I refuse to do acknowledgement of country - career killer?

dimes on 11/09/2025 - 23:25

This may be a bit controversial but here goes…

I watch people at a managerial level start meetings and presentations with an acknowledgment of country and I think it is the dumbest thing ever. I feel like if we really want to help Indigenous people then there are other more tangible things we can do, and this virtue signalling bs is more for us to make us feel better than it is for them.

Apart from acknowledgements of country, my work also does other things to "bridge the gap" which I feel are also pointless. I refuse to participate in these activities and I also refuse to do acknowledgements of country.

My question is, if I continue to refuse, would this be a career killer? Am I limiting my promotional opportunities because I don't want to conform in this respect? I just feel like we should all have equal opportunity to progress regardless of our political views, but is this reality?

Education & Work

Comments

      • Muppet Detector on 14/09/2025 - 17:36
        -2

        That's kind the whole point of it. It's a false confession. Except it's more like:

        I acknowledge breaking into their country, kicking them and their family out and profiting from the theft.

        Just pointing out that we didn't kick them out.

        The only ones we didn't enslave, we raped, tortured and killed, before we stole their land.

        I don't even know if we took the time to bury them.

        Then, among other things, including severe ongoing racism and discrimination, we took their kids off them under some guise called "The White Australia Policy".

        It wasn't legal to kill them anymore, so we decided to breed the black out of them instead, because hey, we couldn't rape or enslave them anymore either.

        In fact, they were treated so poorly, that it took until 1992 for the High Court of Australia* to step in, tell us to pull our heads in and start doing better.

        *Full bench of 7 HC Justices, with only one (Brennan), dissenting.

      • Muppet Detector on 15/09/2025 - 19:52
        -1

        and pretty soon you have State governments usurping the Constitution of our Commonwealth and entering into Treaties with private corporations masquering as represenatives of a group of people who are neither foreign to the Commonwealth or to the State in question (looking at you Victoria).

        Yeah, this isn't happening. High Court already ruled in Momcilovic v Queen (2011) that if there's any conflict it's to be read down. Among other things, it's how VIC, Qld & ACT get away with their version of a Bill of Rights.

        If these private corporations can enter into Treaties with State governments, then why can't they enter into treaties with for example the People's Republic of China, or the UN, etc?

        Constitution prevents them.

        • tenpercent on 15/09/2025 - 21:24
          +1

          Constitution prevents them.

          The Constitution (Section 61 supported by Section 51(xxix)) ought to prevent Victoria entering into treaties too.

          Given that any treaty necessarily involves an element of Australia's foreign relations, the Minister for Foreign Affairs and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) have responsibility for treaties.

          Yet here we have Victoria and private Aborignal corporations going rogue.

          Or are they just larping and letting indigenous Victorians play 'let's pretend'? I don't think it's that.

          • Muppet Detector on 15/09/2025 - 22:00
            -1

            @tenpercent: The Constitution only deals with the Federal Govt ability to enter into International treaties.

            It's a case of it tells the Govt that it can, but it doesn't tell the state govts that they can't enter into intrastate treaties.

            There is common law preventing interstate treaties, but apparently none preventing those of an intrastate nature.

            Remember, the Constitution only deals with international treaties. Don't be tempted to over reach and apply it to internal ones.

            Yet here we have Victoria and private Aborignal corporations going rogue.

            Well no, there's no law telling them they can't create an intrastate treaty and apparently, nobody has intervened to tell them otherwise.

            If it were unconstitutional, the High Court would step in and shut it down.

            Or are they just larping and letting indigenous Victorians play 'let's pretend'? I don't think it's that's it.

            You're right, it's not.

            The state & territory govts are allowed to create their own intrastate proceedings. They are allowed to govern their own population.

            They know that if their laws conflict with federal or constitutional laws then they can be set aside/read down.

            The relevant Bill of Rights laws work the same. They're allowed to have them, but not if they conflict with Federal or constitutional laws.

            Same for relevant criminal law. With the exception of Cth Criminal Laws, the states/territories get to govern in those areas too.

            • tenpercent on 15/09/2025 - 22:42
              +1

              @Muppet Detector: The fact you're trying to describe this farce as "interstate treaties" is confirming my view that the intention is to eventually elevate this (until recently) private corporation to sovereign state status.

              If it were unconstitutional, the High Court would step in and shut it down.

              Are you assuming the High Court is both impartial and proactive?

              The First People's Assembly of Victoria LLC, has just been elevated to now be regarded as a permanent statutory authority and has been renamed "Gellung Warl", meaning "tip of the spear".
              If only their name gave away the game.

              • Muppet Detector on 15/09/2025 - 23:14
                -1

                @tenpercent: Matey, I'm not intending to be controversial or political. I am just objectively offering the legal framework that's permitting/enabling some of the topics under discussion.

