The 2017 event will be marked when they raise the Australian and Aboriginal flags at the Yass Soldiers Memorial Hall on Friday, May 26 at 10am.

Each year from May 27 to June 3, National Reconciliation Week serves to build on the respectful relationships shared by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and other Australians.

The 2017 occasion marks significant milestones.

May 27 marks the 50^th anniversary of Australia’s most successful referendum and a defining event in our nation’s history.

The 1967 referendum had more than 90 per cent of Australians vote to give the Commonwealth the power to make laws for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and recognise them in the national census.

June 3 commemorates the High Court of Australia’s landmark Mabo decision in 1992, which legally recognised that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples have a special relationship to the land.

That relationship existed prior to colonalisation and still exists today.

This recognition paved the way for land rights, or Native Title.

“Yass Valley has an extensive Aboriginal history and Reconciliation Week enables us to publicly acknowledge the connection that the Ngunnawal people have to our land,” Mayor Rowena Abbey said.

Cr Abbey also said the positive relationship between Yass Valley and the Ngunnawal people have developed over many years.

All members of the community are warmly invited to attend the flag raising and the morning tea that will be provided afterwards.

The Yass Valley event is one of many across the nation to mark National Reconciliation week and commemorate these significant milestones.

The 2017 theme is ‘Let’s take the next steps’. All Australians, from businesses to community groups to individuals, are asked to be a part of the next major steps in our nation’s reconciliation journey.

For more information about Reconciliation Week: