The flags of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander People will be a permanent fixture at the Sydney Government House, the New South Wales governor announced June 28.
The Sydney Government House is the residence of the New South Wales governor.
Previously, the flags were raised there only during National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC) and National Reconciliation Week, a week recognizing two milestones regarding Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander People’s rights.
One was a 1967 referendum in which over 90 percent of voters agreed to have Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islanders recognized in the national census.
The other was a 1992 High Court decision that recognized Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander People’s connection to the land, paving the way for Native Title, a land title that gives them certain rights depending on their relationship to the land and other claims to it.
This year marks the 50th anniversary of the 1967 referendum, and the 25th anniversary of the High Court decision.
“Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people are our first people. You have fought and died alongside Australians under the Australian flag even before being counted as part of the population,” said New South Wales governor David Hurley, addressing the Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander People at the announcement.
“These flags, representing the oldest living cultures in the world, will now fly proudly alongside our national and state flags. This I think is a significant and an emotional moment.”
There are 590,062 Aboriginals and 32,344 Torres Strait islanders in Australia, according to 2016 Census data. Some 26,767 fall into both categories, making the two groups about 2.8 percent of the population.
