Working with First Peoples of Australia

Initiatives of Change (IofC) hosts an emerging First Peoples (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders) leadership program that is collaborating with non-Indigenous Australians to transform attitudes and relationships that impact our nation.

Initiatives of Change Australia (previously Moral Rearmament, or MRA) has had a continuing concern and involvement with Australian First Peoples since the 1950s. The network has supported leadership by First Peoples campaigners such as early 20th-century activist Marge Tucker, singer Harold Blair, and interfaith leader Walda Blow, who mentored many vulnerable women and girls. Many have been supported to represent Australia in Caux, Asia Plateau, South Africa, and to participate in training courses, here and overseas.

MRA/IofC platforms have enabled Australians to find a change of attitudes and be involved in relevant issues. Such work has included the late Kim Beazley senior’s role on land rights and education in indigenous languages. A range of significant ‘network initiatives’ inspired by IofC have been central in projects such as the Myall Creek Memorial [1] in New South Wales, the Colebrook Blackwood Reconciliation Park [2] in South Australia in memory of the stolen generations, and the Tirkandi Inaburra [3] programme for First Nations youth. 

From 1991 for 20 years, this process merged with the national campaign for Reconciliation and, following the Bringing Them Home Report, for Sorry Day and the Journey of Healing.

The shift now, nationally, is towards a ‘First Peoples’ leadership taking their rightful place in Australia, to fundamentally change attitudes and relationships  within Australia, and to deliver just societal outcomes.