Last week, we marked National Reconciliation Week, reflecting on its significance and the role reconciliation plays across our organisation and the communities we serve. CEO Rita Butera opened the session, reinforcing the importance of reconciliation and our shared responsibility in progressing this work.
We were joined by Vicky Peters, a proud Dja Dja Wurrung and Yorta Yorta woman and our inaugural First Nations Board member, alongside Meriki Hood, our First Nations Community Engagement Coordinator, who spoke about the importance of connection to Community in her work.
While National Reconciliation Week is an important moment for reflection, it also highlights an ongoing challenge: ensuring reconciliation is not treated as symbolic or confined to a specific time, but embedded in everyday actions, behaviours and systems across the organisation.
Bringing this year’s theme, ‘All In’, to life, Vicky stressed that meaningful participation requires accountability and action. She stated, “Our work doesn’t stop at five o’clock. As First Nations people, we carry responsibility to community, culture, and change every day.”
Meriki shared her experiences in community, highlighting the importance of building respectful relationships, being present, and fostering genuine connections through listening and support.
The session reinforced a shared understanding that reconciliation must be embedded in our everyday work, not just acknowledged, but actively practiced.
National Reconciliation Week reminds us that reconciliation is a continuous journey, calling on all of us to keep learning, listening and taking purposeful action. As Vicky shared, “What gives me hope is seeing organisations move beyond intention and into real structural change, not just awareness, but action.”
To learn more about our efforts towards reconciliation, as well as the progress that we have made, please visit breastscreen.org.au/RAP.
To learn more about National Reconciliation Week, please refer to this factsheet by Reconciliation Australia: National-Reconciliation-Week-factsheet.pdf
