Anniversary of the Barunga Statement

12 June

On 12 June 1988, Aboriginal leaders presented the Barunga Statement to Prime Minister Bob Hawke at the Barunga Festival in the Northern Territory. The Statement brought together a written call for rights and painted expressions of connection to Country, law and culture.

What the Statement called for

The Statement sought recognition of Aboriginal rights to self-determination and self-management, control and enjoyment of ancestral lands, compensation for lost land, and protection of sacred places, cultural knowledge and heritage. It also called for the return of ancestral remains and respect for Aboriginal languages, identities and education.

Its demands linked collective rights with the conditions of everyday life, including health, housing, education and employment. This breadth matters: Barunga should not be reduced to a single political slogan when the original document sets out a much wider vision of justice.

A document with cultural and political meaning

The Northern and Central Land Councils presented the Statement at the festival. The painted document is part of a history of Aboriginal people addressing governments through forms that carry their own authority and cultural meaning, as well as through written English.

Read the text together with the contextual information provided by AIATSIS and Parliament. The painting is not simply a decorative border. Cultural material should not be detached from its meaning, copied into worksheets as a design exercise or treated as freely reusable artwork.

The treaty commitment and continuing discussion

Hawke responded to the presentation with a commitment to pursue a treaty. The national treaty envisaged in that response was not concluded by 1990. The Statement remains an important reference in the longer history of Aboriginal advocacy for agreement-making and self-determination.

The anniversary marks the 1988 presentation. It does not establish the dates of a current Barunga Festival or a contemporary treaty meeting. Those events need their own current organiser information, and developments in different jurisdictions should be described precisely rather than treated as one national process.

Ways to deepen understanding

In schools or workplaces, read the Statement’s text before discussing responses to it. Ask how its different demands relate to one another and why control of cultural knowledge belongs alongside land, education and economic rights.

Compare Barunga with the Yirrkala bark petitions and the Uluru Statement from the Heart, while keeping their authorship, purposes and historical settings distinct. Invite informed discussion about what it means for an institution to receive a statement and what evidence would demonstrate a substantive response. Follow the cultural notices attached to source material, including guidance about deceased people.

Sources and further reading

The resources below provide historical records, First Nations perspectives and pathways for further learning. Some historical material contains names and images of deceased people, outdated language or distressing content. Follow the guidance provided by each publisher.

Online sources and longer reading

The Barunga Statement. AIATSIS. History, cultural context and guidance accompanying the painted document.
https://aiatsis.gov.au/explore/barunga-statement

Barunga Statement. Australian Parliament. Collection account confirming presentation on 12 June 1988.
https://www.aph.gov.au/Visit_Parliament/Art/Stories/Barunga_Statement

The Barunga Statement: full text. AIATSIS. A longer reading resource for examining the original demands in their own terms.
https://aiatsis.gov.au/sites/default/files/2020-09/thebarungastatement.pdf

Speech at the Barunga Sports and Cultural Festival. Prime Ministerial transcripts. The official record of Bob Hawke’s 12 June 1988 speech, to read alongside the Statement.
https://pmtranscripts.pmc.gov.au/release/transcript-7334

Our related products and resources

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