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write the beginning of a speech whose objective is: make people aware of the situation and urge them to act (climate change and its consequences on Australia: bushfires and the Great Barrier Reef) Use https://view.genial.ly/5e5824073ca5910fdcf1f0de for help

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This story appears in the May 2011 issue of National Geographic magazine.

Not far beneath the surface of the Coral Sea, where the Great Barrier Reef lives, parrotfish teeth grind against rock, crab claws snap as they battle over hiding spots, and a 600-pound grouper pulses its swim bladder to announce its presence with a muscular whump. Sharks and silver jacks flash by. Anemone arms flutter and tiny fish and shrimp seem to dance a jig as they guard their nooks. Anything that can't glom on to something rigid is tugged and tossed by each ocean swell.

The reef's sheer diversity is part of what makes it great. It hosts 5,000 types of mollusks, 1,800 species of fish, 125 kinds of sharks, and innumerable miniature organisms. But the most riveting sight of all-and the main reason for World Heritage status-is the vast expanse of coral, from staghorn stalks and wave-smoothed plates to mitt-shaped boulders draped with nubby brown corals as leathery as saddles. Soft corals top hard ones, algae and sponges paint the rocks, and every crevice is a creature's home. The biology, like the reef, transforms from the north-where the reef began-to the south. The shifting menagerie is unmatched in the world.

Time and tides and a planet in eternal flux brought the Great Barrier Reef into being millions of years ago, wore it down, and grew it back-over and over again. Now all the factors that let the reef grow are changing at a rate the Earth has never before experienced. This time the reef may degrade below a crucial threshold from which it cannot bounce back.

West Meets Reef

Europeans were introduced to the Great Barrier Reef by British explorer Capt. James Cook, who came upon it quite by accident. On a June evening in 1770, Cook heard the screech of wood against stone; he couldn't have imagined that his ship had run into the most massive living structure on Earth: more than 10,000 square miles of coral ribbons and isles waxing and waning for some 1,400 winding miles.

Cook's team had been exploring the waters offshore of what is now Queensland when the H.M.S. Endeavour became trapped in the labyrinth. Not far beneath the surface, jagged towers of coral tore into the ship's hull and held the vessel fast. As timbers splintered and the sea poured in, the crew arrived on deck "with countenances which sufficiently expressed the horrors of our situation," Cook later wrote in his diary. Captain and crew were able to limp to a river mouth to patch their vessel.

Aborigines had lived in the region for thousands of years before Europeans hit the rocks. Culturally, the reef has been a rich part of the landscape for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, who have canoed it and fished it and shared myths about its creatures for generations. But historians aren't sure how deep their knowledge went of the reef's geology and animal life. A few decades after Cook's run-in with the behemoth beneath the sea, English cartographer Matthew Flinders-who also had a mishap or two while "threading the needle" among the reefs-gave the entity its name, inspired by its size. All told, if the reef's main chunks were plucked from the sea and laid out to dry, the rock could cover all of New Jersey, with coral to spare.

Expansion and Erosion

This mammoth reef owes its existence to organisms typically no bigger than a grain of rice. Coral polyps, the reef's building blocks, are tiny colonial animals that house symbiotic algae in their cells. As those algae photosynthesize-using light to create energy-each polyp is fueled to secrete a "house" of calcium carbonate, or limestone. As one house tops another, the colony expands like a city; other marine life quickly grabs on and spreads, helping cement all the pieces together.

Off Australia's eastern edge, conditions are ripe for this building of stone walls. Corals grow best in shallow, clear, turbulent water with lots of light to support photosynthesis. Millions of polyp generations later, the reef stands not as a singular thing but as a jumble whose shapes, sizes, and life-forms are determined by where in the ocean they lie-how close to shore, for example-and what forces work on them, such as heavy waves. Go far enough from the coast, where the light is low and the waters are deeper, and there's no reef at all.

"In the Great Barrier Reef, corals set the patterns of life from end to end," says Charlie Veron, coral expert and a longtime chief scientist for the Australian Institute of Marine Science. With over 400 species in the region, "they structure the entire environment; they're the habitat for everything else here." The perfect temperature, clarity, and currents enable plate corals, for example, to increase in diameter up to a foot a year. The reef continuously erodes as well, worn down by waves, ocean chemistry, and organisms that eat limestone. This vanishing act is far slower than the constant building up; still, as much as 90 percent of the rock eventually dissipates into the waters, forming sand. So the living veneer of this reef, the part a diver sees, is ever changing.

