About NAIDOC Week
NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia in the first week of July each year (Sunday to Sunday) to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories, and participate in celebrating the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth.
The acronym NAIDOC stands for National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee.
NAIDOC Week in the City
The City of Bayswater acknowledges the Traditional Custodians of the land, the Whadjuk people of the Noongar Nation, and pays its respects to Elders past, present and emerging who have cared for Country for thousands of years and who continue to care for Country today.
Each year, the City hosts a range of free community celebrations to celebrate NAIDOC Week. In 2024, NAIDOC Week will be celebrated from Sunday 7 July to Sunday 14 July. The theme for 2024 is 'Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud'.
View event details below.
- Smoking Ceremony and Community Planting Day
Clarkson Reserve, 48 Clarkson Road, Maylands
Sunday 7 July, 9am – 12pm
Come along to the community planting day at Maylands Samphires and take part in a smoking ceremony.
- Storytelling with Noongar Author Jayden Boundry (ages 5 - 11)
Morley Library, Monday 8 July, 12 – 12.45pm
Maylands Library, Tuesday 9 July, 12 – 12.45pm
Bayswater Library, Wednesday 10 July, 12 – 12.45pm
Dymocks, Galleria Shopping Centre, Thursday 11 July, 12 – 1pm (no bookings required)
Jayden Boundry is Wadjak Balardong Noongar and Badimaya Yamatji, and the author of the children’s book Noongar Boodja Waangkan: Noongar First Words. Jayden will be speaking about his book, culture and Noongar language.
Register
- Rock Painting with Aborignal Artist Sarah Weston
Galleria Shopping Centre, in front of Connor
Tuesday 9 July, 10am – 1pm
Express your creativity and have some fun rock painting with local Aboriginal artist Sarah Weston.
No bookings required.
- Genocide in the Wildflower State (Postponed)
Greater Union Morley, Galleria Shopping Centre
$15 per person
Genocide in the Wildflower State is a documentary feature about a violent, state-run system of eugenics, racial absorption, and social assimilation in twentieth century Western Australia. The film offers a deeply moving and disturbing exposé of the Stolen Generations and the resulting misery families experience today, and gives voice to Survivors’ proposals on what must be done to redress the wrongs.
Due to unforeseen circumstances, this screening has been postponed. New event details will be available soon.
- Aboriginal Art Workshop with Sarah Weston (Sold out)
Morley Library
Wednesday 10 July, 1 – 3pm
Friday 12 July, 10am – 12pm
Learn about stories and traditional symbols, colours and line work used in Aboriginal art while creating your own canvas piece to take home. Registrations are essential.
join the waitlist
- MAMMUNG Documentary Screening and Q&A with Dr Noel Nannup
City of Bayswater Civic Centre, 61 Broun Avenue, Morley
Thursday 11 July, 6.30 – 8pm
$10 for adults, $5 for children
MAMMUNG tells the story of Western Australia 10,000 years ago, when rapid rising sea levels forced the Indigenous population to adapt to the loss of almost 30 per cent of their land. MAMMUNG explores the living memory that Noongar people hold of this event and follows Dr Noel Nannup in recalling the significance of places now below the sea and explaining the process of change that Indigenous people endured through the narrative dreaming story of MAMMUNG the whale.
Register
- Yarning with Dr Noel Nannup and Community Planting Day
Bardon Park, 18 Fourth Avenue East, Maylands
Saturday 13 July, 9am – 12pm
Join our community planting day at Malgamongup (Bardon Park) and hear stories from Elder Dr Noel Nannup.
Register
- Koort Kwoba (Good Heart) Workshop and Community Planting Day
Eric Singleton Bird Sanctuary
Sunday 14 July, 10am – 12pm
Join Belinda Cox from Djirrily Dreaming to learn how to connect to Country before taking part in a community planting day.
Register
The City's 2024 NAIDOC Week program of events is supported by Galleria Shopping Centre.
Videos from the City
The video was made in collaboration with the City of Bayswater, the Department of Parks and Wildlife and the Baigup Wetland Interest Group. Whadjuk Elders Dr Noel Nannup and Marie Taylor share their traditional Noongar knowledge, customs and stories (Dreamtime) of Baigup Biidii and the ongoing importance of the wetlands.
Balladong, Whadjuk, Nyungar Representative Mr Barry McGuire and Belinda Cox, Kangeang/Bibblemun woman, share their traditional Noongar knowledge and culture of this special bushland; in particular, the importance of smoking ceremonies to heal people and Country, and the medicine and food that the bushland provides.
Proudly supported by the National Indigenous Australians Agency.
