Why January 26 Matters Truth Telling, History and Belonging in the Settlement Sector

Settlement is not only about services. It is about belonging, trust and shared responsibility. Belonging cannot be built on partial stories or silence. Many multicultural communities already understand what it means to have history erased, softened, or made inconvenient. That shared understanding can be a bridge, not a barrier, in engaging honestly with First Nations truth-telling. This webinar was held on 19 January 2026 at 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM - AEDT, and supports the settlement and refugee sector to engage honestly, confidently and respectfully with Australian history, particularly why January 26 is a date of deep pain for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. For many settlement workers and community leaders, this conversation is being encountered for the first time, often while carrying their own histories of displacement, silencing, and the complex work of trying to belong. This conversation is not about blame, moral sorting, or prescribing a single position. It is about trust: trusting people with the full story, trusting communities to sit with complexity, and trusting that solidarity deepens when truth is named rather than avoided