And the layers beneath are relatively young, geologically speaking, at less than 10,000 years. The reef's true beginnings go back much further. Closer to 25 million years ago, Veron says, as Queensland edged into tropical waters with the movement of the Indo-Australian tectonic plate, coral larvae began riding south-flowing currents from the Indo-Pacific, grabbing footholds wherever they could. Slowly, rocky colonies grew and spread along the seafloor flush with diverse marine life.

A Rocky Course

Since the reef first found footing, ice ages have come and gone, tectonic plates have crept forward, and ocean and atmospheric conditions have fluctuated wildly. The reef has seen many iterations-expanding and eroding, being defaced and reinhabited at nature's whim.

"A history of the Great Barrier Reef," Veron says, "is a catalog of disasters" caused by planetary chaos. But they are disasters from which the reef has always recovered.

Today new disasters endanger the reef, and the prospect for recovery is uncertain. The relatively quick shift in the world's climate, scientists say, appears to be devastating for reefs. In corals, warming temperatures and increased exposure to the sun's ultraviolet rays lead to a stress response called bleaching-when the colorful algae in coral cells become toxic and are expelled, turning the host animals skeletal white. Fleshy seaweeds may then choke out the remains.

Major bleaching in the Great Barrier Reef and elsewhere in 1997-98 was linked to a severe El Niño year and record-high sea-surface temperatures-in some spots 3°F higher than normal. Another round began in 2001 and again in 2005. By 2030, some reef experts say, these destructive episodes will occur every year.

Heat is also implicated in a 60-year decline in ocean phytoplankton-the microscopic organisms that not only gobble greenhouse gases but also feed, directly or indirectly, almost every other living thing in the sea. Reef fish, too, respond to warmer waters-sometimes with bolder, more aggressive behavior toward both predators and prey. Changes in sea level, either up or down, have a dire impact as well, exposing shallow corals to too much sun or drowning them in deeper water, where they're hidden from the light.

A more immediate concern is massive flooding in Australia that earlier this year sent huge plumes of sediment and toxin-laden waters onto the reef off Queensland. The full harm to marine life won't be clear for years, but long stretches of the Great Barrier Reef could experience disastrous die-offs.

And then there's the acid test.

Reef ecosystems worldwide took a pounding during each of Earth's five mass extinctions, the first about 440 million years ago. Greenhouse gases spiked naturally over the millennia, and Aussie biologist Veron says massive spewing of carbon dioxide during periods of heavy volcanic activity was likely a big player in coral decimation, notably the most recent mass extinction some 65 million years ago. At that time, oceans absorbed more and more of those greenhouse gases from the atmosphere, causing ocean acidity to rise. The lower pH-a sign of high levels of acidity-ultimately thwarted the ability of marine creatures to build their limestone shells and skeletons.

In some oceans this acidification is once again happening. The most vulnerable to acid's corrosive bite are the fast-growing branching corals and vital calcium-excreting algae that help bind the reef. The more brittle the reef's bones, the more wave action, storms, diseases, pollutants, and other stresses can break them.

In ancient times many corals adapted to changing ocean acidity, says Veron, who paints a particularly bleak picture of the Barrier Reef's future. "The difference is there were long stretches in between; corals had millions of years to work it out." He fears that with unprecedented CO ₂, sulfur, and nitrogen emissions by human industry, added to the increasing escape of methane as a result of Earth's melting ice, much of the reef will be nearly bereft of life within 50 years. What will be left? "Coral skeletons bathed in algal slime," he says.

Edging Forward

Of course, to the two million tourists who visit the reef each year, the promise of an underwater paradise teeming with life is still fulfilled. But the blemishes are there if you know where to look. The reef bears a two-mile-long scar from a collision with a Chinese coal carrier in April of last year. Other ship groundings and occasional oil spills have marred the habitat. Sediment plumes from flooding and nutrients from agriculture and development also do very real damage to the ecosystem. But Aussies aren't inclined to let the reef fall apart without a national outcry. The captain of the boat who took me diving put it this way: "Without the reef, there's nothing out here but a whole lot of salty water." To many locals, he adds, "the reef is a loved one whose loss is too sad to contemplate." And it is also crucial economically: The visitors he motors to the reef's edges provide more than one billion dollars annually for Australia's books.

