What is the significance of uluru?

Uluru holds profound spiritual significance for the Anangu people, the Pitjantjatjara and Yankunytjatjara Traditional Owners of the country in the southern Northern Territory where the rock stands. Anangu trace the origins of the rock and its features to the actions of ancestral beings during the Tjukurpa, the creation period that grounds Anangu law, ceremony, and everyday life.

The rock is dotted with sites associated with specific ancestral stories. The features on its surface, including caves, water holes, and rock formations, are evidence of the journeys and battles of beings such as the Mala (rufous hare-wallaby), Kuniya (woma python), Liru (poisonous brown snake), and Lungkata (blue-tongue lizard). Visitors who walk the base track with Anangu guides hear these stories and learn how the physical landscape encodes the law that has governed the desert for tens of thousands of years.

Uluru's modern history as a symbol began with the 26 October 1985 handback, when the Hawke government formally returned the title of the rock to the Anangu Traditional Owners under the Aboriginal Land Rights (Northern Territory) Act 1976, with the land then leased back to Parks Australia for joint management. On 26 October 2019, the 34th anniversary of the handback, the permanent ban on climbing the rock came into effect, ending decades of Anangu requests that visitors not climb a sacred site. The base walk, sunrise and sunset viewing areas, and cultural centre remain open to about 250,000 visitors a year.

Uluru is also the place where the Uluru Statement from the Heart was issued on 26 May 2017, calling for a constitutionally enshrined Indigenous Voice to Parliament, a Makarrata Commission, and a process of truth-telling about Australian history. The 14 October 2023 referendum that proposed enacting the Voice was defeated nationally, with 60.1 per cent voting No. The rock therefore stands today as both an ancient ceremonial site and a contemporary focal point for reconciliation.