walk for Truth arrival in Canberra today.

Today, we pause to acknowledge the deep hurt caused by the forced removal of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children from their families, the Stolen Generations, and to honour their strength and resilience.

In 1997, the Bringing Them Home report was presented in Parliament. It called for a National Day of Reflection, and for meaningful action and structural change.

While a national apology was delivered in 2008, many of the report’s recommendations remain unfulfilled.

At HIPPY, we recognise that sorry means action. We are committed to self-determination, truth-telling, and accountability as part of our shared responsibility to reconciliation. This means working in partnership with Aboriginal and Community Controlled Organisations (ACCOs), supporting local program delivery, and ensuring families are at the centre of their children’s learning.

On 26 May 1997, the Bringing Them Home report was tabled in Federal Parliament.

Bringing Them Home documented the systemic nature of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander child removals, their devastating impacts, and made clear recommendations for reparations, healing and reconciliation. The report followed a national inquiry and recommended a National Sorry Day be held on 26 May every year.

Forced removal policies caused profound damage to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, families and communities. They were in place for more than 150 years – into the 1980s – and for many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, the impacts remain ongoing, lifelong and intergenerational.

Today we acknowledge the deep hurt, grief and ongoing impacts carried by many First Nations people, families and communities, and stand in solidarity with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

BSL reaffirms its ongoing commitment to reconciliation, truth-telling and self-determination. We are proud to stand in solidarity with First Nations people and to support Australia’s first Treaty process in Victoria.

For more information on The Stolen Generations, visit the Healing Foundation at https://healingfoundation.org.au/

Photo credit: Bringing them Home report, 1997