This year’s NAIDOC Week theme, Fifty Years of Deadly, marks an important milestone. For 50 years, NAIDOC has created space to celebrate the strength, leadership, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

“NAIDOC week is an opportunity to celebrate First Nations culture and appreciate the amazing cultural and historical contributions that First Nations people have made.” - Assistant Coordinator-General Karina Menday, our First Nations Champion.

As an agency working alongside communities before, during and after disasters, we know this means valuing local knowledge and respecting connection to Country. NAIDOC Week is an important reminder that this knowledge and strength should be respected and supported in our work, all year round.

This is an opportunity for us to reflect on:

• continuing and constantly improving the way we engage with local Traditional Owners and local Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander Communities
• the importance of Allyship to support First Nations people
• amplifying First Nations voices through our programs and projects
• continuing our commitment to building partnerships through our Reconciliation Action Plan.

This week at NEMA, we will be celebrating by hosting a morning tea across our national offices, and a fundraiser for the Indigenous Literary Foundation.

The National NAIDOC Committee has also created resources that tell the history of NAIDOC and bring the theme to life.  

Visit NAIDOC to find out more about the history and significance of NAIDOC week, as well as ways you can show support, including:

• downloading the National NAIDOC Week Educational Resources  
• subscribing to the NAIDOC Newsletter
• finding out whose Country you are on at AIATSIS Map of Indigenous Australia.