The call for a thorough-going process of truth-telling about – and not merely reconciliation with – Australia’s past is growing louder and more urgent. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities across the country demand the right to tell their own histories. Beyond Reconciliation: Truth-Telling for Indigenous Wellbeing and the Health of the Nation aims to ensure Indigenous communities can tell the true stories they want to tell in the ways they want to tell them, contributing to greater understanding, acknowledgement and respect for their historical truths, epic ancestral narratives, cultural, linguistic and environmental knowledge, and temporal perspectives. Acknowledging the truths about our past is essential to all our futures.

Beyond Reconciliation is part of the ANU Indigenous Health and Wellbeing Grand Challenge that will see Indigenous-led research conducted across Australia from 2021–2025. The ANU Grand Challenges Scheme invests in transformative research to impact on the world’s most intractable problems. It is designed to build large scale and long-term interdisciplinary programs of research and provide strategic investment in high-risk activities recognised for bold leaps, rather than incremental advances.

Beyond Reconciliation is cross-disciplinary and includes institutional partners and leading Indigenous and non-Indigenous scholars. The team aims to be Indigenous-led, inclusive, critical and collaborative. The project is motivated by the idea that lasting solutions to Indigenous health will not be found in medical breakthroughs or individualised interventions alone. As humanities, arts and social science scholars, the Beyond Reconciliation team are committed to pursuing transformative social change through critical, creative and interpretative approaches. What constitutes wellbeing varies for different people. We recognise that history can hurt as well as heal, and are cautious of assuming a therapeutic approach.

Beyond Reconciliation is based in the Australian Centre for Indigenous History (ACIH), within the ANU School of History. The project is led by ACIH Co-Directors: Lawrence Bamblett and Maria Nugent.