News

The National NAIDOC Committee has again partnered with the Woolworths Group to nationally distribute the 2021 NAIDOC Week poster.

The annual NAIDOC Week Teaching resources are now available from SBS Learn. The NAIDOC Week teaching resource is full of activities and links to assist teachers and their students to reflect on this year’s theme, ‘Heal Country!’. These resources were authored by Shelley Ware and developed by SBS Learn with support from NAIDOC Committee member Associate Professor Lynette Riley. The 2021 teaching resources cover subject areas of English, HASS, The Arts and Science for students in Foundation to Year 10.

We regret to announce that we have decided to cancel the National NAIDOC Awards ceremony scheduled for Mparntwe (Alice Springs) on Saturday 3 July 2021. The decision was made in consultation with the Alice Springs NAIDOC Committee and our key stakeholders in light of escalating community concerns and emerging issues about COVID-19.

Coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to be a concern for communities around Australia. This NAIDOC Week, let’s keep our mob safe by making sure our events and celebrations are held in a COVIDSafe way. Check your State and Territory website All States and territories have public health measures in place to stop the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19) in the community. If you are holding a large-scale event, you may need to work with the authorities in your state or territory and submit a COVIDSafe Event plan.

Maggie-Jean Douglas - a Gubbi Gubbi artist from South East Queensland - is the winner of the prestigious National NAIDOC poster competition for 2021.

Gubbi Gubbi artist Maggie-Jean Douglas has won the 2021 National NAIDOC Poster competition from a record 260 entries. Maggie-Jean describes herself as ‘a proud murri’. Her mob is Gubbi Gubbi from the Sunshine Coast region of Queensland though she grew up on Goreng Goreng Country and has been living on Ngunnawal Country for the past three years. Maggie-Jean has always ‘had an appreciation for anything that involved creating’ and her earliest memories of being inspired by art came from her Aunty’s artworks.

2020 NAIDOC Week poster competition winner Tyrown Waigana was recently presented with a framed version of his poster design by Minister for Indigenous Australians, the Hon Ken Wyatt MP in small ceremony in Perth. The framed version of the poster is traditionally presented to the winner of the NAIDOC Week poster competition during the National NAIDOC Awards. This presentation did not go ahead in 2020 due to the event's cancellation.

The annual NAIDOC Awards recognise the outstanding contributions that Indigenous Australians make to improve the lives of Indigenous people in their communities and beyond, or to promote Indigenous issues in the wider community, or the excellence they’ve shown in their chosen field.

First Nations media veteran Michelle Tuahine has been appointed to the National NAIDOC Committee (NNC). Ms Tuahine is a proud descendant of the Gangulu people of Central Queensland and Ngāti Kahungunu iwi of New Zealand’s North Island. A veteran of Indigenous media, Ms Tuahine brings to the committee strong journalistic skills, having worked in the 1990s with ABC Television and in the mid-2000s with NITV, SBS and the National Indigenous Radio Service.

The National NAIDOC Committee (NNC) has elected Yawuru woman Shannan Dodson as its new Co-Chair. Ms Dodson succeeds Patricia Thompson who has stepped down from the Co-Chair role because of family commitments. Born in Katherine in the Northern Territory and currently living in Sydney, Ms Dodson has worked in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander affairs for over 16 years and a strategic communications and engagement specialist.

Nominations for the 2021 National NAIDOC Awards have been extended until 5pm AEDT, Monday 29 March 2021. The National NAIDOC awards recognise the outstanding contributions of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. This year’s ceremony will include the 2020 and 2021 awards due to the cancellation of the 2020 awards last year. People are encouraged to nominate individuals and groups who go above and beyond to improve the lives of First Nations people in their communities, promote Indigenous issues in the wider community or show excellence in their chosen field.

The National NAIDOC Committee invites entries from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander artists for the National NAIDOC Poster Competition reflecting and capturing the 2021 theme: Heal Country!