Welcome to Country

In Aboriginal culture prior to European settlement, each clan's survival was dependent upon its understanding of food, water and other resources within its own country – a discrete area of land to which it had more or less exclusive claim.{{cite book|title=The original Australians: story of the Aboriginal people|url=https://archive.org/details/originalaustrali00floo|url-access=limited|author=Flood, Josephine|date=2006|publisher=Allen and Unwin|page=[https://archive.org/details/originalaustrali00floo/page/n208 194]|isbn=9781741148725}} When other Aboriginal people travelled onto another tribe's land, a ceremony was performed to determine whether the travellers were peaceful and then to show that the travellers were welcome. A smoking ceremony may have been used to transfer the scent of the home tribe onto the visitors in order to indicate to others the travellers had been welcomed and to avoid animals fleeing at a strange scent.{{Cite web |last=Chrysanthos |first=Natassia |date=2025-02-15 |title=Feeling unwelcome: Why debate is mounting over an ancient ceremony |url=https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/federal/feeling-unwelcome-why-debate-is-mounting-over-an-ancient-ceremony-20250204-p5l9kn.html |access-date= |website=Brisbane Times |language=en-AU}}

Connection to country (often spelt with a capital C) means more than just the land or waters in Aboriginal culture. There is no equivalent in the English language to describe that which permeates all aspects of existence: culture, spirituality, language, law, family and identity. Aboriginal people did not own land as property in the past, but their relationship to an area of land provides a deep sense of "identity, purpose and belonging" and is a relationship of reciprocity and respect.{{cite web | title=The importance of land | website=Australians Together | date=21 January 2020 | url=https://australianstogether.org.au/discover/indigenous-culture/the-importance-of-land/ | access-date=1 August 2020 | archive-date=3 August 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200803201328/https://australianstogether.org.au/discover/indigenous-culture/the-importance-of-land/ | url-status=live }} "Country includes all living things ... It embraces the seasons, stories and creation spirits."{{cite web | title=Our Country | website=Aboriginal Australian Art & Culture | url=https://www.aboriginalart.com.au/culture/tourism2.html | access-date=1 August 2020 | archive-date=12 August 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200812150439/https://www.aboriginalart.com.au/culture/tourism2.html | url-status=live }} The history of a people with an area ("country") can go back for thousands of years and the relationship with the land is nurtured and sustained by cultural knowledge and by the environment. Disconnection from the land can impact health and wellbeing.{{cite web | title=Connection to Country | website=Common Ground | date=22 July 2020 | url=https://www.commonground.org.au/learn/connection-to-country | access-date=1 August 2020 | archive-date=9 July 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210709190709/https://www.commonground.org.au/learn/connection-to-country | url-status=dead }} This connection is also reflected in such phrases as "caring for country" or "living on country" and related to the importance of land rights and native title.{{cite book|url=https://aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/products/report_research_outputs/ganesharajah-2009-indigenous-health-wellbeing-importance-country.pdf|title=Indigenous Health and Wellbeing: The Importance of Country|first=Cynthia|last=Ganesharajah|series=Native Title Research Report Report No. 1/2009|date=April 2009|isbn=9780855756697|publisher=AIATSIS. Native Title Research Unit|access-date=1 August 2020|archive-date=19 August 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200819084204/https://aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/products/report_research_outputs/ganesharajah-2009-indigenous-health-wellbeing-importance-country.pdf|url-status=live}} [https://aiatsis.gov.au/publications/products/indigenous-health-and-wellbeing-importance-country AIATSIS summary] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200504162522/https://aiatsis.gov.au/publications/products/indigenous-health-and-wellbeing-importance-country |date=4 May 2020 }} Indigenous groups have also had some of their legal rights that arise under their traditional laws and customs recognised in the form of native title, since the Mabo judgment and the passage of the Native Title Act 1993.

