A Reconciliation Week kicks off today, there's cause for more hope than in previous years that the country might actually be moving forward.
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It's just over a week since Prime Minister Anthony Albanese opened his victory speech with a commitment to the Uluru Statement from the Heart.
The following day, for his first press conference at Parliament House, lined up behind the new Prime Minister were the Australian, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags.
For the new Indigenous Affairs Minister, Linda Burney, it was both a practical and symbolic act - something that could and should have been done for such events as a matter of course.
But better late than never.
"Symbolism is important," Burney said at the time.
"It made me get a lump in my throat to be honest with you. The thoughtfulness, the nod to respect, the inclusivity of the gesture was something everyone noticed and really appreciated."
The theme of this year's National Reconciliation Week is "Be Brave. Make Change".
It could hardly be a clearer statement of challenge to Mr Albanese, as he settles into the reality of how much the cause of reconciliation has regressed in recent years.
The Uluru Statement - a call for substantive recognition of Indigenous people in the Australian constitution - is the highest possible starting point when it comes to reconciliation.
But the challenge to "be brave, make change" is one that applies to all people at all levels - to listen, have difficult conversations and take action towards a more equitable community.
And there is still much work to be done at a local level; the ACT has the highest rate of Indigenous incarceration in the country, for one thing.
Canberra's Indigenous people make up just 2 per cent of the general population, but more than 24 per cent of the population in the Alexander Maconochie Centre.
It's a sobering statistic, not least because Canberra is one of the country's most privileged cities.
The Prime Minister's clarion call from the very highest of heights when it comes to reconciliation is one that should reach every part of our society.
And while Minister Burney points out that a formal agreement between the Commonwealth and the First Nations is likely many years away, there is still hope well and truly on the horizon, for the first time in several years.
For example, the election saw eight new Indigenous representatives voted into Federal Parliament for the next term, alongside two sitting senators - this is more First Nations voices in Parliament.
Minister Burney is a First Nations woman taking the place of a First Nations man.
But it's an evolution that goes beyond just politics; the Prime Minister's early commitment gives momentum and validation to all the ways in which Indigenous culture is melding with non-Indigenous life every day.
Acknowledgments of country in school halls, boardrooms, conference centres and theatre stages are one thing; empowering Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people to have a say on the laws and policies that impact them is another.
But they are part of the same continuum, and it finally feels as though the country is making progress from one extreme end to the other.