Recipients of the 2023 Queensland Reconciliation Awards have been named at a ceremony in Brisbane.
Among those recognised for the honours were initiatives aimed at improving health outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women and their families.
Winning initiatives receive a share of $30,000 in prize money.
The Reconciliation Awards are an initiative of the Government through the Department of the Premier and Cabinet and the Department of Treaty, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Partnerships, Communities and the Arts.
An award recipient was Gold Coast Health, whose Waijungbah Jarjums Service took out the Health and Wellbeing category and the Premier’s Reconciliation Award.
The first of its kind in Australia, the service combines both the Birthing on Country project and the First 1,000 Days Australia principles, founded on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing, being and doing.
Announcing the winners, Premier, Annastacia Palaszczuk said the awards celebrated those who were committed to telling First Nations stories, encouraging all Queenslanders to be the voice for a generation.
“This year’s award recipients are inspiring initiatives that promote and champion reconciliation in the community, and across the State — congratulations to all winners and finalists for their incredible work,” Ms Palaszczuk said.
She was supported by the Minister for the Arts, Leeanne Enoch who said the award recipients strengthened partnerships between First Nations peoples and non-Indigenous Queenslanders through meaningful community and educational programs and initiatives.
“This year, Queensland has made great steps on our journey of reconciliation with the passage of the historic Path to Treaty Act 2023, a pledge for First Nations peoples and non-Indigenous Queenslanders to move together on a journey of truth-telling, healing and reconciliation,” Ms Enoch said.
“I encourage all Queenslanders to be a voice for reconciliation in their everyday lives, so we join together in celebrating the thousands of generations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages, cultures, stories and custodianship.”
All the stories about the winners and finalists can be accessed at this PS News link.
