NAIDOC Week 2025

This NAIDOC Week, we honour 50 years of celebrating Indigenous strength, resilience, and storytelling. The 2025 theme, The Next Generation – Strength, Vision & Legacy, invites us to look ahead – to the next generation of leaders – while recognising the legacy that lights the way.

This year we will unite NAIDOC Week and National Science Week to explore and honour the powerful relationship between First Nations storytelling and science.

Blak Art Markets by Big Eye Theatre

Kick off our special NAIDOC x National Science Week as the Blak Art Markets by Big Eye Theatre returns to take over the Great Gallery. With a range performances, workshops and market stalls selling textiles, arts, jewellery, homewares, and clothing on offer, you’re bound to have a deadly day out.

Date: Saturday 9th August
Time: 9am - 1pm
Entry: Free
Program:
9.30am – 10.30am | Palm Frond Weaving
Learn the traditional art of weaving using palm fronds. Guided by local makers, this hands-on activity is suitable for all ages.
Free, drop-in activity.

9.30am – 10.30am | Dot Art Jewellery Making
Create your own wearable artwork using traditional dot painting techniques. A creative and colourful session inspired by Country.
Free, bookings required. BOOK HERE

10.00am – 11.00am | Storytime Science with Aunty Charmayne (RESCHEDULED)
Join Aunty Charmayne for an engaging blend of storytelling and science, exploring culture, nature, and curiosity through a First Nations lens.
Free, drop-in activity.

11.00am | Komet Dancers
Experience the vibrant energy of Torres Strait Islander culture through a powerful performance by the Komet Dancers.
Free

11.30am – 12.30pm | Boomerang Painting
Decorate your own wooden boomerang with traditional designs and patterns in this creative art session
Free, bookings required. BOOK HERE.

NAIDOC x National Science Week Storytime Science

Storytime Science is an engaging program for young learners aged 3-5 years and their parents and carers. At its core, the program is designed to support the development of scientific literacy and confidence and this special First Nations Storytime Science will focus on the natural world and First Nations science.

Dates: Saturday 9th August
Time: 10am - 10:45am
Entry: Free | no bookings required

NAIDOC Lunchtime Lecture with Jordan Ivey (Australian Institute of Marine Science)

Jordan Ivey will share how the Australian Institute of Marine Science (AIMS) is working in partnership with Traditional Owners to reframe how marine science is done on Sea Country – placing cultural authority, ICIP (Indigenous Cultural and Intellectual Property), and FPIC (Free, Prior and Informed Consent) at the heart of its approach.
Through initiatives like the Indigenous Partnerships Program and the RRAP Indigenous Futures project, AIMS is helping to build practical, long-term pathways for Indigenous peoples in reef restoration, monitoring, and marine science careers.
This presentation will explore how co-designed, respectful approaches are supporting both healthy reefs and strong, self-determined futures for Indigenous communities – demonstrating what’s possible when institutions walk alongside mob, not ahead of them. 

Date: Tuesday 12 August
Time: 12pm - 1pm
Entry: Free | Bookings required | Coffee & tea provided
BOOK HERE

NAIDOC Lunchtime Lecture with Tracey Hough (Mithaka Aboriginal Corporation)
Presented in Partnership with The University of Queensland.

Ngali Wanthi “we search together”.
Join us for a powerful and thought-provoking NAIDOC Week lecture exploring how research and Traditional Knowledge can walk together.
Mithaka People are the Native Title owners of 33,800km2 located in the Channel Country of southwest Queensland, as well as the last claimants to a further 22,000km2 west of Cooper Creek.
Tracey Hough will share the story of the Mithaka People of southwest Queensland and their groundbreaking Mithaka Research Framework – a model that puts cultural protocols, ethical practice, and cross-cultural partnership at the heart of research.
Learn how the Mithaka community is reclaiming and managing knowledge in ways that benefit Country, Culture and People, and how research can be reimagined through a First Nations lens.

Date: Friday 15 August
Time: 12pm - 1pm
Entry: Free | Bookings required | Coffee & tea provided
BOOK HERE

Find out more about our NAIDOC Week Schools Program here.