Welcomes to Country are a form of Aboriginal ceremony used to welcome other peoples from other areas and as a cultural exchange. It is seen as a way of making newcomers feel comfortable and connected, and may be the basis for forging important future relationships.{{cite web | last=Bolger | first=Rosemary | title=How Welcome to Country rituals are changing to make all Australians take note | website=SBS News | date=12 November 2020 | url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/how-welcome-to-country-rituals-are-changing-to-make-all-australians-take-note | access-date=13 December 2020 | archive-date=13 December 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201213104546/https://www.sbs.com.au/news/how-welcome-to-country-rituals-are-changing-to-make-all-australians-take-note | url-status=live }}

The 1973 Aquarius Festival held in Nimbin, New South Wales, by the Australian Union of Students (AUS) has been documented as Australia's first publicly observed Welcome to Country, although it was not called this at the time. Organisers of the alternative lifestyle festival, considered Australia's "Woodstock", were challenged by Indigenous activist Gary Foley to seek permission from traditional owners to hold the festival on their land. San people from the Kalahari Desert in Southern Africa, including artist Bauxhau Stone, were sent out by AUS representatives to invite Aboriginal people to the festival. Several hundred travelled to the festival, supported by grants by the Whitlam government for Indigenous participation. An estimated 200 to 800 Indigenous Australians attended the two-week festival, marking a significant kindling of relationships with Australia's counterculture. A ceremony was conducted by Uncle Lyle Roberts and song man Uncle Dickee Donnelly, the last known initiated men of the area.{{Cite journal|last=Scantlebury|first=Alethea|date=2014-10-13|title=Black Fellas and Rainbow Fellas: Convergence of Cultures at the Aquarius Arts and Lifestyle Festival, Nimbin, 1973|url=http://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/923|journal=M/C Journal|volume=17|issue=6|doi=10.5204/mcj.923|access-date=3 June 2020|doi-access=free|archive-date=20 April 2020|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200420045658/http://journal.media-culture.org.au/index.php/mcjournal/article/view/923|url-status=live}}{{Cite web |last=Gilmore |first=Heath |date=2023-05-12 |title=How a 50-year-old hippie festival sparked the Welcome to Country phenomenon |url=https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/national/how-a-50-year-old-hippy-festival-sparked-the-welcome-to-country-phenomenon-20230508-p5d6q4.html |access-date= |website=Brisbane Times |language=en}}

The second recorded Welcome to Country occurred in 1976, when entertainers Ernie Dingo and Richard Walley developed a ceremony to welcome a group of Māori artists who were participating in the Perth International Arts Festival. The welcome, extended on behalf of the Noongar people, was intended to mirror the visitors' own traditions, while incorporating elements of Aboriginal culture.{{cite news|title=Perth International Arts Festival gives welcome to west country|url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/stage/perth-international-arts-festival-gives-welcome-to-west-country/news-story/18eda9115f366089fb6cc86e366ef36c|work=The Australian|access-date=2 August 2018|author=Westwood, Matthew|date=15 February 2016|archive-date=6 April 2023|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230406230857/https://www.theaustralian.com.au/arts/stage/perth-international-arts-festival-gives-welcome-to-west-country/news-story/18eda9115f366089fb6cc86e366ef36c|url-status=live}} Walley recalled that Māori performers were uncomfortable performing their cultural act without having been acknowledged or welcomed by the people of the land.{{cite magazine |last=Penberthy |first=Natsumi |date=3 March 2016 |title=40 years of the 'modern' Welcome to Country |url=http://www.australiangeographic.com.au/topics/history-culture/2016/03/richard-walleys-welcome-to-country |access-date=2 August 2018 |magazine=Australian Geographic}}

{{Blockquote

|text=I asked the good spirits of my ancestors and the good spirits of the ancestors of the land to watch over us and keep our guests safe while they’re in our Country. And then I talked to the spirits of their ancestors, saying that we’re looking after them here and we will send them back to their Country.

|author=Richard Walley

}}

Arts administrator Rhoda Roberts coined the term Welcome to Country in the 1980s and helped develop both welcomes and acknowledgements to country by beginning each show she was involved with a welcome.{{cite web|title=Welcome to country ceremony 'lacks heart'|url=http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/welcome-to-country-ceremony-lacks-heart-20121014-27kv2.html|work=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=16 March 2013|last=Taylor|first=Andrew|date=15 October 2012|archive-date=18 December 2012|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121218074758/http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/welcome-to-country-ceremony-lacks-heart-20121014-27kv2.html|url-status=live}}

