Reconciliation

The Australian Museum’s vision for reconciliation is one where First Nations peoples do not navigate cultural institutions, they help shape them. It is where collections built during colonisation become instruments of healing, self-determination and cultural continuity. Where every researcher, educator, curator and leader understands that their work is inseparable from the work of reconciliation. And where this museum stands as proof that a cultural institution can reckon honestly with its past and build something worthy of the future – setting the standard for what genuine, self-determined First Nations practice looks like across the sector.

As Australia’s first museum, the Australian Museum played a significant role in Australia’s colonial history. The AM acknowledges that its past exhibition, research, and collecting practices did not accurately represent First Nations peoples, histories or cultures. Biased and often harmful perceptions of First Nations peoples were presented as objective scientific truth. Over the past decade, significant work has been undertaken to improve the processes and procedures that enable the AM to value and centre First Nations perspectives and agency across its work and activities.

For the AM to deliver on its reconciliation commitments with integrity, its internal culture must genuinely reflect its external advocacy. The AM’s third Innovate RAP 2026-2028 challenges the AM to look inward as much as outward: to ensure that it is a culturally safe institution for First Nations staff, visitors and communities.

Three focus areas from the AM’s second Innovate RAP are retained, with actions and deliverables building on recent achievements and addressing identified gaps. Two new priority areas have been added to this Innovate RAP: Voice, which reflects the AM’s commitment to genuine collaboration in prioritising First Nations voices – to ensure that First Nations perspectives, agency, stories, traditions and knowledges are valued and centred across the AM for the benefit of all; and Leadership, which reflects the AM’s commitment to becoming a cultural leader that prioritises First Nations histories, cultures and peoples.

The AM’s Innovate RAP 2026-2028 will deliver continuous improvement in First Nations cultural business, and speaks to a genuine commitment to learning, including about First Nations culturally legitimate governance, to ensure that the AM is engaging with First Nations in ways that enable self-determination. This starts with listening to First Nations leaders and amplifying their voices throughout the organisation.

Focus areas:

This Innovate RAP marks another key opportunity for promoting and nurturing respectful relationships between First Nations and non-Indigenous Australians through the influential platform that the Australian Museum holds as a leading cultural and scientific authority in NSW.