How Australia became obsessed with land acknowledgments

If you attend almost any public meeting or event in Australia these days, you’ll be greeted – some would say confronted – by a mandatory statement before it starts. Even the nation’s parliament now starts the day with this statement, ahead of the centuries-old ritual of reciting the Lord’s Prayer.

Known as the Acknowledgment of Country, it is a now all-pervasive ritual of Australian life. Generally, it uses these words:

A whole industry has sprung up around Aborigines being hired by event organisers to stage Welcomes to Country

We meet here today on the lands of the traditional owners, the (Aboriginal tribe) people, and acknowledge their elders past and present.

The more zealous add ‘and emerging’ to the end, addressing Aboriginal children and the unborn as well as genuine elders. ‘Country’ refers not to the Australian nation or a state, but to the ancestral tribal lands of the locality.

It’s not just parliament and major public and sporting events rendering homage to local Aboriginal elders.