Every year, the National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee – NAIDOC for short – celebrates across Australia. It is an important opportunity for everyone. We can all recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth.

Get along to your local NAIDOC activities and events held across Brisbane. At Musgrave Park come to the FREE

Musgrave Park Family Fun Day on Friday, 10 July from 9am to 5pm. COME & ENJOY live entertainment, exhibitions and activities showcasing First Nations culture and heritage.

NAIDOC Week runs from July 5-12, and this year’s theme is “50 Years of Deadly”, which is about looking back at the stories, marches, languages, art, and leadership that have shaped the past 50 years. Petitions and protests, as well as marches and civil rights gatherings, have occurred around Australia for longer than 50 years. In 1938, activists proposed that an annual Aborigines Day be celebrated. Queenslanders lobbied to include Torres Strait Islanders.  In 1972, the Commonwealth Department of Aboriginal Affairs was formed as a major outcome of the 1967 referendum. In 1967, the Committee was renamed and registered as the National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC).

In 1974, the NAIDOC committee was composed entirely of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander members for the first time. The following year, it was decided that the event should cover a week, from the first to the second Sunday in July.

The National NAIDOC Committee respectfully acknowledges the now defunct and inaccurate term ‘Aborigines’, whilst retaining the term in the NAIDOC title due to historic use by their Elders in establishing this week of commemoration in 1938.

The current members of the NAIDOC Committee are: Aunty (Prof) Lynette Riley, Steven Satour, Bebe Oliver, Cherisse Buzzacott, Erica Smits, Inala Cooper, Masepah Banu, Naomi Moran, Sharon Gray, & Suzanne Andrews.

The program includes a Community Elders Lunch, Community Corroboree, First Nations food stalls, arts and crafts stalls by First Nations artists, cultural education, information stalls and free amusement rides. See more info at: What’s happening across south-east Queensland for N… | National Indigenous Times

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