10/07/2025
🖤💛❤️ This week we celebrate 💚💙🤍
From protest to celebration, NAIDOC Week carries the legacy of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander resistance, resilience, and culture. Before the 1920s, Aboriginal rights groups began boycotting Australia Day (26 January) to protest the treatment and status of Indigenous Australians. By the 1920s, it became clear that the wider Australian public remained largely unaware of these actions—and that meaningful change would require more visible and sustained activism.
On Australia Day 1938, a significant turning point occurred: protestors marched through the streets of Sydney, followed by a congress of over 1,000 people. This event became known as the Day of Mourning—one of the earliest major civil rights gatherings in the world.
From 1940 to 1955, the Day of Mourning was marked annually on the Sunday before Australia Day and was known as Aborigines Day. In 1955, this day was moved to the first Sunday in July, with the intent of shifting the focus from protest alone to also celebrating Aboriginal culture.
This evolution was supported by major Aboriginal organisations and governments at all levels, leading to the formation of the National Aborigines Day Observance Committee (NADOC). The second Sunday in July was also added as a day of remembrance for Aboriginal people and heritage.
Significant milestones followed:
Significant milestones followed:
📌 In 1967, the landmark referendum passed, leading to the formation of the Department of Aboriginal Affairs in 1972.
📌 In 1974, the NADOC committee was composed entirely of Aboriginal members for the first time.
📌 In 1975, the celebration officially extended to a full NAIDOC Week, running from the first to second Sunday in July.
As awareness grew of the distinct cultural identities of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, NADOC expanded to NAIDOC: the National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee. The name change reflected a commitment to recognising both groups and became the title of the full week of celebrations.
While the term “Aborigines” is now considered outdated and inaccurate, the Committee retains it in the name out of respect for our Elders who laid the foundations of NAIDOC Week back in 1938.
✨ NAIDOC Week is a proud national celebration of the strength, culture, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. Born from protest, it now honours both struggle and survival, and continues to inspire truth, justice, and recognition.
National NAIDOC
ARTWORK: Ancestral Lines by Jeremy Morgan Worrall
This artwork is a visual representation of the generational lines that carry through my mob. When I think of the next generation, I think towards my ancestors—Lucy Wright, Enoch Wright, Nonie Wright—through to my Nanna Audrie and my Mother Vanessa. Looking back gives me the strength and vision to look forward. Each figure in the painting is tied to family lines, like songlines, reflecting what they knew and what they passed on. The first represents lore, hunting, and tracking. The second reflects care, weaving, and love. The third shows the two combined, while the final two carry unfinished elements—symbols of knowledge and care in motion. Above them sits the essence of Country—swirling skies and a giant moon over Emmaville. It is by the fire, under these cool skies, where the next generation finds their strength, vision, and legacy.