                Personally, I find it easier to understand why things happen or work the way they do if I know what was involved in bringing them to fruition.

                In this case, the explanations can be found within the Australian legal framework.

                None of this is my opinion, if I know a fact, I'll state from where it comes, if I don't, I find no shame in confessing to that.

                The fact you're trying to describe this farce as "interstate treaties" is confirming my view that the intention is to eventually elevate this (until recently) private corporation to sovereign state status

                I'm not trying to describe it as anything. I'm basing my assertions on known Australian law.

                Furthermore, I specifically said that interstate treaties were prohibited.

                s128 of the Constitution prevents creating of a sovereign state. It would need a referendum to achieve what you're describing.

                Neither the Government or Parliament have absolute power as they're subject to the powers invested to them by the Constitution.

                Because any change to this will require a referendum, ultimately, any such decision will be at the hands of the entire voting population.

                As for this "sovereign state status", it is a legal fallacy. It is a misinterpretation of the legal concept of sovereignty. In Australia, sovereignty is collective and resides with the people as a whole, not as isolated entities or individuals.

                Are you assuming the High Court is both impartial and proactive

                No.

  • tsunamisurfer on 12/09/2025 - 11:44
    -1

    I will never do a Welcome to Country. it hasn't impacted me at all.

    • My previous place of work had mandatory aboriginal training, a whole day. I refused and kept up excuses even when I was amongst the few in the thousand strong employee list that hadn't done it. Their 'culture' is of no interest to me and would not help me in my work.
      • My company renamed it's meeting rooms to 'those' names, in all my invites I will rename them to Room 6.2 etc.
      • My company has the mandatory acknowledgement in email footers, I remove them each time before sending emails.
    • onesandtwos on 14/09/2025 - 06:59

      I'm glad to hear that it hasn't impacted you at all, since it seems to be a focus at your workplace.

  • apple2016 on 12/09/2025 - 11:52
    +3

    if we really want to help Indigenous people then there are other more tangible things we can do

    The sad reality is most dont!! and hence the namesake acknowledgement etc…

  • Daniel Plainview on 12/09/2025 - 12:12
    +4

    If you work in senior level jobs or even not - there's stuff we have to do all the time thats often not overly productive - if you want to hitch your prospects to your view on this - thats on you. I think if you have such a strong opinion on this that it's likely indicative of your flexibility and willingness to be a team player on other levels.

    You're making a mountain out of a molehill, personally I'd just do such small things - and crack on, I thnk you answered your own question posting here but as alluded to I suspect this matter is not going to be the problem for you but rather the attitude behind it i.e it's a small thing, but you're fixated on it for no good reason.

    • Aleigh123 on 12/09/2025 - 12:23
      +1

      Indeed. Workplace politics is always great fun.
      /s

  • kaos on 12/09/2025 - 12:15
    +8

    'if we really want to help Indigenous people then there are other more tangible things we can do'

    That's perfectly fine, but DO YOU DO THOSE THINGS?

    If you don't, you simply come across as a bit of a dropkick, because at least those people are doing something, however lame in your eyes.

    • McFly on 12/09/2025 - 13:35
      +5

      at least those people are doing something

      They are putting on a show. 👏👏👏
      It may well be they do actual useful things for the Aboriginal population, and if so good for them, but I doubt it.

    • tenpercent on 13/09/2025 - 20:51

      because at least those people are doing something

      Being condescending and giving yourself the impression you've achieved something of value when you haven't is in the most technical sense "doing something". But it's actually worse than not participating in the performance, because you've already done your part, right?

  • niknikniknik on 12/09/2025 - 13:13

    Could be career limiting yes. Just fake it like the rest of Australia, and enjoy the fruits of climbing the corporate ladder - and vent about the BS behind closed doors like everyone else.

  • McFly on 12/09/2025 - 13:35
    +1

    Government department yes?

  • Perth027 on 12/09/2025 - 13:39
    +9

    Maybe look for vacancies at the One Nation Party or at Bob Katter's office you'll go really far with your career there.

    Apart from acknowledgements of country, my work also does other things to "bridge the gap" which I feel are also pointless. I refuse to participate in these activities and I also refuse to do acknowledgements of country.

    And what exactly are you doing for our first nations people? I can see that you're the one virtue signalling here.

    • Some Human on 12/09/2025 - 22:44
      +1

      I don't think the OP owes them shit.

  • Shame on 12/09/2025 - 13:43
    +1

    I like AOC because it allows fortune's anointed to continually recall past triumphs.

  • Pufff on 12/09/2025 - 13:45
    -1

    Theres a new vacancy at turning point usa you could apply for.

    • Wayne7497 on 12/09/2025 - 17:40
      +2

      Your sick ! Joking about a Political Assassination

      • Pufff on 12/09/2025 - 18:23
        -4

        Womp womp snow flake

      • Eeples on 13/09/2025 - 23:11

        Do you have hurt feelings?

  • Dalton on 12/09/2025 - 14:01
    +4

    I feel like if we really want to help Indigenous people then there are other more tangible things we can do.

    You could either do the tangible things you feel are better, or you could make what is being done mean something to you. Doing nothing is a cop out.

    • drspy00 on 13/09/2025 - 17:39
      +1

      Or could believe in true equality and choose to ignore and do exactly what they are doing for us, which is nothing. Everyone can sort their own problems out if they want to.

  • boldwombat on 12/09/2025 - 14:02
    +3

    Based on this post, I assume you are donating $2 (tax deductible) to an organisation that works with the local Aboriginal community in your area every time you witness a meaningless acknowledgement.

    Seriously, what a waste of your energy when you're not being asked to do anything but sit there quietly (which is 99% of a meeting, unless you're presenting).

    • Ademos on 13/09/2025 - 18:59
      +1

      I assume you are donating $2 (tax deductible) to an organisation that works with the local Aboriginal community

      Er, mate, we all do. You know that fun little tax breakdown you get each financial year?

  • defecat0r on 12/09/2025 - 14:04
    +3

    Good on ya. More normal Australians need to be vocal about their opinion on the ridiculous, quasi-religious virtue signalling that the far-left are attempting to push on society as "normal". It's not racist to defy nonsense.

  • whitepuma on 12/09/2025 - 14:22
    +10

    Like most things, how you communicate it is paramount to the scenario. As others have mentioned, if you are just respectfully remaining quiet whilst other people do acknowledgement of country, i don't see that being a problem….but if you're being vocal and "causing trouble", yes i can see it being a career killer.

    However, i've noticed by some of your other posts: Can a Man Complain about Gender Imbalance and Inequality at Work?, Can The 'Quiet Achiever' Ever Make It to The Managerial Level?, and ofcourse this latest one..
    Maybe you need to reconsider if this workplace is the right one for you (assuming their all the same workplace), it's sounding like it may not be the right culture fit for you and you may be better off working somewhere that you feel more comfortable.

    • bluemyself on 12/09/2025 - 16:09
      +1

      There's a lot of junk comments in this thread (including my own probably) so it's nice to see one with compassion. Thank you.

  • mooney on 12/09/2025 - 15:05
    +4

    "I feel like if we really want to help Indigenous people then there are other more tangible things we can do" - are you actually doing any other things though, or just not doing the things they want you to do?

    EIther way, feels like you would be hard work to work with so prolly career limiting.

  • railspider on 12/09/2025 - 15:17
    +2

    we should all have equal opportunity to progress regardless of our political views, but is this reality?

    Just curious, what are your political views? Beyond wanting to ignore the first humans that inhabited Australia?

  • trapper on 12/09/2025 - 15:39
    +1

    You could always say a modified one that is inclusive of all Australians. :)

  • joka on 12/09/2025 - 15:52
    +5

    You should start your meetings with a prayer

  • ReaperX22 on 12/09/2025 - 16:10
    -2

    Based on your other query someone else linked - you're in a Govt role - kinda goes with the territory (heh).

    Also - I absolutely disagree with your last statement.

    I just feel like we should all have equal opportunity to progress regardless of our political views, but is this reality?

    Yeah this is how Hitler came to power, no? Generally political views also tend to align with world views. Would you want someone who straight up wants genocide as the option to 'fix the world' to progress in their career/obtain a position of power? No, probably not. This may not apply to your workplace (may not relate to actual politics/parliament) but generally speaking bad leadership/management flows down to everyone else in many ways…

    There's certainly an aspect of just straight up professional merit - how good are you at your job? - but there still needs to be a personality that matches/aligns with whatever goals/business drive etc of the business (company/govt, whatever)

    • infinite on 12/09/2025 - 21:25
      +1

      Workplaces always function best when politics and religion are strictly checked at the door on the way in to the office.

      • Muppet Detector on 12/09/2025 - 23:36
        +2

        Dude, any workplace that has more than two employees has politics.

  • xrayed giraffe on 12/09/2025 - 16:19
    -4

    Cool. All the racists coming out of the woodwork again

    • megaclix on 12/09/2025 - 17:46
      +6

      So I start this reply thinking 'why am I doing this', but here goes.

      Thing is, people from the right are over this type of shaming to shut them up.

      For too many years, people have had left ideology forced onto them. We didn't vote for this BS, it just slowly crept in over the years.

      If they (conservative) try to speak up or act against this ideology, they have been closed off by the left, constantly accusing them of the extremes of the right side of politics, which for the vast majority of people, they are not.

      We have learned to shut up, bite our lips, talk in private with our mates for a bit of common sense/normality. We don't post anything on Facebook/X/Insta, because there is too much evidence of this being career limiting.

      We just want to get on with our lives. If we try to ignore it, maybe the fad go away. But no, it has gotten worse over time. The left has gotten more emboldened - they want more. They want the right to not exist at all.

      I consider myself middle ground in politics, like the good old days. I acknowledge we need the balance of both sides for a successful western society.

      • bluemyself on 12/09/2025 - 18:42
        +7

        For too many years, people have had left ideology forced onto them. We didn't vote for this BS, it just slowly crept in over the years.

        I can see how you'd see this. Some people can be too forceful or aggressive in their views — you can't have a conversion by verbally punching someone. For those people, I can't blame you for how you feel. That said, though, I'd ask you to try and block out their emotional response, and just try see what they're trying to achieve, and then base your opinion on that.

        So if we take the topic of this post as an example, yeah, people can certainly be aggressive in trying to force you in participating in the gesture. (And yeah, they're behaving like assholes.) But their goal is in the right place. They're trying to help a group that has been (to put it lightly) unfairly treated.

        • megaclix on 12/09/2025 - 23:24
          +1

          In context of this thread, we have seen suggestions that maybe the OP is not a good cultural fit. So by default, only the left need apply.

          I've seen the annual courses that govt employees need to do. I've seen how this has been indoctrinated at school level.

          But it is all sooo fake. It is mostly do it because we have to.

          For myself, I don't mind the odd welcome to country at major events, and I think the speakers have got better at appealing to the wider audience. Some, I have enjoyed.

          However, am I a far right fascist because I don't agree with this in the workplace. In every meeting? I've heard plenty of people complain about this practice. No one goes on record.

          • bluemyself on 13/09/2025 - 11:14
            +6

            @megaclix:

            So by default, only the left need apply.

            I'd just push back on that. I don't think it's a "left" thing. If you strip away the political left/right stuff, it's just a gesture to recognise a group of people that have been (and you can argue, still are) unfairly treated. While people do treat it politically, it just isn't.

            However, am I a far right fascist because I don't agree with this in the workplace. In every meeting? I've heard plenty of people complain about this practice. No one goes on record.

            No, you're not. From what you've said, I think you're handling it well. You say you "don't mind" on occasion, and from what I can tell don't kick up a huge fuss about it. I'd just say that I reckon you need to keep in mind what the true purpose is, and try to let go of the resentment.

          • p1 ama on 14/09/2025 - 20:49

            @megaclix:

            I've seen the annual courses that govt employees need to do.

            Sighs, there have always been various compliance courses that people have had to do for all sorts of various things. Don't pretend like the vast majority of people aren't just clicking "Next, Next, Next, Next" whilst hardly following along.

            However, am I a far right fascist because I don't agree with this in the workplace. In every meeting? I've heard plenty of people complain about this practice. No one goes on record.

            The issue is that this is not something that is happening - I've worked in some pretty "woke" (though I hate using that word) workplaces, including universities and government departments. I've never, ever seen any sort of standard practice where every meeting (or even any large number of meetings) are opened with an acknowledgement of country.

            All of the meetings I go to, we're all strapped for time, we don't want to drag things out - we get into it quickly, we get it over and done with, and we move on with our day. As a senior leader, I spend most of my working day in meetings, and often find myself in close to 7-8+ meetings most days. I have a decent sample size - I would say, in 90-95% of meetings, nobody says an acknowledgement of country. In 5-10% perhaps someone does, but it's a sentence, they're free to say it, and nobody cares.

            Certainly nobody is being compelled or forced to say an acknowledgement of country, and if someone has an issue with someone else saying it (in a limited and reasonable capacity), then I think that says a lot about them.

            The problem with modern conservatism is that it's become basically a reactionary echo chamber that's driven by fear of a caricature not grounded in any sort of reality. For example, I'm sure there are some overly obnoxious people who love saying an acknowledgement of country 17 times per day, but we're talking about <<< 1% of people. The idea that this is commonplace is just a caricature by media pundits, and politicians taking the mickey out of the uninformed.

            • megaclix on 15/09/2025 - 22:14

              @p1 ama: Where I have seen or heard of this (AoC) is in education and senior nursing. For me personally, it is not that big of an issue, it is the overall push of leftist ideals into my life.

              Overall I think I have picked the wrong thread to discuss the broader issues I am talking about.

              Your mention your opinion on the 'problems of conservatism'. I can say that it equally applies to the left (i.e echo chamber). I acknowledge the algorithms, and try to watch both sides for my opinion. I am struggling to see the voice of the middle ground in politics.

              Does anyone else have the feeling that democracy is broken?

