Starting this year, the ACT will observe a public holiday honouring the anniversary of the 1967 Referendum on May 28. The night before will be a couple of celebratory musical events at The Canberra Theatre Centre.

The chief executive officer of Reconciliation Australia, Karen Mundine, says, "We're really excited that this National Reconciliation Week, we will start the week with a public holiday to celebrate and acknowledge reconciliation in our modern society."

The ACT is the first jurisdiction to declare the day a public holiday and Mundine says, "We're certainly applauding the ACT for leading the way, being the first."

She says this year's theme for reconcilation is "Don't keep history a mystery" and hopes there will be progress on the key five aspects of race relations: equality and equity, individual integrity, unity, and historical acceptance.

The 1967 referendum - which received overwhelming support from the Australian population, with a 90.77 per cent "Yes" vote - led to constitutional amendments to include Aboriginal people in the census and allow the Commonwealth to create laws for them. It did not give Aboriginal people the right to vote (this had been introduced in 1962) or citizenship (most of the specific federal and state laws discriminating against them had already been repealed by this time).

Indigenous music legend Archie Roach says it's a significant year, being the 10th anniversary of former prime minister Kevin Rudd's Apology to the Stolen Generations as well as this marking of the 1967 referendum.

"It's great," he says.

He's also pleased about the Reconciliation Day holiday being first established in Canberra, "the seat of the government" and is looking forward to performing with Tiddas the night before.

"It should be great."

They'll be promoting a new album, Dancing With My Spirit, based on demos they recorded together two decades ago. Among the songs to be performed are A Child Was Born Here, Dancing Shoes and Dancing With My Spirit.

In a career spanning three decades, Roach says he's always loved Canberra.

"I have family there ... my nephew and his family," he says.

"I've got to get up there as often as I can."

For him, it's not just about the government, but about the people, and a great place to rest between performances. But it doesn't sound like he'll be getting too much rest for a while, being on tour around Australia with his album.