The ABC is honouring this year’s NAIDOC Week theme Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! with unmissable premiere content and incredible collections of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander stories and voices across our platforms from 3-10 July. We’re celebrating the culture and achievements of the world’s oldest continuous storytellers and recognising the many who have driven and continue to lead change in our communities.
“I am delighted to see the depth and range of content available to our audiences this NAIDOC Week.” ABC Head of Drama, Entertainment and Indigenous and ABC Bonner Committee Chair Sally Riley said.
“The ABC’s history of Indigenous programming is explored in our TV special Looking Black, revisiting key moments from our 90-year history. It demonstrates how far the ABC has come in representing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander voices and the issues important to their communities.”
The ABC will also be celebrating the 20th Anniversary of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander advisory group the Bonner Committee. First established in 2002, its name commemorates the late Neville Bonner AO, Australia’s first Aboriginal Senator and an ABC Board member from 1983 to 1991.
Of The Bonner Committee, ABC Managing Director David Anderson said: “For 20 years the ABC Bonner Committee has honoured the legacy of the late Neville Bonner AO and continued the work he initiated. This year’s NAIDOC Week theme Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! celebrates the many Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people who have led change in the community, and it is fitting we recognise the Bonner Committee’s commitment to drive change across the ABC as part of these celebrations.
With their guidance, the ABC has been a significant platform for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages and stories to be part of the national conversation.”
Content highlights across the ABC this NAIDOC Week
Watch
The much anticipated six-part season three of Mystery Road: Origin explores how a tragic death, an epic love and the brutal reality of life as a police officer straddling two worlds form the indelible mould from which emerged Detective Jay Swan. Starring Mark Coles Smith as the young Jay Swan, Mystery Road: Origin premieres on ABC TV and ABC iview on Sunday 3 July at 8.30pm AEST.
In a special episode of The ABC Of, tennis legend and Wiradjuri woman Evonne Goolagong revisits moments from her past through archival footage, guided by host David Wenham. Airing on ABC TV and ABC iview on Tuesday 5 July at 8pm AEST.
In honour of our 90th celebrations, high profile First Nations Australians including Deborah Mailman, Leah Purcell, Bjorn Stewart, Miriam Corowa and Nakkiah Lui reflect on the ABC’s history of Indigenous programming in a special one-off show Looking Black. On ABC TV and ABC iview on Tuesday 5 July at 8.30pm AEST.
On Wednesday 6 July at 8pm AEST Bridget Brennan and Dan Bourchier will co-host a special live program on ABC News Channel, about the Uluru Statement, explaining where we’re at in establishing a First Nations Voice in the Constitution, and the next steps. The program will include Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney, plus insights from experts in Canada and New Zealand.
In the powerful documentary Ablaze Tiriki Onus explores whether his grandfather, civil rights leader Bill Onus, might have been the first Aboriginal filmmaker. Ablaze, which first premiered at the Melbourne International Film Festival in 2021, airs on ABC TV PLUS and ABC iview on 6 July at 8.30pm AEST.
Compass special ‘We’ve come to take you Home’ is the story of Kamilaroi elder Bob Weatherall, who has devoted his life to the repatriation of sacred Indigenous
ancestral remains. This Compass special weaves musical performance and spoken word with powerful archive footage of remains being returned home from museums across Australia and overseas. Airs ABC TV Plus and ABC iview on Sunday 3 July at 7.30pm AEST.
On Sunday 3 July ABC News Breakfast interviews Tom Forrest live from Broome about his takeover of the ABC TikTok account and his “Outback Tom” persona. On Monday July 4 ABC News Breakfast speaks with Inala Cooper, author of “Marrul: Aboriginal Identity & the Fight for Rights and Advancing Human Rights (In The National Interest)”.
On Sunday 10 July an ABC News special investigates two multi billion-dollar gas projects in Scarborough (WA) and Narrabri (NSW), where traditional owners say they’re in a David and Goliath battle to protect their sacred sites from destruction by major corporations, even after the damning Juukan Gorge inquiry.
ABC iview’s NAIDOC Week collection of programs will feature recent works Firestarter: The Story of Bangarra, The Australian Dream, My Name is Gulpilil and Charlie’s Country as well as the best Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander programming from across the ABC.
For kids
Season three of the Logie Award-winning Little J and Big Cuz brings more adventures as the kids learn about culture, community and country with the help of Nan and Old Dog. New episodes start on ABC Kids and ABC iview on Monday 4 July.
In new ABC ME program Built to Survive adventurer Phil Breslin draws on the ancient knowledge of Australia’s First Nations peoples, modern science and his own extensive experience in the wild to find out how animals have adapted to some of the world’s most extreme and diverse natural habitats in Australia’s wildest places. Premieres on ABC ME and ABC iview on Monday July 4.
ABC Kids’ NAIDOC Week collection on ABC iview features Indigenous-led content such as Grandpa Honeyant Storytime and Languages of Our Land as well as every episode of Little J and Big Cuz. There are also special episodes of Play School, Joey’s Big Adventure and Jemima’s Big Adventure.
The ABC ME NAIDOC Week collection on ABC iview brings together Indigenous-focussed content for young audiences, including every episode of Red Dirt Riders and Ready For This, series two and three of Bushwhacked! and special episodes of Advice To My 12 Year Old Self, My Place, Teenage Boss and What It’s Like.
ABC Kids Listen features a bonus episode of Little Yarns and a NAIDOC Week News Time Special.
ABC Education features Dreamtime stories and includes resources around the history of Indigenous rights in Australia, reconciliation, first nation languages and more.
Additional news, analysis and insights about NAIDOC Week and broader issues affecting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people will be available across the week on ABC News, ABC TV and ABC Radio, as part of the ABC’s ongoing commitment to telling and sharing Indigenous stories.