Zhou is the curator of a free exhibition in the National Museum of Australia in Canberra, called The Our Story: Aboriginal Chinese People in Australia. It’s on now until January 27, 2026.
Namatjira Project
Sunday, 25 May at 8.30pm
In one of Australia’s most potent stories, Namatjira Project traces the life and works of Albert Namatjira, a renowned Arrernte painter from the MacDonnell Ranges in Central Australia. He gave many Australians their first glimpses into the outback heart of the country and was widely celebrated, exhibited globally, and introduced to Queen Elizabeth.
However, in 1957 he was imprisoned for something he didn’t do, and in 1959 he died. By 1983 the Government sold the copyright to his artworks to an art dealer, and today, Namatjira’s family fight for survival, justice and to regain their grandfather’s copyright. Namatjira Project illuminates the relationship between Indigenous and non-Indigenous people today, in Australia and globally.
Art From the Heart
Monday, 26 May at 9.00pm
Art From the Heart is a confronting examination of the contemporary Indigenous painting business today - asking whether Indigenous paintings are still being painted from the heart, or if market forces have altered its spirit irrevocably.
The answers are varied and provided by a cast of Australia’s leading Indigenous painters, including Queenie Mckenzie, Gloria Petyarre, and Freddie Timms.
National Reconciliation Week with Patrick Dodson
Tuesday, 27 May at 11.30am
Live from Fremantle Passenger Terminal, WA, Yawuru elder, Patrick Dodson, also known as the ‘Father of Reconciliation’, along with next-generation leader Tremane Baxter-Edwards, deliver a National Reconciliation Week keynote from Reconciliation WA’s event.
At a time when Australia faces uncertainty in its reconciliation journey, this keynote calls on all Australians to step forward together to build a more united and respectful nation. Together, Dodson and Baxter-Edwards embody cross-generational First Nations leadership, with their voices reflecting the strength, wisdom and hope to carry the reconciliation movement forward, following the National Reconciliation Week theme ‘Bridging Now to Next’.
Sydney Opera House Presents: Generations and Dynasties - Season 2 - Episode 2
Saturday, 31 May at 10.10pm
Bunna Lawrie (Coloured Stone) and Family
Bunna Lawrie is a proud Mirning Elder from the Nullarbor and founding member of Coloured Stone, carving a path as a groundbreaking First Nations band with their rock and reggae influenced sound. Bunna’s 1984 hit song ‘Black Boy’, which remains an anthem for First Nations peoples to this day, launched a highly influential career which has taken them all over the country and the world.
Join Bunna Lawrie and his extraordinary family - Jason Lee Scott, Jhindu-Pedro Lawrie, Yirgjhilya Lawrie and Catherine Satour as they share the stage for an evening of music, culture, conversation and storytelling.
Voices of the future: Digital Originals ushers in the next wave of unique Australian storytellers
This year’s Digital Originals, Moni, Moonbird and Warm Props, are first of their kind, and a bold take on culture and belonging.
L-R: Warm Props, Moonbird and Moni.
Premiering weekly from Thursday 19 June on National Indigenous Television (NITV) and SBS On Demand, SBS’s award-winning Digital Originals initiative returns with three daring new scripted series from emerging screen creatives.
From boundary-pushing First Nations storytelling to a genre-bending queer Pasifika led series, this year’s Digital Originals showcase real, restless and innovative stories from creatives making waves in the industry with their fresh takes on identity, culture, and community.
A trailblazing partnership between SBS, NITV, and Screen Australia, Digital Originals is central to SBS’s commitment to championing diverse storytellers both in front and behind the camera. The initiative supports the development of rising talent who are under-represented in the sector including those who identify as culturally and linguistically diverse (CALD), First Nations, people with disability, female and gender diverse, LGBTIQ+, and creatives based in regional and remote areas.
Digital Originals has proven itself as an effective pathway for creators to advance their skills and generate interest from local and international markets. It also encapsulates how SBS is unafraid to go there when it comes to amplifying new voices in the screen landscape, with the initiative serving as a launchpad for the careers of trailblazers like Dylan River (Thou Shalt Not Steal, Mystery Road: Origin), Stevie Cruz Martin (Safe Home), Corrie Chen (New Gold Mountain, Bad Behaviour), Mohini Herse (Four Years Later) and more.