Acknowledgements of country are a more recent development, associated with the Keating government of the 1990s, the reconciliation movement and the creation of the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation (CAR) with Yawuru man Pat Dodson as chair. After the Mabo case, in which the historical fiction of terra nullius was overturned and native title was recognised in Australia. According to Yorta Yorta and Dja Dja Wurrung man Tiriki Onus, head of the Wilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development at the University of Melbourne, it was after Mabo that Acknowledgement of Country grew among "grassroots communities concerned with issues of reconciliation".{{citation needed|date=July 2023}} Wiradjuri woman Linda Burney, a member of CAR in those days, has said that there was no formal strategy to bring the Acknowledgement of Country into Australian life, but it just grew organically and became accepted as part of many types of gatherings. It is seen as a good way to engage people with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and culture and the wider Australian community sees the relationship feels that its important to have a good relationship with Australia's Indigenous peoples.{{cite web | last=Watson | first=Joey | title=How the Acknowledgment of Country became a core national custom – and why it matters | website=ABC News | publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation | date=18 March 2020 | url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-18/history-indigenous-acknowledgment-of-country-national-custom/12029886 | access-date=4 January 2021 | archive-date=3 January 2021 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210103120001/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-18/history-indigenous-acknowledgment-of-country-national-custom/12029886 | url-status=live }}

Welcomes and acknowledgements have since been incorporated into openings of meetings and other events across Australia, by all levels of government, universities, community groups, arts other organisations.{{cite web | title=Welcome to Country | website=Attorney-General's Department | publisher=Government of South Australia | date=28 March 2019 | url=https://www.agd.sa.gov.au/aboriginal-affairs-and-reconciliation/statement-of-acknowledgement-welcome-to-country | access-date=19 April 2023 | archive-date=19 April 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230419024618/https://www.agd.sa.gov.au/aboriginal-affairs-and-reconciliation/statement-of-acknowledgement-welcome-to-country | url-status=live }}{{cite web | title=Welcome to Country | website=Aboriginal Victoria | publisher=Victoria Government | date=27 October 2019 | url=http://www.aboriginalvictoria.vic.gov.au/welcome-country | access-date=1 August 2020 | archive-date=14 March 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200314150123/https://www.aboriginalvictoria.vic.gov.au/welcome-country | url-status=live }} 50px Text was copied from this source, which is available under a [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016190421/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |date=16 October 2020 }} licence. (Shown [https://www.aboriginalvictoria.vic.gov.au/copyright here] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125045958/https://www.aboriginalvictoria.vic.gov.au/copyright |date=25 January 2021 }}.){{cite web | title=Welcome and Acknowledgement of Country | website=City of Adelaide | date=29 April 2020 | url=https://www.cityofadelaide.com.au/community/reconciliation/welcome-and-acknowledgement-of-country/ | access-date=1 August 2020 | archive-date=1 August 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200801040702/https://www.cityofadelaide.com.au/community/reconciliation/welcome-and-acknowledgement-of-country/ | url-status=live }}{{cite web | title=Welcome to Country | website=City of Sydney | url=https://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/council/about-council/welcome-to-country | access-date=1 August 2020 | archive-date=5 August 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200805084641/https://www.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/council/about-council/welcome-to-country | url-status=live }}

Since 2008, when it was made on the day before Prime Minister Kevin Rudd made the Apology to Australia's Indigenous peoples, a Welcome to Country has been incorporated into the ceremonial opening of the Parliament of Australia, an event which occurs after each federal election. The welcome includes a speech as well as traditional music and dance. Given that parliament sits in Canberra, traditionally part of Ngambri and Ngunnawal country, a Ngambri/Ngunnawal elder officiates.{{cite news |date=12 February 2008 |title=A historic first: traditional Indigenous welcome begins Parliament |url=http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2008/02/12/2160380.htm |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180821071241/http://www.abc.net.au/local/stories/2008/02/12/2160380.htm |archive-date=21 August 2018 |access-date=2 August 2018 |publisher=Australian Broadcasting Corporation}}{{Cite web |last= |first= |date=25 April 2022 |title=The Opening of Parliament |url=https://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/House_of_Representatives/About_the_House_News/News/The_Opening_of_Parliament |access-date= |website=Parliament of Australia |language=en-AU}}

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were largely excluded from Australian history books and from the democratic process in Australia for the first two centuries of white settlement, since the colonisation of Australia from 1788. Including recognition of Indigenous peoples in events, meetings and national symbols is seen as one part of repairing the damage caused by exclusion from settler society. Incorporating Welcome or Acknowledgement protocols into official meetings and events "recognises Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the First Australians and Traditional Custodians of land" and shows respect for traditional owners.{{cite web | title=Welcome and Acknowledgement of Country | website=Reconciliation SA | url=https://reconciliationsa.org.au/welcome-and-acknowledgement-of-country/ | access-date=1 August 2020 | archive-date=22 August 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20200822212458/https://reconciliationsa.org.au/welcome-and-acknowledgement-of-country/ | url-status=live }}

Both Welcomes and Acknowledgements recognise the continuing connection of Aboriginal traditional owners to their country, and offer appropriate respect as part of the process of reconciliation and healing.{{cite web | title=Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners | website=Aboriginal Victoria | date=10 October 2019 | url=http://www.aboriginalvictoria.vic.gov.au/welcome-country-and-acknowledgement-traditional-owners | access-date=1 August 2020 | archive-date=1 November 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201101024640/https://www.aboriginalvictoria.vic.gov.au/welcome-country-and-acknowledgement-traditional-owners | url-status=live }} 50px Text was copied from this source, which is available under a [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016190421/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |date=16 October 2020 }} licence. (Shown [https://www.aboriginalvictoria.vic.gov.au/copyright here] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125045958/https://www.aboriginalvictoria.vic.gov.au/copyright |date=25 January 2021 }}.) As they have become more commonplace and people have become used to hearing them, efforts are being made by many to keep the words alive and make them meaningful to become core Australian customs.{{Cite web |last=Watson |first=Joey |date=18 March 2020 |title=How the Acknowledgment of Country became a core national custom — and why it matters |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-18/history-indigenous-acknowledgment-of-country-national-custom/12029886 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408234114/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-18/history-indigenous-acknowledgment-of-country-national-custom/12029886 |archive-date=8 April 2023 |access-date=25 June 2023 |website=ABC News Australia}} They may be used to inform and educate as well as being entertaining at the same time.

The Victorian Government advised that Welcomes are advised for major public events, forums and functions in locations where traditional owners have been formally recognised. A Welcome to Country can only be undertaken by an elder, formally recognised traditional owner or custodian to welcome visitors to their traditional country. The format varies; it may include a welcome speech, a traditional dance, and/or smoking ceremony.

Sydney's fireworks show has incorporated a Welcome to Country since the 2015–16 event to acknowledge the territory of Port Jackson as territory of the Cadigal, Gamaragal, and Wangal bands of the Eora people. This ceremony takes the form of a display that contains imagery, music, and pryotechnic effects inspired by Aboriginal culture.{{Cite web |title=Happy New Year! First Nations honoured with Welcome to Country |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/nitv-news/article/2015/12/31/happy-new-year-first-nations-honoured-welcome-country |access-date=2019-12-30 |website=NITV |language=en}}{{Cite web |last=Dumas |first=Daisy |date=2015-12-31 |title=Sydney New Year's Eve 2015: Welcome to Country ceremony to be seen around the world |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/sydney-new-years-eve-2015-welcome-to-country-ceremony-to-be-seen-around-the-world-20151231-glxe01.html |access-date=2019-12-30 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}{{Cite web |date=2016-01-01 |title=Partygoers praised after peaceful NYE celebrations |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2016-01-01/new-year-day-australians-gather-to-ring-in-2016/7062754 |access-date=2019-12-30 |website=ABC News |language=en-AU}} Since New Year's Eve 2022, the concept has been expanded to encompass the entirety of the 9 p.m. "Family Fireworks" show, whose soundtrack is curated by an Aboriginal artist or musicians.{{Cite web |last=Gorrey |first=Megan |date=2021-12-09 |title=Harbour city to shine beneath New Year's Eve fireworks |url=https://www.smh.com.au/national/nsw/harbour-city-to-shine-beneath-new-year-s-eve-fireworks-20211209-p59g6s.html |access-date=2021-12-10 |website=The Sydney Morning Herald |language=en}}{{Cite news |date=2022-12-30 |title=Here is where you attend New Year's Eve celebrations in Australia's capital cities |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2022-12-30/new-years-eve-fireworks-australia/101796104 |access-date=2023-09-14 |work=ABC News |language=en-AU}}{{Cite web |date=2022-11-30 |title=The stage is set for the best New Year's Eve ever |url=https://news.cityofsydney.nsw.gov.au/media-releases/the-stage-is-set-for-the-best-new-years-eve-ever |access-date=2022-12-09 |website=City of Sydney |language=en}}

