AWelcome to Country is aritual or formalceremony performed as aland acknowledgement at many events held in Australia. It is an event intended to highlight the cultural significance of the surrounding area to the descendants of a particularAboriginal orTorres Strait Islander clan or language group who are recognised as the original human inhabitants of the area. Welcomes are performed by the recognised traditional owner of the land in question. Welcomes to Country are sometimes accompanied by traditionalsmoking ceremonies, music or dance. Where a recognised owner is not available to perform the welcome, or the recognisedtraditional owners are not known, anAcknowledgement of Country may be offered instead.

The term "country" has a particular meaning and significance to many Aboriginal peoples, encompassing an interdependent relationship between an individual or a people and their ancestral or traditional lands and seas. The connection to land involvesculture,spirituality,language,law/lore,kin relationships andidentity. The Welcome to Country has been a long tradition among Aboriginal Australian groups to welcome peoples from other areas. Today it serves also as a symbol which signifies the recognition ofAboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' presence in Australia before colonisation and an end to their past exclusion from Australian history and society, aiding toreconciliation with Australia's First Nations.

Since 2008, a Welcome to Country has been incorporated into the ceremonial opening of theParliament of Australia, occurring after each federal election.

In Aboriginal culture prior to European settlement, eachclan'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.^[1] 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.^[2]

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.^[3] "Country includes all living things ... It embraces theseasons, stories andcreation spirits."^[4] 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.^[5] This connection is also reflected in such phrases as "caring for country" or "living on country" and related to the importance ofland rights andnative title.^[6] Indigenous groups have also had some of their legal rights that arise under their traditional laws and customs recognised in the form ofnative title, since theMabo judgment and the passage of theNative Title Act 1993.

Welcomes to Country are a form ofAboriginal ceremony used to welcome other peoples from other areas^[7] 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.^[8]

The 1973Aquarius Festival held inNimbin, New South Wales, by theAustralian 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 thealternative lifestyle festival, considered Australia's "Woodstock", were challenged by Indigenous activistGary Foley to seek permission from traditional owners to hold the festival on their land.San people from theKalahari 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 theWhitlam government for Indigenous participation. An estimated 200 to 800Indigenous Australians attended the two-week festival, marking a significant kindling of relationships with Australia'scounterculture. A ceremony was conducted by Uncle Lyle Roberts and song man Uncle Dickee Donnelly, the last knowninitiated men of the area.^[9][10]

The second recorded Welcome to Country occurred in 1976, when entertainersErnie Dingo andRichard Walley developed a ceremony to welcome a group ofMāori artists who were participating in thePerth International Arts Festival. The welcome, extended on behalf of theNoongar people, was intended to mirror the visitors' own traditions, while incorporating elements of Aboriginal culture.^[11] Walley recalled that Māori performers were uncomfortable performing their cultural act without having been acknowledged or welcomed by the people of the land.^[12]

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.

Arts administratorRhoda Roberts coined the termWelcome to Country in the 1980s and helped develop both welcomes and acknowledgements to country by beginning each show she was involved with a welcome.^[13][2]

Acknowledgements of country are a more recent development, associated with theKeating government of the 1990s, thereconciliation movement and the creation of theCouncil for Aboriginal Reconciliation (CAR) withYawuru manPat Dodson as chair. After theMabo case, in which the historical fiction ofterra nullius was overturned andnative title was recognised in Australia. According toYorta Yorta andDja Dja Wurrung man Tiriki Onus, head of theWilin Centre for Indigenous Arts and Cultural Development at theUniversity of Melbourne, it was afterMabo that Acknowledgement of Country grew among "grassroots communities concerned with issues of reconciliation".^{[citation needed]}Wiradjuri womanLinda 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.^[14]

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.^{[7][15][16][17]}

Since 2008, when it was made on the day before Prime MinisterKevin Rudd made theApology to Australia's Indigenous peoples,^[8] a Welcome to Country has been incorporated into the ceremonial opening of theParliament 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 inCanberra, traditionally part ofNgambri andNgunnawal country, a Ngambri/Ngunnawal elder officiates.^[18][19]

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples were largely excluded fromAustralian history books and from the democratic process in Australia for the first two centuries of white settlement, since thecolonisation 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 andTraditional Custodians of land" and shows respect for traditional owners.^[20]

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.^[21] 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.^[22] They may be used to inform and educate as well as being entertaining at the same time.^[8]

TheVictorian 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^[15] or custodian to welcome visitors to their traditional country.^[7] The format varies; it may include a welcome speech, a traditional dance, and/orsmoking ceremony.

Sydney's fireworks show has incorporated a Welcome to Country since the 2015–16 event to acknowledge the territory ofPort Jackson as territory of theCadigal, Gamaragal, andWangal bands of theEora people. This ceremony takes the form of a display that contains imagery, music, and pyrotechnic effects inspired by Aboriginal culture.^[23][24][25] 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.^[26][27][28]

If a local elder is not available, or if the traditional owners have not been formally recognised for the area, an Acknowledgement of Country,^[7] 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.^[15]

The Victorian Government's wording for recognised traditional owners:^[29]

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:^[29]

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.

TheCity of Adelaide's wording is (specifically tailored for the localKaurna people):^[16]

City of Adelaide acknowledges that we are meeting on the traditional country of the Kaurna people of theAdelaide 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 neverceded.^[30][31]

Similar acknowledgements, e.g.land acknowledgements, have become common at public events in Canada and have begun to be adopted byNative American groups in the United States.^[32][33][34]

The Welcome to Country and Acknowledgement of Country have become core Australian customs.^[35] However, they have attracted criticism fromconservative politicians, historians, and commentators, some of whom suggest that such ceremonies are a form oftokenism and do not reflect traditional Aboriginal culture. Critics have included historianKeith Windschuttle^[36] and politiciansTony Abbott (as Opposition Leader, 2012);^[37]Peter Dutton (as Opposition Leader, 2023);^[38]Jacinta Price;^[39][40] andPauline Hanson.^[41] Since the defeat of the2023 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".^[42]

In 2023, theGeneral Assembly of thePresbyterian Church of Australia ruled that acknowledgements of country were inappropriate atchurch 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.^[43] However other churches, such as theUniting Church, practise an Acknowledgement to Country, "seek[ing] to be a healing community, characterised by the love of Christ".^[44] Many other churches also practise the custom.^[45][46]

The Australian bandMidnight 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 (whoseorigins in Australia remain a topic of debate). The song urges reconciliation.^[47]

• Indigenous Australian politics
• Indigenous Australian culture
• Ceremonies in Australia

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