On 26 January, many tens of thousands of people joined rallies, marches and festivals honouring the cultures, survival and resistance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, while protesting the ongoing strategies of colonisation, including the timing of Australia Day on the date marking the beginning of colonisation.
Many in the health sector also showed up.
Below are photos and posts from Croakey Health Media members.
Marie McInerney joined a massive crowd at the rally in Naarm/Melbourne.
Dr Sally Fitzpatrick was at the Yabun Festival on the lands of the Gadigal People.
Laurell Grubb, Mitchell Ward and Dr Melissa Sweet joined the march and rally in nipaluna/Hobart.
Organisers said was the biggest yet.
Mayor Anna Reynolds told the crowd: “It’s shocking to me that more Australians and indeed more leaders don’t see how unfair and mean it is to celebrate our nation’s spirit on the day that the violent colonisation of the First People began.
“No other colonial country in the world does something so jarring, so insensitive and so intentionally divisive.”
Rather than observing the customary minute of silence, the crowd was asked to make noise, to send a message for change.
Marking the date, Dr Ruth Armstrong visited the Maitland Art Gallery on Wonnarua Country, looking at the Robert Fielding exhibition.
“Robert is a Yankunytjatjara man from Mimili on the APY lands. His work is a testament to the survival of family, sacred stories, ceremony and culture. And to an innovative future,” said Armstrong.
See Croakey’s articles on social and emotional wellbeing