              • p1 ama on 15/09/2025 - 23:20
                -1

                @megaclix:

                Where I have seen or heard of this (AoC) is in education and senior nursing. For me personally, it is not that big of an issue, it is the overall push of leftist ideals into my life.

                I'm a qualified teacher, and have never seen this sort of infiltration of AoCs as you have suggested. My sister is a nurse at a public hospital. I called her to ask, she laughed in my face and said they don't have time to sit around and do AoCs given how busy nurses are.

                So basically, what you're saying just is not true. I don't doubt that AoCs are said, but my view is that it's something that happens every now and then which people of a particular political persuasion are portraying as something happening 15 times per day.

                Your mention your opinion on the 'problems of conservatism'. I can say that it equally applies to the left (i.e echo chamber). I acknowledge the algorithms, and try to watch both sides for my opinion. I am struggling to see the voice of the middle ground in politics.

                I would strongly disagree with this - in general, "far left" voices are few and far between. If you were asked to name 10 prominent left-wing political activists or commentators, you'd have a much harder time than naming 10 prominent right-wint poltical activists. The right are generally just more controversial, more ideological, and have found a way of garnering attention through being reactionary and inflammatory in a way the left have not.

                My view is that the far-left (regardless of how ridiculous their ideas may be to you, or to me for that matter) are genuinely engaging in some form of political discourse, whereas the far-right have turned into a cultural movement largely divorced from any serious policy - it's about just fringe cultural issues (case-in-point, here on acknowledgement of country), to which my reaction is always "who the bloody hell cares?"

                • megaclix on 17/09/2025 - 06:24

                  @p1 ama: In senior nursing, they must have more time in their meetings (although that was from around a year ago, it may have reduced).

                  For teaching, I just went to check on the email footers from both schools that my kids are at, and guess what is in both of them. In primary school, every time I have been to an assembly, guess how it starts. For the kids, this is every assembly.

                  • tenpercent on 17/09/2025 - 07:35

                    @megaclix: Do you think after 12 years of heaing the lie throughout their chidhood they may eventually believe it?

                    • megaclix on 17/09/2025 - 23:24
                      +1

                      @tenpercent: Apparently this is not indoctrination.

                      And obvious that @p1 ama had not stepped one foot in a classroom is the last 5 years, nor received an email from a teacher in that time.

      • DiscountForThee on 12/09/2025 - 21:28
        +4

        We don't post anything on Facebook/X/Insta, because there is too much evidence of this being career limiting.

        What kind of things are you holding yourself back from posting? You can share here, this isn't connected to your social media account

      • Jolakot on 12/09/2025 - 21:36
        +5

        like the good old days

        Which 'good old days' are you talking about, the 20s, 60s, 90s?

        • megaclix on 12/09/2025 - 23:26
          +1

          I think before social media correlates quite well.

      • Ademos on 13/09/2025 - 19:00
        +1

        We didn't vote for this BS

        The nation in fact had a plebescite on this sort of thing. The left didn't back it.

        Most people are centrists, which means they get screamed at by everyone left and right of them. Most don't want a fight.

        • megaclix on 14/09/2025 - 08:33

          Oh come on, a vote for same sex marriage was not a free for all.

          And leftist agenda is dictating western societies. It's like a deep state, massive indoctrination via government services and education. It is much worse in the UK.

          Or maybe my personal political gauge is off.

          Discussing this topic recently, I draw a graph of what I thought is the distribution of people on the political spectrum. Left to right, smaller at the edges of course. Then, draw 2 lines, one one each side, so you have the far left, the middle/centrist (by far the largest group I hope), and the far right.

          It would be great to see this chart based on real world data to see where people are at. What we see on social media is the battle of the 2 extremes, and they even monetise it.

          I do feel that the left go to extremes to force their opinions/beliefs onto me, and if I don't agree, then out comes the racist/sexist/bigot card. I don't get that from the right. Or, maybe I should just keep out of the in the news section on whirlpool :).

          • Ademos on 14/09/2025 - 10:53
            +2

            @megaclix: A no vote on the plebiscite was a leftist agenda?

            Or maybe every party refusing to add dental to Medicare is leftist.

            Hmm. Maybe we can agree semi permanent metadata retention. State surveillance expansionism js surely a classic lefti….ah.

            Is this leftist agenda in the room with us now?

            • tenpercent on 18/09/2025 - 07:14

              @Ademos:

              Looks at the social credit scoring system in China… Yep, that's not leftist.

              /s

              To be fair, though I don't think this was your point, it's truly not a leftist agenda, it's also not a rightist (?) agenda; it's a worldwide uniparties-implemented totalitarian agenda for complete authoritarian control. The mainstream left AND right are pushing all of this. The centralised technology companies including and especially social media and google are giving the spotlight to extreme positions and deliberately promoting disunity (left vs right, men vs women, black vs white, immigrant vs native born, indigenous vs non-indigenous, lgbtqxyz vs straight, disabled vs not, etc) not just for clicks and ad revenue.