SBS’s phenomenal, brand-new, 2025 Digital Originals line-up features two cutting-edge First Nations productions, co-commissioned by NITV, and a distinctive queer Pasifika-Australian story:
Moonbird
Sonny (Lennox Monaghan) and Cracka (Kyle Morrison) in Moonbird episode 6. Credit: Jillian Mundy
Moonbird was one of only eight projects worldwide to be featured in the Short Forms Competition at Series Mania in 2025.
It is a co-production between the first-ever Tasmanian Aboriginal screen production company, Kutikina Productions, and Sheoak Films. Produced by Catherine Pettman and Adam Thompson, the series explores the relationship between a recently sober father (Kyle Morrison) and his son (Lennox Monaghan; Deadloch , Windcatcher ) who attempt to reconnect through a traditional muttonbirding season on a remote Tasmanian island.
It is co-created, and co-written by Nathan Maynard, and co-created and co-written by Adam Thompson. Principal production funding from Screen Australia in association with SBS, with support from Screen Tasmania. Developed with assistance of Screen Australia, SBS and Screen Tasmania.
Moonbird premieres Thursday 19 June at 8.30pm on NITV and SBS On Demand.
Warm Props
Ilijah (Nelson Baker), Charlie (Tehya Makani), Jilby (Rarriwuy Hick) in Warm Props episode 6. Credit: Michael Jalaru Torres.
Warm Props takes audiences behind the scenes with Charlie (Tehya Makani), who returns to a chaotic film shoot in her hometown in Western Australia and must then face her past as her narcissistic boss threatens the stability of her career and personal life.
The heartening series is brought to life by acclaimed creator and writer Jub Clerc (Mystery Road: Origin , Sweet As), co-writer Kimberly Benjamin (Our Medicine, Big Backyard Quiz), directed by Clerc and Benjamin, and produced by Jodie Bell for Ramu Productions. It also stars Rarriwuy Hick (True Colours, Erotic Stories, Wentworth, Redfern Now ) and Jillian Nguyen (Apple Cider Vinegar, Hungry Ghosts ). Principal production funding from Screen Australia in association with SBS, with support from Screenwest and Lotterywest. Developed with assistance of Screen Australia and SBS.
Warm Props premieres Thursday 26 June at 8:30pm on NITV and SBS On Demand.
Moni
Chris Alosio (Moni) & Tina Leaitua (Tina) in ‘Moni’ episode 3.
In Moni, a gay Samoan man must reluctantly work out why his dead mother has unexpectedly plummeted from the heavens, and in doing so, learn to embrace his own truth. Led by creator, writer, and showrunner Taofia Pelesasa, director Alana Hicks, producer Nicole Coventry and executive producer Eliorah Malifa with Pelesasa Pics, the series stars Chris Alosio (Talk To Me ). Principal production funding from Screen Australia in association with SBS, with support from Screen NSW. Developed with assistance of Screen Australia and SBS.
Moni premieres Thursday 3 July at 8:30pm on NITV and SBS On Demand. Episodes air weekly at NITV starting Thursday 3 July at 8:30pm.
SBS Head of Scripted, Nakul Legha, said: “Digital Originals is the only initiative of its kind globally and remains unmatched in its ambition, impact, and proven track-record as a launch-pad for the careers of emerging Australian storytellers from under-represented communities.
“As SBS celebrates its 50th anniversary, these bold new series embody our ‘We Go There’ ethos: delivering unapologetically authentic and entertaining stories from across Australia . Each production is a testament to the essential role SBS plays in Australia’s cultural landscape, and we’re thrilled to share them with our audiences.”
Recent Digital Originals successes include 2023’s Night Bloomers with creator Andrew Undi Lee winning an Australian Writers’ Guild Award for Best Web Series, and Appetite which was selected as one of 10 series in the Short Form Competition at Canneseries 2023, and was also nominated for a Rose d’Or. In 2022, Latecomers won the 2024 AACTA Award for Best Online Drama or Comedy and was also featured in the Short Forms Competition at Series Mania in 2023.