{{see also|Land acknowledgement}}

If a local elder is not available, or if the traditional owners have not been formally recognised for the area, an Acknowledgement of Country, also known as Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners, performed by the host of the event, is appropriate. If there is no formal recognition of traditional ownership, it is advised to limit recognition to an Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners generally, without making a reference to the name of any specific traditional owners.

The Victorian Government's wording for recognised traditional owners:{{cite web | title=Acknowledgement of Traditional Owners | website=Aboriginal Victoria | date=10 October 2019 | url=https://www.aboriginalvictoria.vic.gov.au/acknowledgement-traditional-owners | access-date=1 August 2020 | archive-date=12 November 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201112012317/https://www.aboriginalvictoria.vic.gov.au/acknowledgement-traditional-owners | url-status=live }} 50px Text was copied from this source, which is available under a [https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0 Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0)] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201016190421/https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ |date=16 October 2020 }} licence. (Shown [https://www.aboriginalvictoria.vic.gov.au/copyright here] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210125045958/https://www.aboriginalvictoria.vic.gov.au/copyright |date=25 January 2021 }}.){{cquote|

Our meeting/conference/workshop is being held on the lands of the [Traditional Owner's name] people and I wish to acknowledge them as Traditional Owners.

I would also like to pay my respects to their Elders, past and present, and Aboriginal Elders of other communities who may be here today.}}

And for unknown traditional owners:{{cquote|I acknowledge the Traditional Owners of the land [or country] on which we are meeting. I pay my respects to their Elders, past and present, and the Elders from other communities who may be here today.}}

The City of Adelaide's wording is (specifically tailored for the local Kaurna people):{{cquote|

City of Adelaide acknowledges that we are meeting on the traditional country of the Kaurna people of the Adelaide Plains and pays respect to Elders past and present.

We recognise and respect their cultural heritage, beliefs and relationship with the land. We acknowledge that they are of continuing importance to the Kaurna people living today.

And we also extend that respect to other Aboriginal Language Groups and other First Nations.}}

The words "always was, always will be Aboriginal land" are sometimes included in Acknowledgement of Country, as acknowledgement that the land of Australia was never ceded.{{cite web | title=Acknowledgement of Country | website=Australian Centre for International Justice | date=24 January 2023 | url=https://acij.org.au/about-us/acknowledgement-of-country/ | access-date=11 February 2023 | archive-date=11 February 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230211070847/https://acij.org.au/about-us/acknowledgement-of-country/ | url-status=live }}{{cite web | title=Acknowledgement of Country | website=Common Ground | date=22 December 2022 | url=https://www.commonground.org.au/articles/acknowledgement-of-country | access-date=11 February 2023 | archive-date=11 February 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230211072116/https://www.commonground.org.au/articles/acknowledgement-of-country | url-status=live }}

Similar acknowledgements, e.g. land acknowledgements, have become common at public events in Canada and have begun to be adopted by Native American groups in the United States.{{cite news|last1=Shazad|first1=Ramna|title=What is the significance of acknowledging the Indigenous land we stand on?|url=http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/territorial-acknowledgements-indigenous-1.4175136|access-date=14 January 2018|work=CBC News|publisher=Canadian Broadcasting Corporation|date=15 July 2017|archive-date=17 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180117031623/http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/toronto/territorial-acknowledgements-indigenous-1.4175136|url-status=live}}{{cite magazine|last1=Marche|first1=Stephen|title=Canada's Impossible Acknowledgement|url=https://www.newyorker.com/culture/culture-desk/canadas-impossible-acknowledgment|access-date=14 January 2018|magazine=The New Yorker|date=7 September 2017}}{{cite news|last1=Evans|first1=Hannah Graf|title=We Begin with Acknowledgement|url=https://www.fcnl.org/updates/we-begin-with-acknowledgement-197|access-date=14 January 2018|publisher=Friends Committee on National Legislation|date=15 October 2015|archive-date=15 January 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180115184627/https://www.fcnl.org/updates/we-begin-with-acknowledgement-197|url-status=live}}

The Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country have become core Australian customs.{{Cite web |last=Watson |first=Joey |date=18 March 2020 |title=How the Acknowledgment of Country became a core national custom — and why it matters |url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-18/history-indigenous-acknowledgment-of-country-national-custom/12029886 |url-status=live |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230408234114/https://www.abc.net.au/news/2020-03-18/history-indigenous-acknowledgment-of-country-national-custom/12029886 |archive-date=8 April 2023 |access-date=25 June 2023 |website=ABC News Australia}} However, they have attracted criticism from conservative politicians, historians, and commentators, some of whom suggest that such ceremonies are a form of tokenism and do not reflect traditional Aboriginal culture. Critics have included historian Keith Windschuttle{{cite news |last=Windschuttle |first=Keith |author-link=Keith Windschuttle |date=1 December 2012 |title=Welcomes to country are being foisted on us in error |newspaper=The Australian |url=https://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/opinion/welcomes-to-country-are-being-foisted-on-us-in-error/news-story/82b9749840792d606ba703a4115c9772 |url-access=subscription |access-date=26 October 2018}} and politicians Tony Abbott (as Opposition Leader, 2012);{{Cite news|url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/welcome-to-country-ceremony-lacks-heart-20121014-27kv2.html|title=Welcome to country ceremony 'lacks heart'|last=Taylor|first=Andrew|date=2012-10-14|newspaper=The Sydney Morning Herald|access-date=2019-12-31|archive-date=31 December 2019|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20191231010512/https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/welcome-to-country-ceremony-lacks-heart-20121014-27kv2.html|url-status=live}} Peter Dutton (as Opposition Leader, 2023);{{Cite news|url=https://www.skynews.com.au/australia-news/politics/peter-dutton-reveals-his-stance-on-welcome-to-country-after-tony-abbott-said-he-was-getting-a-little-bit-sick-of-the-ceremonies/news-story/7aa06d87e8e2b01dde18240dffb534be|title=Peter Dutton reveals his stance on Welcome to Country after Tony Abbott said he was 'getting a little bit sick' of the ceremonies|last=Hevesi|first=Bryant|date=11 August 2023|newspaper=Sky News Australia|access-date=2024-08-25}} Jacinta Price;{{Cite web |date=2022-07-29 |title=Why senator sympathises with Pauline |url=https://thewest.com.au/business/jacinta-price-says-she-understands-why-pauline-hanson-walked-out-during-acknowledgment-of-country-c-7683638 |access-date=2022-08-29 |website=The West Australian |language=en |archive-date=29 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829152330/https://thewest.com.au/business/jacinta-price-says-she-understands-why-pauline-hanson-walked-out-during-acknowledgment-of-country-c-7683638 |url-status=live }}{{Cite web |title=My Maiden Speech as Your Senator for The Northern Territory |url=https://www.jacintaprice.com/maiden-speech |access-date=2022-08-29 |website=Jacinta Price |language=en |archive-date=29 August 2022 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20220829152330/https://www.jacintaprice.com/maiden-speech |url-status=live }} and Pauline Hanson.{{cite web | title='Ignorant and racist': Pauline Hanson slammed for walking out on Acknowledgement of Country | website=NITV | date=27 July 2022 | url=https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/ignorant-and-racist-pauline-hanson-slammed-for-walking-out-on-acknowledgement-of-country/9zd96glci | access-date=25 June 2023 | archive-date=25 June 2023 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230625060253/https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/ignorant-and-racist-pauline-hanson-slammed-for-walking-out-on-acknowledgement-of-country/9zd96glci | url-status=live }} Since the defeat of the 2023 Australian Indigenous Voice referendum, conservative politicians and commentators have used Welcome to Country as a focal point to oppose or scale down Indigenous Reconciliation, as a part of ongoing "culture wars", arguing the use is "divisive" and a "waste of taxpayers money".{{cite web | title=Feeling unwelcome: Why debate is mounting over an ancient ceremony | website=The Sydney Morning Herald | date=15 February 2025| first=Natassia |last= Chrysanthos| url=https://www.smh.com.au/politics/federal/feeling-unwelcome-why-debate-is-mounting-over-an-ancient-ceremony-20250204-p5l9kn.html | access-date=15 February 2025 }}

