Collating thoughts, insights and experience to create an inclusive narrative of Australia 

The Australian Baha’i community’s Office of External Affairs has launched a new project set to further advance the national conversation around social cohesion. 

Titled Creating an Inclusive Narrative, the project will bring together thought leaders, media practitioners, changemakers, government, faith and community representatives and the public to shed their insights, experiences and perspectives on who we are as a country, where we’ve come from, and where we’re headed.

Following a series of national roundtables, the project will cast a spotlight on the elements that create a vibrant and multifaceted Australia – one that is historically truthful, unified in vision, and hopeful for its future. 

This is the second iteration of the project. The first was undertaken from 2019 to 2020 and engaged more than 500 participants in 50 roundtable consultations across the country. 

The outcome of the first iteration was the Creating an Inclusive Narrative publication which captured the vision, hopes, and aspirations of Australians to foster a socially cohesive society.  

Former Governor of New South Wales, Margaret Beazley AC, KC, said the inclusivity of the discussions that led to the initial publication were an excellent example of “an institution taking the time and the steps to engage in a multi-level process of discourse with people of diverse backgrounds, genders, abilities and disabilities, culture, and faiths.” 

The second iteration will run through to 2026 with a series of new roundtables culminating in an updated document to be offered to Australian society as a resource and framework for a variety of social endeavours.

Office of External Affairs director, Nika Sinai, says it was hoped that this second chapter would further refine Australia’s evolving story, describing a narrative of the past, present and future so the country could advance with a common purpose. 

She says the iteration will explore questions related to society’s views on history, culture and values, and how to forge a common identity that transcends differences. 

“We are inviting individuals to journey alongside one another in an exploration of these fundamental questions around inclusivity, race, truth and hope so we can continue advancing with a shared description of ourselves,” she says. 

“The document can be utilised to foster an ongoing conversation at the grassroots to national levels of society, encouraging and motivating all our interactions, and contributing towards the thinking which shapes and inspires community projects, government policy and public opinion.” 

Nika says another outcome of the project was to promote the need for unifying spaces in which people can explore issues, free of limitations and “without dominating voices, and where people can listen and be heard.” 

To join the conversation, register for a roundtable in your State/Territory. New roundtables are being added regularly. Visit https://collections.humanitix.com/creating-an-inclusive-narrative-project for further information and tickets.