The country needs to consider a more inclusive national holiday to replace Australia Day, Australians for Native Title and Reconciliation (ANTaR) say.
ANTaR national director Jacqueline Phillips said the day is regarded by many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people as Invasion or Survival Day.
"On January 26, a British naval officer, Arthur Phillip raised the Union Jack over Sydney without the consent of the first peoples," Ms Phillips said.
"Until we choose a more appropriate national holiday, our aspirations for a modern, reconciled nation will be difficult to realise."
ANTaR says it has sent a message of support to those at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy in Canberra, which turns 40.
Four Aboriginal men - Michael Anderson, Billy Craigie, Bertie Williams and Tony Coorey - set up the Aboriginal Tent Embassy, opposite Old Parliament House in Canberra, at 1am on January 27, 1972.
The foursome camped underneath a beach umbrella in protest of the McMahon Liberal government's refusal to recognise Aboriginal land rights.
Over the years the issues of sovereignty became central to the embassy's ongoing protest.
"Forty years on, the Tent Embassy remains a powerful symbol of the Aboriginal struggle for equality, rights, recognition and sovereignty," Ms Phillips.
"It is a reminder of how far we have come but also how far we have to go to secure a truly equal place for Aboriginal and Torres Strait people in this country."
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