              And from the perspective of the rich and powerful (the 0.0001%) (ultimately that's where these policies come from via their charities and think tanks) it's absolutely necessary for their continued existence to have a total surveillance police state. For them it is needed to ensure the masses don't rebel and pitchfork them when 50%+ of us become economically redundant due to AGI and AGI controlled robotics. AGI and massively advanced robotics could mean humankind will have a totalitarian global police state, masquerading as distinct separate police states, where everything is tightly controlled (which is the path we are currently on) or we could have nearly limitless abundance for everyone.

              • Ademos on 18/09/2025 - 17:39

                @tenpercent:

                uniparties-implemented totalitarian agenda

                So….not even remotely a leftist agenda? Perhaps you meant to say "our left most parties are at best centrist" or something that sounds equally like you read "to kill a mockingbird" unironically at train stations?

      • xrayed giraffe on 19/09/2025 - 11:09

        so you openly acknowledge that right = racist, and left = not racist
        what a great thing to define yourself as!
        yes, "they want the right to not exist at all" because racists are detrimental to society.

    • xrayed giraffe on 13/09/2025 - 20:14
      +1

      And def all the racists who say they aren't racists, but they most definitely are

    • jaimex2 on 14/09/2025 - 08:21
      +1

      Cool, all the coercive social justice extremists coming out of the woodwork again.

  • Lemond1977 on 12/09/2025 - 17:19
    +5

    Sometime ago I requested anonymously a vote in our office of who wanted & who didn't want the welcome to the country intro, in the end the managing director didn't allow it to go to a vote funny enough. I personally go to work & to do the job I contractually agreed to and nothing else. Now whenever it is read out I just tune out or browse my phone.

  • capslock janitor on 12/09/2025 - 17:39
    +3

    Now let’s all sing the national anthem again

    • smartazz104 on 12/09/2025 - 20:19
      +1

      I bet half the people here don't even know the words…

      • capslock janitor on 12/09/2025 - 20:24
        +1

        ive forgotten some of the words into adulthood
        stood up and sung it back in school every week.

        referring to this post, imagine if they made us do it in the workplace, how the OP could react

      • bargaino on 13/09/2025 - 01:29

        When gallant Cook from Albion sailed, To trace wide oceans o'er,
        True British courage bore him on, Til he landed on our shore.
        Then here he raised Old England's flag, The standard of the brave;
        "With all her faults we love her still" "Britannia rules the wave."

      • Eeples on 13/09/2025 - 23:16
        +1

        “For we are one and free”

        We aren’t ‘young and free’ if one acknowledges the indigenous ppls.

        • tenpercent on 18/09/2025 - 07:20

          But when we say "we" we mean as Australians. We don't mean as humans in general as a species.
          All of us have ancestors that go back tens of thousands of years.
          Either way it's a lie. We are neither one, free, or young… at least not any more.

  • meowbert on 12/09/2025 - 18:33
    +2

    I don't stand up for welcome to country and I do not do them. Ancestral worship and worship of false idols is against my religion and my religion is a protected characteristic in the workplace.

    • infinite on 12/09/2025 - 20:13
      +1

      You can just state you are Islamic and that will give you an automatic free pass on this garbage too.

  • tessel on 12/09/2025 - 18:56
    +2

    The comments did not disappoint. OP stick to your beliefs.

  • PurchaseAnxiety on 12/09/2025 - 19:15
    +2

    I guess how much it affects your career depends on how seriously the people around you take it. As long as you’re not being rude or oppressive about it, it shouldn’t be an issue. But some people may still take it to heart and let it influence their decision making.

    I personally quite like the AoCs where they actually provide a brief description of some of the traditions and history of the land. It actually feels like I’m learning something and that it helps to keep the history of the land alive, rather than just ticking a box. This obviously doesn’t lend itself to starting every meeting this way, but I think that’s overkill anyway.

    • infinite on 12/09/2025 - 20:35
      +2

      I personally quite like the AoCs where they actually provide a brief description of some of the traditions and history of the land.

      The problem with that is that virtually nothing stated in that will be even close to true. Our people fought daily for thousands of years over every last track of land they traversed as a persistently nomadic race / culture, as any one of tens of thousands of tribes. When the British arrived and begun to settle, there were thousands of different tribes across the country, each with different languages and what could loosely be described as traditions.

      Now only a handful are left and most of them have laid claim to areas they never existed in, with languages never spoken by anyone from those places, with a "culture" mostly consisting of performative arts invented by single white women in the Academia and Tourism industries - which are frankly as embarrassing and cringe as they are complete fetish-fantasy of black people.