Alumni of Digital Originals have gone on to secure key creative roles across SBS Original drama series and elsewhere in the industry, including Mohini Herse (Appetite ) who became set-up Director for SBS Original Four Years Later, producer Liam Heyen (Latecomers, Erotic Stories ), director Madeleine Gottlieb (Latecomers, Erotic Stories ), actress and activist Hannah Diviney (Latecomers ), Stevie Cruz-Martin (The Tailings, Safe Home), as well as Corrie Chen and Michelle Law (Homecoming Queens ), and Dylan River (Robbie Hood) .
Digital Originals is one of many initiatives delivered by SBS designed to improve inclusion in the screen industry. Read more about this work here.
All three Digital Originals series will be subtitled on SBS On Demand in Arabic, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Vietnamese and Korean.
Check out the Digital Originals collection at SBS On Demand’s We Go There Hub a variety of curated collections that embody the bold spirit of SBS’s cheeky new brand campaign.
Each of the three Digital Originals series will premiere in full weekly from Thursday 19 June at 8.30pm on NITV and SBS On Demand
The Grey Line
Monday, 2 June at 9.30pm
This is the story of Helen’s struggle to find her place in the world.
Taken from her parents during a time when Aboriginal children were removed from their families through Government mandated policy, Helen was raised by a middle-class family in the suburbs of Perth and believed she was their biological daughter until the age of 14. Despite being raised by a very loving foster family, Helen has never felt like she truly belonged. Not white, not black, she walks a very lonely grey line. This is her story of hurt, a longing to find her true self and to finally be accepted for who she is.
The Grey Line will be available to stream free on the on Muy Ngulayg SBS On Demand Hub.
Piri’s Tiki Tour (Season 4)
Wednesday, 4 June at 7.30pm
Much loved ex-All Black Piri Weepu is hitting the road again, but this time with a new twist. Piri’s returning with more fishing, diving and other food-gathering activities alongside hardcase Kiwi characters – as well as Piri’s other major passion, rugby! Getting amongst it with the locals, Piri uncovers the heart of these communities.
Season Four, Episode One: Te Kaha
Piri’s in the Bay of Plenty – Te Kaha, hosted by ex-rugby players Reuben and Matua Parkinson. He’s targeting kingfish and gets a surprise at a local rugby match.Season Four, Episode Two: Ōtepoti
Piri heads south to Ōtepoti Dunedin. He’s out eeling with his mate from high school Tihema, trains with Tongan rugby legend Hale T Pole, and even attempts to surf.
Listen Up: The Many Lives of Quincy Jones
Premiere Music Season
Sunday, 8 June at 8.35pm
The hot and cool rhythms of jazz. The simmering of syncopated soul. Hip-hop. Be-bop. The ecstasy of pop.
Artist, activist, husband, and incorrigible risk taker, Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones, focuses on the man, the music and the legend of Quincy Jones - and finds within the ever-changing rhythms of his life the unchanging melody of the American spirit.
Appearances by Clarence Avant, George Benson, Ray Charles, Miles Davis and Ella Fitzgerald.
Sammy Butcher: Out of the Shadows
Premiere Music Season
Monday, 9 June at 9.30pm
Sammy Butcher is renowned as one of the best guitarists in central Australia and one of the leading figures in the Indigenous music scene. Self-taught from the age of 10, Sammy went on to become one of the founders of the famous Warumpi Band, and toured extensively and made many recordings.
This portrait of Sammy shows his life in Papunya, 250kms west of Alice Springs, where he grew up and still lives. In an intimate interview, Sammy talks about his life in the Warumpi Band, and his aspiration to use his music to help his people achieve a better life: “Songs talk to the people … Warumpi brought all of the people together.”
Sammy Butcher: Out of the Shadows will be available to stream free on the on Muy Ngulayg SBS On Demand Hub.
First Nations Bedtime Stories - Season 3
Friday, 13 June at 9.15pm
Every year Common Ground works with different First Nations communities to film five non-secret Dreaming stories, told by Elders and Knowledge Custodians.