The challenge scientists face is to keep the reef healthy despite rapid change. "To fix a car engine, you need to know how it works," says marine biologist Terry Hughes of James Cook University. "The same is true for reefs." He and others have been investigating how these ecosystems function so that efforts to prevent damage can be doubly effective.

High on the to-do list: Determine the full impact of overfishing. Traditionally, commercial fishermen could work along the reef, even after 133,000 square miles of ocean habitat was designated a marine park in 1975. But with rising concern about the big take, the Australian government in 2004 made a third of that area, in strategically placed zones, off-limits to all fishing-including for sport. The biological recovery has been bigger and faster than expected; within two years after the ban, for example, numbers of coral trout doubled on once heavily fished reef. Some scientists speculate that protective zones may also lead to declines in outbreaks of a devastating coral-eating sea star.

Scientists also want to know what makes specific corals extra tenacious during times of change. "We know some reefs experience much more stressful conditions than others," says reef ecologist Peter Mumby of the University of Queensland. "Looking at decades of sea temperature data, we can now map where corals are most acclimated to warmth and target conservation actions there." He says understanding how corals recover from bleaching-and figuring out where new polyps are likely to grow-can help in designing reserves. Even the outspoken Veron acknowledges that coral survival is possible long-term if the onslaughts against reefs are halted-soon.

Nature has some safeguards of her own, including a genetic script for corals that may have helped them ride out past environmental disruptions. Many reef builders evolve through hybridization-when different species mix genes. As Veron puts it, "everything is always on its way to becoming something else." On the reef, about a third of the corals reproduce in annual mass spawning. During such events, as many as 35 species on a single patch of reef release their egg and sperm bundles simultaneously, which means millions of gametes from genetically different parents mingle in a slick at the ocean surface. "This provides outstanding opportunities to produce hybrids," explains marine biologist Bette Willis of James Cook University. Especially with climate and ocean chemistry in such flux, she says, hybridization can offer a speedy path to adaptation and hardiness against disease.

Indeed, one lesson is that despite today's weighty threats, the Great Barrier Reef won't easily crumble. It has, after all, toughed it out through catastrophic change before. And all kinds of marine life are around to help keep the reef whole. In studies conducted in 2007, scientists found that where grazing fish thrive, so do corals, especially in waters polluted with excess nutrients. "If you take away herbivores, say through overfishing, seaweed replaces corals," says Hughes. If voracious vegetarians are protected, corals can prevail.

A human visitor to the reef can see the fish doing their vital job. In dappled afternoon light toward the reef's northern tip, palatial walls of coral tower over a rare species of batfish, long finned and masked in black, that nibbles back strands of sargassum. And a school of parrotfish-fused teeth like wire cutters-chip away noisily at the rocks, where algae in mats of green and red have quietly taken hold.

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This story appears in the May 2011 issue of National Geographic magazine. Not far beneath the surface of the Coral Sea, where the Great Barrier Reef lives, parrotfish teeth grind against rock, crab claws snap as they battle over hiding spots, and a 600-pound grouper pulses its swim bladder to announce its presence with a muscular whump.

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The Great Barrier Reef, which extends for over 2,300 kilometers (1429 miles) along the northeastern coast of Australia, is home to over 9,000 known species. There are likely many more-new discoveries are frequently being made, including a new species of branching coral discovered in 2017. This richness and uniqueness make the reef crucial for tourism and the Australian economy-it attracts at least 1.6 million visitors every year. Yet the reef's true value, its biodiversity, extends far beyond dollars and cents.

The Great Barrier Reef consists of about 3,000 individual reefs of coral, and the biodiversity they contain is remarkable. There are animals you would probably recognize, such as dolphins, turtles, crocodiles, and sharks. There are also venomous sea snakes, brightly colored worms, and large algae. These species interact to form a complex and delicate ecosystem dependent on the coral reef for survival. Yet today the coral-and therefore all the organisms that depend on it-is gravely at risk.

Coral is made up of many small animals. These tiny animals build a hard external skeleton to make the vibrant structures that we recognize. When healthy, coral has a symbiotic relationship with algae. The coral produces fluorescent chemicals that protect the algae from bright sun-almost like a sunscreen. The algae use photosynthesis to harness solar energy to make sugars. In this way, the algae provide food and oxygen (a byproduct of photosynthesis) for the coral, and the coral protects and provides nutrients for the algae. The algae also give coral its many colors.

