New South Wales premier announces installation of third flagpole on Sydney Harbour Bridge for Aboriginal flag

New South Wales Premier Dominic Perrottet said on Sunday that as part of a "healing process" and reconciliation efforts with Australia's indigenous community the Aboriginal flag will fly permanently on the Sydney Harbour Bridge.

At the top of the landmark bridge, the Australian flag and New South Wales state flag will fly alongside the distinctive black, red and yellow flag.

The Aboriginal flag, flown from government buildings and embraced by sporting clubs and athletes of Aboriginal heritage, was recognised as an official flag of Australia since 1995.

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It comes after Australia's centre-left Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, during his election campaign, promised a referendum on giving Aboriginal Australians an institutional role in policymaking.

New South Wales, which is Australia's most populous state, will spend $A25 million ($17 million) to permanently install a third flagpole on the bridge by the end of the year to fly the flag.

Seeking to promote better ties between the wider Australian community and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, Perrottet said the move represented a continuation of "the healing process as part of the broader move towards reconciliation."

He told reporters during a press conference in Sydney that It's an important decision that we've made, I think it brings unity to our country and it's a small price to pay for that unification."

Resolving a commercial dispute that had limited sporting teams and Aboriginal communities from reproducing the image, the federal government this year acquired copyright to the Aboriginal flag so it could be freely used.

First raised in 1971 at a land rights rally in the state of Victoria, the flag's colours represent the Aboriginal people and their spiritual connection to the land.

(With inputs from agencies)

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