Sharing and strengthening these stories for future generations and providing a way for all people to connect with the oldest continuing cultures on Earth, these stories display a rich source of valuable knowledge and wisdom.
Season Three, Episode One: The Cockatoo Sisters and the Magic Digging Stick This story is told by Nyikina Warrwa woman, Dr Anne Poelina. It tells the story of two very different sisters, Walibun and Yaranari, who have the responsibility of caring for their grandfather. Yoongoorrookoo, the serpent man, watches the two sisters, noticing that one sister is selfless, the other selfish. This story is about the importance of fairness and responsibilities in family as well as how actions have consequences.
Bamay - Season 6
Premiere Music Season
Monday, 16 June Monday to Friday at 6.00pm
Bamay is a celebration of Australia’s natural beauty, offering a unique aerial view that reflects a deep connection to Country. Inspired by the Bundjalung word for “Land,” Bamay returns for Season 6 to explore the rugged coastlines and remote wonders of Western Australia and Tasmania. From turquoise bays to ancient cliffs, this season highlights some of the nation’s most breathtaking and diverse coastal landscapes showcasing why these southern edges are among the best in the world.
Episodes One to Five will air Monday to Friday at 6.00pm, covering Western Australia and Tasmania.
Paid In Full: The Battle for Black Music
Music Season
Monday, 16 June at 9.05pm
This series charts the shocking story of how some of music’s most loved artists - from Louis Armstrong to Prince - were exploited by the music industry on the basis of their race. With contributions from artists like Gloria Gaynor, Ice-T, Smokey Robinson, Chaka Khan and many others, Paid in Full shows how whether through dodgy contracts, scheming management or ruthless streaming deals, many of the songs you know and love have a dark truth behind them.
Episode One: This episode tells the stories of how some of the most successful and popular Jazz, Blues and Rock n’ Roll musicians of all time suffered at the hands of the industry. We hear about the bad contracts with flat fees signed by Bessie Smith, Nina Simone, Chuck Berry and many others which ended up losing them tens of millions of dollars. Then there are the stories of scheming and manipulation of artists like Louis Armstrong and TLC by their managers.
Banel & Adama
Tuesday, 17 June at 10.30pm
Banel and Adama are fiercely in love. The young married couple lives in a remote village in northern Senegal. For them, nothing else exists.
Yet their perfect everlasting love is on a collision course with their community’s customs, because in this world, there is no room for passion, let alone chaos.
Amazing Grace
Music Season
Sunday, 22 June at 8.30pm
In 1972, Aretha Franklin, the undisputed Queen of Soul, recorded an album of gospel music at The
New Temple Missionary Baptist Church in Los Angeles. Few realised that the inspirational sessions
had not only been recorded, but also had been filmed by Oscar-winning Sydney Pollack. Due to
technical problems, the film was never released at the time. Now, revisit an iconic moment and an
unforgettable concert.
Bamay (Season 6)
New Episodes Monday to Friday at 6.00pm
Episodes Six to Ten will air Monday to Friday at 6.00pm, covering Western Australia and Tasmania.
Paid In Full: The Battle for Black Music
Monday, 23 June at 9.00pm
Episode Two: This episode charts the attempts of Black Musicians to fight back by starting their own record labels. Considered by many to be the ‘OG’ of black-owned labels, Sam Cooke decided he’d had enough of other people profiting from his phenomenal success. In the 1960s, he founded Tracey Limited to release his own music and SAR Records to sign new artists. He started investing in other black artists on reasonable terms until he met an untimely death.
Roberta Flack
Music Season
Sunday, 29 June at 8.30pm
From “First Time Ever I Saw Your Face” to “Killing Me Softly” and beyond, Roberta Flack gave voice to a global soundtrack of beauty, pain, love and anguish. Roberta illuminates where reality, memory and imagination mix to present music icon Roberta Flack, a brilliant artist who transformed popular culture, in her own words.
With exclusive access to Flack’s archives of film, performances, interviews, home movies, photos, hit songs and unreleased music, the film documents how Flack’s musical virtuosity was inseparable from her lifelong commitment to civil rights.
