A choir was formed to sing ‘Beds are Burning’
(Pictured: Choir members during the recording session this year)
In honour of National Reconciliation Week, we have had a terrific time learning and singing the powerful song “Beds are Burning” by members of Midnight Oil, aiming to to promote reconciliation and understanding and unite voices in harmony, regardless of religious affiliation or singing ability.
The choir’s performance will be added to the vast collection of video clips from choirs all around Australia as we sing the same song together. You will be able to see these here on Reconciliation Australia’s site as soon as the final collection is released.
You can scroll down to read more about how the choir came together. Join us next year!
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“Reconciliation Australia is calling on choirs across the country to come together in song to contribute to National Reconciliation Week 2026. The theme for NRW 2026 is All In, a call for all Australians to commit wholeheartedly to reconciliation every single day. Beds Are Burning is a timeless call to action to be All In for justice and reconciliation, and for all Australians to know our history. Last year, over 700 choirs raised their Voices for Reconciliation, our largest ever turnout.”
Read more here: https://www.reconciliation.org.au/our-work/national-reconciliation-week/voices-for-reconciliation/, or scroll down for a history of the song and its writers.
Come along and join the pop-up choir!
Rehearsals will be held at the church premises at 2 Chipilly Ave, Engadine on the following days:
- 6-7pm, Tuesday 14 April
- 6.00-7.00pm Monday 20 April [Note change in start time; it was 5.30pm but is now 6pm]
- 6-7pm Tuesday 28 April
- 6.30-7.30pm Sunday 10 May
- Final production and recording session: 6-8pm Tuesday 12 May
Rehearsals will be facilitated by talented local music teacher Andrea Harrison, whose infectious enthusiasm encourages each of us to find our voice and sing together. This is Andrea’s fourth year volunteering to wrangle us into a choir in honour of Reconciliation Week; last year she said, “I had so much fun last year I didn’t hesitate to do it all again this year.”
Choir coordinator Loraine Holley (above, at front with Andrea) said “I believe recognition holds a profound significance for Aboriginal Australians. It’s not just about acknowledging past wrongs but actively working towards understanding, healing and unity. Through music and solidarity, we can amplify voices, bridge divides and foster genuine reconciliation.”
From Reconciliation Australia:
Beds Are Burning, written and performed by Midnight Oil, is a powerful anthem that hit a chord nationally and internationally and became a defining soundtrack of the land rights movement.
The song was inspired by the Uluru-Kata Tjuta handback to the Anangu people in 1985 and was written over the course of the 1986 Blackfella/Whitefella tour the Oils embarked on with Warumpi Band through Western Desert and Arnhem Land Aboriginal communities.
Released in 1987 on the Diesel and Dust album, the song became an international hit, reaching #1 in New Zealand, South Africa and Canda, #17 in the USA, and #6 in the UK and at home in Australia.
While its broader themes resonated with land rights struggles around the world, the Oils made sure the song’s central call was crystal clear: justice and land rights for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
The song has been covered and reinterpreted multiple times and featured in the Sydney Olympics closing ceremony in 2000, when the band performed the song wearing jumpsuits with SORRY written in large block text, protesting the Howard government’s refusal to apologise to the Stolen Generations.
Decades later, the message still resonates. The song stands as a powerful call to action to know our history and be All In to create a more just, equitable and reconciled future for us all.
For choirs, it offers strong musical energy, meaningful connected storytelling, and a message that resonates with audiences.
Reconciliation Australia thanks Midnight Oil and Sony Music Publishing for their support of Voices for Reconciliation. We sing in honour of the memory of Rob Hirst.
Beds Are Burning written by Hirst/Moginie/Garrett © Sprint Music
Licenses by Sony Music Publishing (Australia) Pty Limited
Lifting our voices for Reconciliation
Last year, we joined choirs nationwide to sing Solid Rock, written by Shane Howard and released by Goanna in 1982, which is a call to action to the broader Australian community to understand the truth of our history and the importance of land rights.
In 2024, the choir participated in the nationwide rendition of “Blackfella, Whitefella.” You can see our contribution if you watch a segment of their recording in this video created by Reconciliation Australia in 2024, one of many collations made using entries from other choirs.
In 2023 we celebrated Reconciliation Week singing “From Little Things, Big Things Grow” alongside 500 choirs nationwide. Our performance was one of 22 featured in Reconciliation Australia’s final video clip. Discover the full story here.
For further information, please contact admin@engadine.unitingchurch.org.au.
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