The NSW Government is helping support more than 120 local communities and organisations all over the state celebrate NAIDOC Week from today to 14 July, with $348,000 in grant funding.

The Aboriginal Affairs 2024 NAIDOC Grants Program helps organisers of grassroots events and activities honour Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultures and achievements.

Grant recipients align with the theme of NAIDOC Week 2024: ‘Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud’.

A sprinkling of the many initiatives funded by the $500 to $3,000 grants include:

• A week-long NAIDOC festival in Gilgandra featuring cultural burning, a disco and Elders’ lunch
• A community celebration at Tuggerah featuring sport, hip-hop workshops, artefact making, and cultural activities delivered by the Barang Regional Alliance
• ‘Water Wommin’ at Fingal Head to honour mothers and grandmothers by showcasing traditional fishing, beach foraging and earth oven cooking
• A NAIDOC Week holiday school program in Ku-ring-gai
• A photographic display and event at Tamworth Regional Gallery
• A Bathurst Young Mob NAIDOC Netball Day with cultural activities
• Gazing Yarns, a camp on Country for mentoring, storytelling and collecting bush tucker for Central Coast-based Aboriginal young people
• A Black and Deadly Community Day including a march down the main street of Narrandera on Wiradjuri Country
• The creation of a ‘Culture for the Future’ mural at Muswellbrook
• A cultural celebration at Bayside Women’s Shelter in Botany, Sydney.

To find out more about the recipients and upcoming grant opportunities, visit the Aboriginal Affairs NSW website.

Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Treaty David Harris said:

“NAIDOC Week is a special time that celebrates and recognises the proud history, culture and achievements of our First Nations people who represent the oldest continuous cultures on earth.

“The diversity of the initiatives we are supporting showcases the strength and resilience of Aboriginal cultures throughout NSW and will allow communities to ‘Keep the Fire Burning, Blak, Loud and Proud’ this NAIDOC Week.

“With events taking place across the state, there are opportunities for each of us to learn about and connect with the richness and vibrancy of Aboriginal cultures and proudly celebrate those cultures together.”

MEDIA: Matt Porter | Minister Harris | 0407 239 578