The coral and algae have evolved together to survive within a particular temperature range. As sea temperatures rise due to climate change, the algae begin to produce products toxic to the coral, which in turn expel the algae. This process is called bleaching because the coral becomes white. A 2018 study showed that about one-third of the Great Barrier Reef had experienced substantial damage from bleaching. The researchers also found that large amounts of coral had died in the warming water almost immediately-even before there was time to expel their algal partners. This suggests even greater risks from climate change than scientists had previously thought.

Climate change is not the only threat to the reef. Chemical runoff and other forms of pollution, coastal development, and overfishing all can harm coral and reduce biodiversity. So can large storms such as cyclones. Species that live in the reef can also cause damage. One major pest species is the crown-of-thorns starfish (Acanthaster planci). A starfish may sound harmless, but these venomous creatures voraciously eat coral. Every so often, their numbers spike. Some scientists think these starfish caused over half of the reef damage from 1985 to 2012.

Fortunately, many people are passionate about protecting the Great Barrier Reef. National Geographic Explorer Dr. Erika S. Woolsey conducts research on coral reefs. Dr. Woolsey is the CEO of the nonprofit organization, The Hydrous. (The adjective hydrous means "containing water.") Woolsey and her colleagues use virtual reality to create 3D versions of specimens that can be viewed in a laboratory. Scientists can see damage to the reef over time and take detailed measurements of every nook and cranny-without having to get wet! People around the world can access images of reef structures to study, thereby contributing to our knowledge of the reef.

So, is there still hope for the Great Barrier Reef? People are making a determined effort to help, and there are things that you can do right at home. Because climate change is an important cause of damage to the reef, efforts to fight it matter. In 2015, 195 countries signed the Paris Climate Agreement, committing to work to reduce carbon emissions and taking other steps to address climate change. You can contact your representatives in Congress to urge the United States to rejoin the Paris Climate Agreement.

You can also make changes in your own life to use less energy, produce less waste, choose environmentally friendly products, and be informed. Even your diet can make a difference: eating locally sourced foods that don't have to be shipped to your neighborhood reduces carbon emissions. You can even be a citizen scientist and collect data for scientists if you visit the reef.

In a 2017 presentation, Dr. Woolsey explained why it is so important to protect reefs: "Coral reefs . . . provide food and livelihoods for hundreds of millions of people around the world, they protect shorelines from erosion, and they contain compounds that are used to treat human ailments. . . . Even though they cover less than one percent of the sea floor, they harbor about a quarter of all marine biodiversity."

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The biodiversity of the Great Barrier Reef is threatened. Scientists are working to find ways to protect it.

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The Great Barrier Reef is the largest reef system in the world; so big it can be seen from space! It spreads across the floor of the Coal Sea for approximately 2600km (or 1616 miles). At some points along the Australian Coast the reef is 65km wide. The Great Barrier Reef lies close to the shore in some locations (the closest being 15 km away from shore), while other sections may not begin until as far as 150km away from shore!
Coral reefs are very complex structures that form over millions of years and grow very slowly. They are made up of layers of limestone (calcium carbonate). Despite their large appearance, coral reefs must start somewhere and this is how they grow:

A coral larvae (baby coral) swimming in the ocean will find a rock formation or similar hard surface under the water and attach itself to the structure.

Now the coral larvae is a coral polyp and will begin to excrete (poop!) a rock substance called calcium carbonate-more commonly known as limestone.

The more calcium carbonate that a coryl polyp releases, the more polyps can attach to the same location and eventually create the coral reef.

When the coral polyps die, they leave behind their hard exoskeleton, so new larvae can continue to attach to the coral structure. That way reefs can grow larger each year.

Due to the way that coral reefs form many people consider the Great Barrier Reef to be the largest structure built by living creatures. Although, this is not entirely true because the Great Barrier Reef is not one giant reef but a collection of thousands of individual reefs.
There are three different kinds of reefs:

Fringe reefs grow around islands and often grow in very shallow waters.

Barrier reefs also grow around islands but they do not start until further away from shore.

Atoll reefs look sort of like doughnuts. They form when fringe reefs form around a volcanic island that later submerges underneath the water; this leaves a lagoon in the center of the reef.

One of the most important plants in the Great Barrier Reef is a type of algae called crustose coralline algae. It forms a symbiotic relationship with coral. The algae helps the coral reef grow by releasing a sediment that acts as a sort of glue to hold together the layers of limestone.