      There's plenty of actual real history and basic traditions that were recorded by the British settlers about us in the first 100 years they were in Australia that accurately reflect our ancestors, but ironically most of that isn't allowed to be acknowledged because of the dire nature of slavery, child brides and shaking other men's penises as a greeting (which if declined, was enough to start tribal warfare). You can find plenty of historically accurate interesting information from George Augustus Robinson and John Batman for example. They wrote a good deal of reports, studies and observational journals in that time period.

  • Freitag on 12/09/2025 - 20:57
    +1

    Maybe find a workplace that suits you more?

    • jaimex2 on 14/09/2025 - 08:22

      Nah mate, you gotta be the change you want

    • infinite on 12/09/2025 - 21:28
      +4

      This is a thread submitted in a relevant section of the website's discussion forum area.

      It was never posted as a bargain.

      If OP submitted the same thread with the reverse opinion, it would still be a valid forum thread to post in this section of the site.

  • mrdevil on 13/09/2025 - 03:59
    +8

    Glad to know I'm not the only one who feels this way (and good on you for saying what I know many think)… of course it depends on what industry / sector you work in and to what level you refuse, because we all know the second someone dares to not go along with all of this, they're labelled with the R-word.

    I work in state government department and it absolutely sickens me how much energy and money goes into this type of thing, when the money could be better spent providing meaningful support that would actually make a difference, but instead ridiculous things like reconciliation plans are forced upon staff and organisations, to the extent where our "personal development plans" we are required to do annually now have a dedicated section on "what you'll do as an employee to assist closing the gap / reconciliation etc". In my last one I answered basically "nothing, as I treat everyone equally regardless of race, colour, upbringing - as everyone should".

    It absolutely disgusts me as an Australian-born "white fella" with parents born here, and grandparents two of which were born in the UK and two born here, I have to continually be forced to sit through these types of things not only at sporting events or social gatherings, but through so many work-related initiatives too all under the guise of political correctness etc. Even when a Departments own rules and policies are ignored or bent to push these agendas - a classic being naming schools after Aboriginal terms when law states they should be named after the area / locality they're in / or people of significance to the area. However unless you silently agree to do whatever anyone pushes under this the guise of "reconciliation", you're labelled a racist. I "play along" and fake it to some extent, trying to ignore most of it, but I'll pick my moments where I'll flat out refuse to buy into this agenda - like the PDP example above.

    I think it's probably worse in government than in private enterprise, given how using the magical terms "reconciliation" or "closing the gap" somehow make things so much better for First Nations people (as does spending countless tax payer dollars on such initiatives and ensuring its obvious to all things with these terms are continually in everyone's face, when the same money would be much better spent on actual support instead of the illusion organisations and government departments "care"). I'm fairly certain all those struggling in remote communities couldn't give a @#$& if some team of workers in a CBD building have a "plan" they've spent $$$$ on developing, or spend countless time acknowledging their elders etc, given that's all smoke and mirrors creating an expensive illusion.

    To answer your question, it shouldn't be a career killer (and if in private enterprise, I'd see it as a good thing - someone not willing to conform, but who believes everyone should be treated equally etc) however given the sad state Australia has become where this is continually forced upon everyone, it's probably best to choose carefully when to actively refuse - i.e. when it comes to being forced to do things you're clearly uncomfortable with (and rightly so) and when to just silently go along with it, knowing speaking up or trying to take a different stance will only put a target on your back. I can only hope at some point in the near future all this unnecessary unhelpful pandering will cease, and people can focus on what they go to work to do, instead of wasting time and energy on all the pointless box-ticking exercises that in the grand scheme of things achieve nothing and if anything cause more angst and division.

    • prodrome on 13/09/2025 - 07:40

      When I worked in government, aboriginal guy made a presentation arguing they should aim to employ 3 local aboriginal people - not a big ask but would make a real difference ….

      Government response - sausage sizzle and smoking ceremony.

      • tenpercent on 13/09/2025 - 16:11
        +1

        sausage sizzle and smoking ceremony

        A twofer?!
        Was it really just one of the managers got on the tongs and burned a few snags?

        • prodrome on 14/09/2025 - 08:03

          Yep - the cheapest, nastiest sausages he could find. Couldn't even eat then.

      • Muppet Detector on 14/09/2025 - 18:15
        -1

        But was there sauce and onions?

    • p1 ama on 14/09/2025 - 21:04
      +3

      a classic being naming schools after Aboriginal terms when law states they should be named after the area / locality they're in / or people of significance to the area

      Can you give actual examples of schools which are named after "Aboriginal terms" instead of the area or locality that they're in?

      That said, I'm curious why your testicles are so twisted from things having Aboriginal names? You do realise we've always done this right, and it isn't some new "woke" thing? You know, like one of the first suburbs in Sydney being named Kirribilli in the early 1800s, and various other names of places and things we see around Australia.

      I'm assuming you've boycotted calling our national treasures the Kangaroo (from "gangurru", an Aboriginal word) and the Koala (from "koobor", also an Aboriginal word) as well? And I also assume you have all of your alternative names ready to go for Kalgoorlie, Whyalla, Gundagai, Paramatta, and the Melbourne favourite Yarra river as well?

      And in case you were uninformed about history (see: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Australian_place_names…), settlers in Australia have always tried to name things after Aboriginal names where possible, quote:

      Historically, European explorers and surveyors may have asked local Aboriginal people the name of a place, and named it accordingly. Where they did not ask, they may have heard the place was so-named.

  • SuperMid on 13/09/2025 - 08:10
    +4

    Greeks/Italians, come here 70 years ago with nothing, make something out of themselves, put themselves through university, get a job, purchase properties, prosper etc

    Indians/asians come here 30 years ago with nothing, make something out of themselves, put themselves through university, get a job, purchase properties, prosper etc

    Aboriginals, been here for hundreds of years, get free education & housing, but still 'struggling'

    How? What am i missing

    • Muppet Detector on 13/09/2025 - 09:12

      Aboriginals, been here for hundreds of years, get free education

      Do they? All of them?

      What kind of education?

      All the way through to grade 12, or just to primary school?

      Do they all have access, not only to qualified teachers, but any adult that speaks English, all day, every day?

      How many are educated in classrooms that have dirt floors and an English speaking teacher that visits for half a day a week if they're lucky?

      How many of them attend schools ythat have no internet access? How many don't even have the devices to connect to the internet even if they had it?

      And if they do have access to internet at school, how many also have access to the internet when they get home?

      How many of them even arrive at school or preschool or grade 1 with the cultural capital and required skills to even access the Australian Curriculum and get started on their mainstream educational journey which, by the way, has no value or relevance to the communities in which they live?

      Equality is a nice buzz word, but there's nothing equal about that "free" education that many of them have access to.

      • Ademos on 13/09/2025 - 19:10
        +1

        Oof. You sound dangerously close to advocating for kids to be removed from said environment so they have a chance at a better life.

        • Muppet Detector on 14/09/2025 - 06:40
          -1

          Not even close. Don't even go there. I'm one of the ones trying to make it so they can stay in their desired communities instead of having to travel hundreds of kilometres or otherwise leave their families so they can access something as simple as an education.

          • infinite on 14/09/2025 - 14:50
            +1

            @Muppet Detector: Responsible parents don't choose to live hundreds of kilometers from a public school, unless they have the capacity and knowledge to provide a full home schooled education. That doesn't matter what race, religion or creed you come from.

            A community without those things in not a "desired community" for either children or parents. Why would you want to enable a child to stay in that environment, knowing it would absolutely fail them and simply leave them trapped in a state of inter-generational welfare until they left the area and moved to place with actual opportunities and educational options?

            • Muppet Detector on 14/09/2025 - 14:51
              -2

              @infinite: If that's your understanding of things, explain Mabo.

              I'm not arguing with your premise.

              If you revise, I started from another poster's assumption that all Aborigines received a free and equal education.

              I'm merely pointing out that they don't.

              • infinite on 14/09/2025 - 22:32
                -1

                @Muppet Detector: As an Aboriginal, I can absolutely confirm for you that we all have the same access as anyone else, with the exception of those who have parents refusing to provide it for their children - which is not just a problem for Aboriginals, but all communities & ethnic backgrounds.

                • Muppet Detector on 14/09/2025 - 22:37
                  +3

                  @infinite: Matey, my brother is currently a school principal of a public school with six hundred indigenous kids.

                  Now, combining his experiences for at least the last forty years and mine for the last twenty or so, I can confidently say that you're full of shit.

                  Furthermore, the links that I've provided further on in this thread completely support that conclusion.

                  • infinite on 15/09/2025 - 11:13

                    @Muppet Detector: Matey, you conflated once having a bad internet connection, with all Aboriginal kids having dirt-floor classrooms and existing in extreme poverty without access to the internet.

                    Your bigotry of low expectations is on full display and you absolutely have no clue as to what a real Aboriginal experience or existence is, so just stop and move on.

                    • Muppet Detector on 15/09/2025 - 16:16

                      @infinite: No I didn't. Were you away the day they taught reading comprehension at your school, or did you just spectacularly fail to master that skill?

                      If you believe that, then it only serves to illustrate the inadequacies and deficiencies of whatever education you were able to access.

                      with all Aboriginal kids having dirt-floor classrooms and existing in extreme poverty without access to the internet.

                      For starters, stop making shit up and show me and everybody else following along, any post where I've said anything like that.

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