Women’s Health in the South East (WHISE) acknowledges Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as Australia’s First peoples and the Traditional Custodians of the lands, waterways and skies where we live, work, rest and play. Sovereignty was never ceded. This always was, and always will be, Aboriginal land.
For some Australians, 26 January means barbecues and beach days. But for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, this date marks the beginning of profound loss—of land, language, family, and culture. It’s known as Survival Day, Invasion Day, a Day of Mourning. This isn’t ancient history. The impacts of colonisation continue in very real ways: in health outcomes, in justice systems, in the daily experiences of First Nations peoples across Australia. WHISE stands alongside First Nations people in reflecting on 26 January as Invasion Day.
The Ongoing Reality
Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples continue to face profound injustice: deaths in custody, children are removed from their families, violence that stems from ongoing oppression and ill health due in large part to the impacts of this trauma and continued neglect of services. These aren’t statistics—they’re people’s lives, families, communities.
WHISE stands with the Uluru Statement from the Heart as it reflects our vision for an Australia where everybody can have a say about their own lives, and experiences equity in health, sexual and reproductive health, mental and physical wellbeing and can live free from violence.
What the Past Year Has Taught Us
Something remarkable happened in Victoria. In December 2025, our state Parliament stood up and said sorry – a formal apology that didn’t gloss over the truth but named the specific harms done to First Peoples. Three days later, Victoria signed Australia’s first Treaty with First Peoples. Not a token gesture, but a negotiated agreement about sharing power and enabling self-determination.
These weren’t grand political statements disconnected from reality. They emerged from years of truth-telling through the Yoorrook Justice Commission – First Nations people sharing their stories, their pain, their wisdom and governments, organisations, and communities choosing to listen and act.
WHISE’s Reconciliation Journey
This context shapes WHISE’s first Reconciliation Action Plan, formally endorsed by Reconciliation Australia and launched in January 2026. Our Reflect RAP represents not merely an organisational milestone, but an essential commitment to transforming how we understand and enact our responsibilities to First Nations peoples within our work of advancing gender equality and women’s health.
We recognise that our work cannot be truly transformative without centring the voices, knowledge, and leadership of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. The devastating impacts of colonisation create compounding barriers for First Nations women and gender diverse people who experience the intersecting oppressions of racism and sexism. Through our RAP, we commit to ongoing education, unlearning, and structural change, guided always by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations.
Our Reflect RAP establishes clear accountability mechanisms and identifies concrete actions across relationships, respect, opportunities, and governance. It positions WHISE to deepen partnerships with Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisations and ensures that our gender equality advocacy is informed and guided by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women’s leadership and lived experience. Genuine reconciliation, we understand, demands more than good intentions. It requires transferring power, resources, and decision-making to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and communities. It requires us to actively dismantle the colonial structures that continue to operate within our systems, our sector, and ourselves.
What This Means for 26 January
This year, our staff can choose whether to work on 26 January.
We understand that changing the date of a public holiday won’t solve systemic injustice. But we do believe that Australia can find ways to celebrate our nation that don’t ask Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples to relive or commemorate their trauma and dispossession. We can create a national day that invites everyone, including First Nations peoples, to celebrate together, not mourn alone.
Until that day comes, we’ll use 26 January for what it should be: a time for truth-telling, learning, and honest reflection about the country we’re building together.
Moving Forward
Victoria’s Treaty and Apology provide an important framework for structural change. WHISE’s Reconciliation Action Plan outlines our role in supporting this work, we are committed to practical action. The work isn’t easy. It requires humility, listening, and staying committed even when progress feels slow. Women’s Health Services know that working to get justice takes a long time, but we also know that we must stand in solidarity with all those who are oppressed and discriminated against, if we’re to succeed. WHISE understands that building a future where gender equality and racial justice are inseparable parts of the same vision: a society where everyone can truly thrive.