In 2023, the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church of Australia ruled that acknowledgements of country were inappropriate at church services because their wording "almost invariably carries overtones of an Indigenous spirituality inconsistent with Christian belief" and that "final ownership of land" is vested in the Creator.{{cite news |last1=Noack |first1=Georgina |title=Presbyterian Church of Australia rules Indigenous Acknowledgement of Country 'not appropriate' for service |url=https://www.news.com.au/national/politics/presbyterian-church-of-australia-rules-indigenous-acknowledgement-of-country-not-appropriate-for-service/news-story/6d80e4cc84e4591b914bb9e39cbe1948 |access-date=21 September 2023 |work=news.com.au |date=16 September 2023}} However other churches, such as the Uniting Church, practise an Acknowledgement to Country, "seek[ing] to be a healing community, characterised by the love of Christ".{{cite web | title=Acknowledgement of Country in the UCA – Uniting Church Australia | website=Uniting Church Australia | url=https://uniting.church/acknowledgement-of-country-in-the-uca/ | access-date=5 April 2025}} Many other churches also practise the custom.{{cite web | title=Acknowledgement of Country | website=Common Grace | date=1 August 2018 | url=https://www.commongrace.org.au/acknowledgement_of_country | access-date=5 April 2025}}{{cite web | title=Welcome to Country or Acknowledgement of Country | website=Seventh-day Adventist | date=6 October 2022 | url=https://sydney.adventist.org.au/resources/welcome-to-country-or-acknowledgement-of-country/ | access-date=5 April 2025}}

On 19 February 2025, while speaking at a commemoration of the 1942 Bombing of Darwin, Chief Minister of the Northern Territory Lia Finocchiaro did not acknowledge traditional owners. She later called acknowledgements of Aboriginal country "divisive".{{cite news|url=https://www.news.com.au/national/northern-territory/nt-chief-minister-backs-exclusion-of-acknowledgement-of-traditional-owners-from-major-ceremony-speech/news-story/a829236387cfb8d127e31f640726fbc1|title=Minister refuses to acknowledge traditional owners: ‘Absolutely no need’|author1=Zoe De Koning|publisher=News.com|date=25 February 2025|access-date=25 February 2025}}{{cite news|url=https://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-02-25/nt-chief-minister-says-acknowledgements-of-country-divisive/104978632|title=NT chief minister calls Aboriginal country acknowledgements 'divisive' after omission in speech|author1=Matt Garrick|publisher=ABC News|date=25 February 2025|access-date=25 February 2025}}

The Australian band Midnight Oil released a single in August 2020 entitled "Gadigal Land", whose lyrics include a play on the traditional Welcome to Country as a critical review of Aboriginal history. Starting with the line "Welcome to Gadigal land", it goes on to mention other things brought by foreign settlers, like poison and grog (alcohol), and smallpox (whose origins in Australia remain a topic of debate). The song urges reconciliation.{{cite web | last=Hocking | first=Rachael | title=The story behind the Gadigal poetry on Midnight Oil's latest track | website=NITV | date=7 August 2020 | url=https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2020/08/07/story-behind-gadigal-poetry-midnight-oils-latest-track | access-date=10 October 2020 | archive-date=19 October 2020 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20201019220921/https://www.sbs.com.au/nitv/article/2020/08/07/story-behind-gadigal-poetry-midnight-oils-latest-track | url-status=live }}

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Category:Indigenous Australian politics

Category:Indigenous Australian culture

Category:Ceremonies in Australia