NAIDOC Week 2020 brings different opportunities to connect and celebrate

Statement from the National NAIDOC Committee

Regardless of when it is celebrated NAIDOC Week is an event of national importance for all Australians.

A week borne from a day of protest, NAIDOC Week each year reminds us of the ongoing aspirations of our communities as they continue the movement towards justice and equality.

Importantly, NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians to come together to celebrate not only Indigenous achievement but the history, rich culture, and survival of the oldest continuing living culture on the planet.

Woven into the fabric of NAIDOC celebrations are the achievements of leaders and trailblazers of the past. While many NAIDOC Award ceremonies have been cancelled – including the National NAIDOC Awards - we commit to honouring and celebrating a new generation of inspirational achievers in 2021.

We take this opportunity to acknowledge the voluntary work and dedication of the many local and regional NAIDOC Committees, the individuals and organisations across Australia who each year are the driving force behind NAIDOC.

While NAIDOC Week each year celebrates and acknowledges our past and our present it also looks with hope towards the future. The sheer numbers of events and activities held every year emphasises the growing success and importance of NAIDOC Week.

Always Was, Always Will Be recognises that First Nations people have occupied and cared for this continent for over 65,000 years.

We want all Australians to celebrate that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people were Australia’s first explorers, first navigators, first engineers, first farmers, first botanists, first scientists, first diplomats, first astronomers and first artists.

That this county has the world’s oldest oral stories, the world’s first maps, and the earliest paintings of ceremony.

We are excited by the sheer number and diversity of celebrations and activities that are taking place across the country accommodating social gathering restrictions and social distancing measures because of COVID19.

We invite all Australians to take the time to learn, share and participate in these unique celebrations.