Another very important species of plant to the Great Barrier Reef are mangrove plants. Although they do not live underneath the surface of the water completely, mangrove plants grow along the shores near the Great Barrier Reef and help stabalize the shoreline. There roots are also very important because they filter the waters around the coral reefs by removing the pollutants. There are around 80 different species of mangrove around the world, half of which are present along the coastline of Australia.

We have already spoken about the importance of coral to the Great Barrier Reef in our section about the reef's structure. Although coral looks more like a rock or plant than an animal and cannot travel freely in its habitat, it is actually an animal. Each individual organism (coral polyp) is really small-averaging at about 1.5 centimeters in diameter. There are also many different types of coral, ranging from soft coral to hard coral.

The Great Barrier Reef is home to over 1500 different kinds of fish! That is a lot of colorful creatures. To name only a few, there are clownfish (like Nemo), lionfish, parrot fish, and stonefish (rather large fish that camouflage themselves like rocks). Aside from classic fish the Great Barrier Reef is also home to plenty of shellfish like giant clams, peacock mantis shrimp, and boxer crabs.

Among the other marine animals you may find squid and octopus (like the blue-ringed octopus or cuttlefish), reptiles like sea turtles, or different species of whales and sharks.

When we hear "dangerous marine animal"; our brains usually think of sharks straight away, but what about some of the smaller animals? Animals like sea snakes, sea urchines, sting rays, jellyfish, and sea slugs can be very dangerous because they defend themselves with poisonous and painful stings.

In the Great Barrier Reef there is a particularily cute and goofy looking marine animal called the duogong. They are rather large animals that feed on underwater plants like algae, sea grasses, and seaweeds. Historically, sailors were known to mistake duogongs that they saw swimming underneath the water for mermaids!

If coral is without its algae counterpart for a long period of time it may cause individual coral polyps to die or even the entire reef to die. Unfortunately since coral reefs are home to so many marine animals and plants, the loss of habitat would affect many species.

Ocean Acidity - Limestone is the building block of coral reefs and a very basic substance, so when it dissolves slowly it lowers the acidity of the water around a coral reef. With the rising acidity of the world's oceans more limestone is dissolving to help keep the pH levels of the oceans balanced. This leads to the coral reefs being damaged and is one of the environmental threats to the health of the Great Barrier Reef.

Crown-of-Thorns Starfish - This particular species of starfish is an invasive species in the Great Barrier Reef and can cause a lot of damage because it feasts on coral polyps. Originally the starfish was not invasive, but in the 20th century the predators (eg. Pacific Triton) of the starfish were overhunted. Without any predators to keep the population of the crown-of-thorns starfish under control, the starfish became a threat to the coral reefs.

Rising Ocean Temperatures - Due to climate change the ocean temperatures are rising, especially surface water temperatures like those surrounding the Great Barrier Reef. Unfortunately even small shifts in temperature can cause coral bleaching. Rising ocean temperatures are considered one of the greatest threats to the Great Barrier Reef because of the extreme nature of climate change.

Tourism - After all we have learned it is hard to deny that the Great Barrier Reef is amazing, which is why so many people choose to explore the reef each year! The amount of tourists that visit each year is approximately 2 million. While this is a great way to boost economy and educate people on the natural wonders of the coral reef, it can be detrimental to the health of the reef if tourism is not carefully monitored. Controls must be in plae to prevent humans from walking on the coral, breaking off pieces of the reef as souvenirs, dropping anchors on the reefs and grounding boats on them, and dragging scuba gear across the coral.

References

Worksheets and Other Activities:

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The Great Barrier Reef is the largest reef system in the world; so big it can be seen from space! It spreads across the floor of the Coal Sea for approximately 2600km (or 1616 miles). At some points along the Australian Coast the reef is 65km wide.

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What does Australia Day represent?

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Aboriginal People Respond To “Australia Day”

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About prejudices regarding Aborigines

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A Look Inside the Heartbreaking Story of Australia's "Stolen Generation."

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My stolen childhood, and a life to rebuild | Sheila Humphries | TEDxPerth

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What Aboriginal knowledge can teach us about happiness

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What Aboriginal knowledge can teach us about happiness

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What Aboriginal knowledge can teach us about happiness | Sheree Cairney | TEDxStKilda

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LISTEN to at least the first five minutes and write down some of the persuasive techniques she is using.

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LISTEN to at least the first five minutes and write down some of the persuasive techniques she is using.

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Emma Watson at the HeForShe Campaign 2014 - Official UN Video

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what your speech is going to be about: environmental issues or Aboriginal people and injustice. Write about 4 lines to justify your choice.

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The Stolen Generation | Australians Together

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Between 1910 & 1970s, many First Nations children were forcibly removed from their families as a result of government policies. This is the Stolen Generation. Explore the devastating impact of the Stolen Generations on Indigenous peoples in Australia. Discover resources and information to gain a deeper understanding of the Stolen Generations with Australians Together.

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Why are many Indigenous Australians experiencing disadvantage and injustice?

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Why are many Indigenous Australians experiencing disadvantage and injustice?

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Historical injustice

Colonial attitudes and actions set in motion a series of events that continue to impact Indigenous Australians today, despite Indigenous people's efforts to resist and overcome the effects of colonisation. The social and economic impact of invasion, dispossession, marginalisation and control of Indigenous people has accumulated across generations, and has been amplified by policies and practices that have systematically disadvantaged Indigenous people. In many instances, this has resulted in the transmission of poverty, poor health and other forms of disadvantage from generation to generation.

Australia is the only Commonwealth nation where a treaty doesn't exist between the colonisers and Indigenous people. The absence of a treaty is at the very heart of the historical injustice in Australia. The continued lack of treaty with Indigenous Australians shows an ongoing denial of the prior occupation and dispossession of Indigenous people in Australia and a general disregard for a dispossessed people. It's a reminder that disrespectful colonial attitudes still haven't been addressed.

What's institutional injustice?

Institutional injustice is when government policies marginalise some people. This clearly occurred at the beginning of colonisation when Indigenous people were "legally" dispossessed and exploited. However, the formal structures and institutions of the time set up a legacy of discrimination against Indigenous people.

This is now played out in the current social statistics such as incarceration rates, NAPLAN results and employment rates. Some improvements have been made with the granting of certain rights in the 1960's and recognition of Native Title in 1993. However, these changes haven't been enough to reverse the negative impact past policies continue to have on Indigenous Australians.

Culture, identity and belonging

To understand the full extent of the challenges Indigenous people face today, it's vital to understand how the impact of colonisation on Indigenous culture has affected people. This is because Indigenous identity is inextricably linked to land and family. When Indigenous people were dispossessed of their land, they were dispossessed of a major part of their identity. The enormous impact of this was heightened when people were also separated from their families. This is a major underlying cause of many challenges Indigenous people face.

Social injustice

Indigenous Australians experience some of the worst discrimination in the country. This includes unfair and negative stereotypes such as being lazy, violent and alcoholic. Many Australians also presume that 'real' Indigenous people only live in the desert, when in fact a third of all Indigenous Australians live in major cities.

Instead of simply accepting what the media and society say, it's important to listen to Indigenous people about their identity as Indigenous Australians and what this means for them personally. Whilst being Indigenous means different things to different people, for many Indigenous people, it's about being connected to Country, community and culture. It has nothing to do with many of the myths and stereotypes about Indigenous Australians which perpetuate discrimination.

A shared wound, a shared solution

The colonial system not only affected Indigenous Australians, it also brutalised many of the early British convicts, who were removed from their land and families and subject to control, severe punishment, forced labour, abuse and harsh living conditions. However, since that time, many non-Indigenous Australians have accumulated significant socio-economic advantages as a result of colonisation, and these benefits have come at enormous cost to Indigenous people.

The injustice experienced by many Indigenous people is at odds with our national values, the things that make us proud to be Australian. It affects everyone living on this land. Because of intolerance, mainstream Australian culture has missed many opportunities to inherit aspects of rich Indigenous cultures and deep knowledge of the land we all live on.

Despite our disturbing history, there's significant good will in Australia. While considerable effort has been made to set things right, many attempts to address injustice and disadvantage are simply not working. That's why Australians Together focuses on respectful relationships and connections between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people.

We're passionate about addressing the wound in our nation by changing the way we understand one another. We know that coming together respectfully has the power to change everything, to address the wound in our nation and create a better shared future for Australians.

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Colonial attitudes and actions set in motion a series of events that continue to impact Indigenous Australians today, despite Indigenous people's efforts to resist and overcome the effects of colonisation. The social and economic impact of invasion, dispossession, marginalisation and control of Indigenous people has accumulated across generations, and has been amplified by policies and practices that have systematically disadvantaged Indigenous people.