NAIDOC
NAIDOC week celebrations are held across Australia to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
NAIDOC (National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee) celebrations started in the 1920’s and sought to increase awareness in the wider community of the status and treatment of first nations Australians.
NAIDOC celebrations are held across Australia to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of first nations (Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander) peoples. All Australians are welcome to celebrate not only those in first nations communities. It is a great opportunity to participate in a range of activities and to support your local first nations community.
NAIDOC originally stood for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee. This committee was once responsible for organising national activities during NAIDOC and its acronym has since become the name of the week itself. Find out more about the origins and history of NAIDOC.
Each year, there is a different focus city for the national NAIDOC awards ceremony. The focus city, national NAIDOC poster competition and the NAIDOC awards recipients are selected by the National NAIDOC Committee.
Local community celebrations during NAIDOC are encouraged and often organised by communities, government agencies, local councils, schools and workplaces.
NAIDOC is usually held in the first week (a Sunday to Sunday) of July. It incorporates the second Friday – which historically was celebrated as 'National Aboriginal Day'. The theme this year is 'Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up!'. It calls for all of us to continue to seek systemic change and keep rallying around mob, Elders, and communities. Whether it’s seeking proper environmental, cultural and heritage protections, political change, a comprehensive process of truth-telling, working towards treaties, or calling out racism, we must do it together. It’s also time to celebrate the many who have driven and led change in our communities over generations, they have been the heroes and champions of change, of equal rights and even basic human rights:
- the relationship between first nations peoples and non-first nations Australians needs to be based on justice, equity, and the proper recognition of first nations peoples’ rights
- we need to move beyond just acknowledgement, good intentions, empty words and promises, and hollow commitments
- now is our time. We cannot afford to lose momentum for change.
NAIDOC 2022 invited the nation to embrace first nations’ cultural knowledge and understanding of country as part of Australia's national heritage and equally respect the culture and values of first nations peoples as they do the cultures and values of all Australians.
To read about the NAIDOC 2021 first nations songwriters workshop, please view the event summary (PDF, 184KB).
NAIDOC 2022
The NAIDOC theme was: Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up!
View the NAIDOC 2022 regional guide (PDF, 1363KB).
NAIDOC poster
Sunshine Coast Council NAIDOC flag raising ceremony
The next NAIDOC flag raising ceremony will be held at 9:30am Monday, 3 July, 2023 at the Sunshine Coast City Hall, Maroochydore.
Wan'diny Sunshine Coast NAIDOC family fun day
The Wan'diny Sunshine Coast NAIDOC family fun day is delivered by the Sunshine Coast Wan'diny NAIDOC Committee. The next Wan'diny Sunshine Coast family fun day will be held on Saturday, 8 July 2023.
Council has been a major partner for the Sunshine Coast NAIDOC family fun day since 2017.
More information
Please visit the National NAIDOC website for further information.
Customer enquiries relating to the region’s traditional custodians, council’s reconciliation action plan or other first nations projects supported by council, can be emailed to the first nations partnerships team.