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Canberra Today 16°/17° | Friday, March 29, 2024 | Digital Edition | Crossword & Sudoku

New public holiday to recognise Aboriginals

THE ACT government has introduced legislation to amend the Holidays Act to establish a Reconciliation Day public holiday. 

Minister Rachel Stephen-Smith.
The public holiday will be an opportunity for the Canberra community to recognise the important place of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and history in our city and nation. 

The first Reconciliation Day holiday will be on May 28, next year.

“The bill creates the Reconciliation Day public holiday without a change to the total number of public holidays in the ACT,” says Minister for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Affairs, Rachel Stephen-Smith. 

It removes from the Act the current Family and Community Day and its definition, however, Ms Stephen-Smith says the significance of the Family and Community Day, its origins as a union picnic day and the important role of the labour movement will not be lost.

Reconciliation Day will be on the first Monday on or after the 1967 Referendum anniversary of May 27 – the start of National Reconciliation Week. Next year it will be on Monday, May 28. 

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