NAIDOC Week is one of the most important, celebratory weeks in the calendar for First Nations Australians. For Victorians in the era of Treaty, it’s an especially relevant opportunity to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and to participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth.
National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held annually across Australia in the first week of July (Sunday to Sunday), meaning this year’s celebrations take place from Sunday 5 July to Sunday 12 July 2026.
And 2026 offers extra reason to celebrate, being the 50th NAIDOC Week. The 2026 theme – Fifty Years of Deadly – thus marks a milestone. It’s a tribute to the people who built this movement: the Elders who stood firm, the First Nations organisers who made space, the First Nations artists who turned resistance into expression, and the communities who keep showing up, year after year.
As a union, and as nurses, midwives and carers, ANMF (Vic Branch) is honoured and proud to stand alongside First Nations members, colleagues, patients, residents and consumers. During NAIDOC Week and every week of the year. As unionists, we understand the importance of recognising achievements gained, not by chance, but because generations of people refused to be silenced.
ANMF (Vic Branch) staff and many members will be participating in the celebrations; after all, what better way to learn about First Nations cultures, communities and histories – and stand together, united – than by celebrating together?
What is NAIDOC Week?
While NAIDOC Week is now celebratory, its history is more sobering, having its origins in a Day of Mourning protest and congress first held on 26 January 1938. One of the first major civil rights gatherings anywhere in the world, this protest moved the following resolution:
‘WE, representing THE ABORIGINES OF AUSTRALIA, assembled in conference at the Australian Hall, Sydney, on the 26th day of January, 1938, this being the 150th Anniversary of the Whiteman’s seizure of our country, HEREBY MAKE PROTEST against the callous treatment of our people by the whitemen during the past 150 years, AND WE APPEAL to the Australian nation of today to make new laws for the education and care of Aborigines, we ask for a new policy which will raise our people TO FULL CITIZEN STATUS and EQUALITY WITHIN THE COMMUNITY.’
From 1940 until 1955, the Day of Mourning was held annually on the Sunday before Australia Day/Invasion Day, and was known as Aborigines Day. In 1955 Aborigines Day was shifted to the first Sunday in July after it was decided the day should become not simply a protest day but also a celebration of Aboriginal culture.
In 1956, major Aboriginal organisations, state and federal governments all supported the formation of the National Aborigines Day Observance Committee (NADOC).
In 1975, the NADOC committee decided that the event should cover a week, from the first to second Sunday in July – now a day of remembrance for Aboriginal people and their heritage.
In 1991, with a growing awareness of the distinct cultural histories of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, NADOC was expanded to recognise Torres Strait Islander people and culture. The committee then became known as the National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC). This new name has become the title for the whole week, not just the day.
A note on language: while the National NAIDOC Committee acknowledges the now defunct and inaccurate term ‘Aborigines’, it has been retained in the title due to historic use by Elders in establishing this week of commemoration in 1938. As at 1967 the ongoing registered title of the Committee became the National Aboriginal and Islander Day Observance Committee.
Get involved
Members interested in learning more or finding an event can visit the NAIDOC Week local events page to find film screenings, art exhibitions, workshops, webinars, author talks, volunteering opportunities, family days, Koorioke and more.
About the 2026 poster art
Titled Paralpi, this year’s art is by Zaachariaha Fielding, a proud Yankunytjatjara man from the APY Lands in South Australia and widely recognised as one of the country’s leading contemporary First Nations artists and musicians. Known internationally through the acclaimed music duo Electric Fields, his work brings together language, sound, visual storytelling and culture in deeply powerful and contemporary ways.
Paralpi reflects movement, energy and continuity, carrying the stories of Ancestors forward while celebrating the creativity and cultural power of the next generation. Rich in colour and symbolism, the artwork speaks to the enduring strength of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples over the past 50 years of NAIDOC and beyond.
Through this work, Zaachariaha honours the resilience of community, the importance of language and identity, and the ongoing cultural renaissance being led by First Nations peoples across the country and across the APY Lands.