Elder In Residence Oration 2025
Premiere NAIDOC Week
Sunday, 6 July at 6.35pm
To kick off NAIDOC Week, SBS’s Elder in Residence, Widjabul Wiabul woman Rhoda Roberts AO, will deliver her third annual SBS Elder in Residence Oration, creating a historical record of Indigenous thought leadership while addressing current challenges and futures aspiration. The SBS Elder In Residence Oration provides a platform for First Nations voices to be amplified, offering a space for reflection, connection, and learning for all Australians.
Ablaze
Premiere NAIDOC Week
Sunday, 6 July at 8.30pm
Ablaze is an incredible biographical documentary from opera singer Tiriki Onus, who finds a 70-year-old silent film believed to be made by his grandfather, Aboriginal leader and filmmaker Bill Onus. As Tiriki travels across the continent and pieces together clues to the film’s origins, he discovers more about Bill, his fight for Aboriginal rights and the price he paid for speaking out.
Emily: I Am Kam
Premiere NAIDOC Week
Wednesday, 9 July at 8.30pm
Emily: I Am Kam (pronounced karma) is a heartfelt documentary about internationally renowned artist, Emily Kam Kngwarray from the Utopia community in the Northern Territory. The film delves into Emily Kam Kngwarray’s transformative impact on the international contemporary art world and her enduring legacy, providing a rare opportunity to witness her journey and the profound influence of her art and the power of Emily’s work to protect her Country, Alhalker.
The documentary is produced by Tamarind Tree Pictures and directed by Danielle McLean (Barrumbi Kids).
NAIDOC Week 2025
Special Collection
Jedda
Sunday, 6 July at 10.00pm
Jedda is an Aboriginal child being raised by Sarah and Doug McCann, who try to assimilate her into white society. She finds herself caught between two cultures – forbidden from learning about her Indigenous heritage and never fully accepted by the other.
Who Do You Think You Are? (Mark Coles Smith)
Monday, 7 July at 7.30pm
Award-winning actor Mark Coles Smith is a proud Nyikina man from the Fitzroy River region of Western Australia. Reflecting a rich, multicultural heritage of Indigenous and Indonesian on his mother’s side, and Anglo-Austrian on his father’s side, Mark solves a maternal family mystery, and travels to Poland and Germany where he makes a shocking discovery about his great grandfather.
The Drover’s Wife
Monday, 7 July at 9.05pm
Molly Johnson’s husband is away droving sheep, leaving her alone to care for their four children. Despite being heavily pregnant, she must face various threats from nature and others.
Elder In Residence Oration 2023
Monday, 7 July at 11.00pm
In celebration of 2023’s NAIDOC week Auntie Rhoda Roberts shared her inaugural SBS Elder In Residence Oration.
Who Do You Think You Are? (Ernie Dingo)
Wednesday, 9 July at 7.30pm
All his life, Ernie Dingo has been estranged from his father’s family, on account of feeling abandoned by his own father, Tom Pepper. Ernie is brought face to face with his father’s ancestors.
Storm Boy
Friday, 11 July at 7.30pm
Mike is a lonely boy living in a coastal wilderness with his reclusive father. In search of friendship, he encounters an Indigenous man, and the two form a bond in the care of three pelican chicks.
First Nations Bedtime Stories (The Boys Who Broke The Law)
Friday, 11 July at 9.05pm
Babaga Mandana and Bua Buaga go through cultural initiation, where they must abide by strict rules and Law guided from Country.
Bran Nue Dae
Friday, 11 July at 9.15pm
In the Summer of 1965 a young man is filled with the life of the idyllic old pearling port Broome - fishing, hanging out with his mates and his girl. However his mother returns him to the religious mission for further schooling. After being punished for an act of youthful rebellion he runs away from the mission on a journey that ultimately leads him back home.
Sydney Opera House Presents: Generations And Dynasties (Bunna Lawrie And Family)
Saturday, 12 July at 10.10pm
Pioneering musician Bunna Lawrie’s influence resonates across generations as his children Jason, Jindu, Yirgjhilya and Catherine carry forward their father’s heritage while forging unique paths.