National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

The dates for NRW are the same each year; 27 May to 3 June. These dates commemorate two significant milestones in the reconciliation journey – the successful 1967 referendum, and the High Court Mabo decision.

Reconciliation must live in the hearts, minds and actions of all Australians as we move forward, creating a nation strengthened by respectful relationships between the wider Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

We all have a role to play when it comes to reconciliation, and in playing our part we collectively build relationships and communities that value Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, histories, cultures and futures.

The theme for National Reconciliation Week 2026 is All In, a call for all Australians to commit wholeheartedly to reconciliation every single day.

All In makes clear that reconciliation is not a spectator sport and that all of us must step away from the sidelines and take action to make change.

The theme also reminds us that reconciliation and advancing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights isn’t 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.

Reconciliation will not happen by itself and it will not happen without all of us.

The #NRW2026 campaign was created in collaboration with Carbon Creative, a First Nations-owned and operated marketing and creative agency.

NRW 2026 artwork and artist

The #NRW2026 artwork is called Gaagal and has been created by renowned Gumbaynggirr/Bundjalung artist Otis Hope Carey, who applied his distinctive style to create a colourful and optimistic visual representation of people from all walks of life being “all in” to make change.

Otis Hope Carey’s number one pursuit is the sharing of culture through his artworks in order to promote healthy conversations and education through the arts.

“All of my paintings connect to water. This artwork uses the ocean as a metaphor for people from all walks of life swirling together to be ‘all in’ for reconciliation,” he said.

“The phrase ‘Gaagal’ translates to ‘Ocean’, and it is the totemic spiritual emblem of the Gumbaynggirr people. It’s a really important clan totem and holds a lot of healing elements for us.

“We are a saltwater and freshwater people, and any body of water is sacred to us. My paintings are my interpretation of my connection to water. I use patterns to capture the flow of connection and the energetic rhythms of moving water.

“Concentric circles are traditional symbols which are exaggerated and expanded out to represent water and the way it may move in ripples when struck by rain, wind, or if a rock were to hit its surface.

“This echoes the action of people moving together for change, their voices and actions rippling outwards, inviting others on the reconciliation journey.

“The movement in the work is a representation of tidal charts, wave currents and flowing tides, which emulates the non-stop movement of the ocean … a symbol that reflects the ongoing fight for reconciliation in this country.”

Voices for Reconciliation

The song Beds Are Burning has been selected as the 2026 Voices for Reconciliation song.

Written and performed by Midnight Oil, the song is a powerful anthem that hit a chord nationally and internationally and became a defining soundtrack of the land rights movement.

The song was inspired by the Uluru-Kata Tjuta handback to the Anangu people in 1985 and was written over the course of the 1986 Blackfella/Whitefella tour the Oils embarked on with Warumpi Band throughout Western Desert and Arnhem Land communities.

Decades later, its message still resonates. The song stands as a powerful call to action to know our history and be All In to create a more just, equitable and reconciled future for us all.