NAIDOC Week is celebrated every year, usually in July but due to COVID-19 restrictions has been moved to 8th November to the 15th of November. NAIDOC celebrates the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. NAIDOC Week encourages the participation of local communities through government agencies, local councils, schools and workplaces.
There are many events that take place during this week for all to attend to gain more education through avenues like art exhibitions, dance performances and classes, panels of experts, storytelling, markets and yarning circles. Throughout history, NADOC, NAIDOC and other groups have called for National Aborigines Day to be made a national public holiday – this has not yet happened.
NAIDOC Week began when a number of major Aboriginal organisations, state and federal governments, and church groups formed the National Aborigines Day Observance Committee (NADOC). This is when the second Sunday of July became a day of remembrance of Aboriginal people and their heritage. In 1974, the NADOC committee was finally entirely made up of Aboriginal members and the following year it was decided the event would cover a week, from the first to second Sunday in July. Since then, NADOC has been expanded to recognise Torres Strait Islander people and culture, and hence the committee then became known as the National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee (NAIDOC).
Each year, a new theme is chosen to reflect the important issues and events for NAIDOC Week. This year, we are celebrating the theme: Always Was, Always Will Be. This theme recognises and celebrates our nation’s real history, not the history that began with documented European contact.
Always Was, Always Will Be is a powerful statement that reaffirms that First Nations people are the rightful owners of this land, always have been, and always will be. It acknowledges that First Nations people have occupied and cared for this continent since the beginning of the Dreaming (over 65,000 years).
NAIDOC Week 2020 invites all Australians to relearn the true history of this country. NAIDOC tells us its about seeing, hearing and learning the First Nations’ history of this country.
If you would like to find out about what events are happened around you or online this NAIDOC Week 2020 please follow this link: https://www.naidoc.org.au/get-involved/naidoc-week-events