Reconciliation Day

The first Monday on or after 27 May is Reconciliation Day in the Australian Capital Territory (ACT) starting in 2018. It replaces the Family and Community Day holiday that was held on this date until 2017. In 2026, Reconciliation Day falls on Monday 1 June. The holiday will be on Monday 31 May in 2027. While Reconciliation Day is only a public holiday in ACT, it is also the first day of National Reconciliation Week, which is Australia-wide. The date for the holiday was chosen because on 27 May 1967, 90 percent of Australia’s population voted in a referendum in favour of amending the national constitution in regard to indigenous peoples. Specifically, the amendments caused indigenous Australians to be included in the official census and extended parliament’s jurisdiction to include them. This was intended to be for the benefit of Australia’s indigenous population, however the results of this jurisdiction saw mixed results in the decades afterwards.