NAIDOC week

Our past and our future are interconnected. In the circle of life as we move from the past to the future we must always remember and respect everything in the past. Our history, our culture, our traditions, our ancestors and our own experiences. This way we can walk into the future with respect and confidence.

Poster Competition: The winner for this year is Charmaine Green from Geraldton in Western Australia.

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National NAIDOC - What is Naidoc?

NAIDOC celebrations are held around Australia in the first full week in July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

NAIDOC originally stood for ‘National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee’. This committee was once responsible for organising national activities during NAIDOC Week (see History of NAIDOC), and its acronym has become the name of the week itself.

The week is celebrated not just in the Indigenous community, but also in increasing numbers of government agencies, schools, local councils and workplaces.

View ideas on how to celebrate NAIDOC Week.

In addition to the many local activities, NAIDOC celebrations traditionally have a ‘national focus’:

• a national focus city or town is chosen - this year it is Cairns,QLD
• celebrations are based on a national theme - the theme for 2006 is Respect the Past - Believe in the Future
• a national NAIDOC poster based on the theme is distributed, chosen from entries to the NAIDOC Poster Competition
• celebrations culminate in an awards ceremony and ball held in the focus city -in 2006 the National NAIDOC Ball will be held at the Cairns Convention Centre on Saturday 8 July
• at the ball, national awards are given to Indigenous achievers in a number of categories.

For many years, the Australian Government has been the major funding contributor to national focus activities.

Wherever you live, taking part in NAIDOC Week is a great way to celebrate Indigenous culture and build bridges between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians.