50 Years Deadly | NAIDOC 2026
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Please be advised this article contains names and images of people who have passed away.
NAIDOC Week is an annual celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. This important week honours those who are standing up for their Communities, pays tribute to our histories, and celebrates the strengths of First Nations peoples.
“For five decades, NAIDOC Week has celebrated the voices of our communities – steady, unapologetic, and proud. Each year, its themes have called for truth, celebrated culture, honoured resistance, and reminded the nation of who we are.
Fifty Years of Deadly marks a milestone. It’s a tribute to the people who built this movement. The Elders who stood firm, the organisers who made space, the artists who turned resistance into expression, and the communities who keep showing up, year after year.” – Says the NAIDOC Committee
To reflect on this year’s important theme, 50 Years Deadly, ILF Communications Manager, Ella, sat down with ILF Ambassador, Educator, Journalist, Presenter and proud Yankunytjatjara and Wirangu woman Shelley Ware.
[image: Shelley with Tiwi College Students]
Shelley Ware has been an advocate for NAIDOC Week for as long as she can remember. Her father, Bob Ware, was a proud member of the NAIDOC Committee for many years and was also a staunch advocate for First Nations peoples’ rights and freedoms throughout his life.
“NAIDOC is really special to me because it's a real celebration of our cultures, our traditions, of our people's achievements and a real celebration of Blak excellence. We celebrate the past and also what we aim to look at for the future generations. It's a celebration of being an Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander person. It's just a time to celebrate and enjoy the beauty within our culture, really,” says Shelley.
2026 NAIDOC POSTER
This year’s NAIDOC Poster is titled Paralpi and was created by Yankunytjatjara man Zaachariaha Fielding.
This piece celebrates many important themes of NAIDOC. Zaachariaha explains that the piece reflects movement, energy and continuity – demonstrating carrying on the stories of Ancestors and celebrating the next generation.
“Through this work, Zaachariaha honours the resilience of community, the importance of language and identity, and the ongoing cultural renaissance being led by First Nations peoples across the country and across the APY Lands,” says NAIDOC.
“Paralpi is about movement – movement through generations, through memory, through song and story. It speaks to the strength our people carry and the beauty of culture continuing to evolve while staying deeply connected to who we are.” explains Zaachariaha.
REFLECTING ON 50 YEARS DEADLY
This year’s theme is a tribute to those who came before us to fight for the rights of our Communities.
“This year,” explains Shelley Ware, “We're honoring the 5 decades of the National NAIDOC committee and week, and we're celebrating the legacy of culture, strength and leadership. It's about what we've done in the past 50 years that is really significant.”
This year is not the first time we have celebrated 50 years, as there have been a few recent milestones for NAIDOC. In 2025, we celebrated Strength, Vision and Legacy, marking 50 years since NAIDOC expanded from a single day to a week-long celebration.
In 2024, the nation celebrated Keep the Fire Burning – Blak, Loud and Proud, marking 50 years since the NAIDOC Committee became entirely First Nations led.
“So there's been a real celebration for the last 3 years around the 50 years of Blak excellence around NAIDOC and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples leading the ways we celebrate our cultures and traditions. It's like a bookmark on the end of those 50 years this year, so we're really celebrating that we have achieved this,” says Shelley.
This year’s theme is not only a celebration of the past 50 years of NAIDOC but also all the important milestones that have shaped this week into what it is today. The people who have come before, and the big changes that have happened to ensure the week is Community-led and fully dedicated to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
NAIDOC POSTERS AS PILLARS FOR ADVOCACY
If you look at the NAIDOC Poster Gallery, you will see 53 beautiful posters dating back to 1972. These posters celebrate and showcase different themes of NAIDOC.
These posters feature images and artwork of our Old People and showcase the different things we have fought for over the years. Each NAIDOC poster and theme is a smaller campaign for social justice, part of a bigger fight against racism and the ongoing effects of colonisation.
These posters call for equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, land rights, protection of sacred sites, Treaty, self determination, an end to child removal, and more.
They encourage Communities to speak up, stand up, protect Country, language, and culture. The themes and posters are a window into the many fights our Old People have carried for us and demonstrate the responsibility all Australians have to keep standing up for social justice.
“There are so many powerful messages in these posters,” says Shelley.
“The posters mean something to us. Some people think it may be tokenistic to display them, but it’s not. I want to walk into a space and see the celebration of NAIDOC. It makes me feel culturally safe, it feels like you're on this journey with us as an ally, and that you're doing the work to understand and connect to our truths and to our beauty as well.”
“My dad was on the 1982 poster, and his theme was Race For Life For a Race,” says Shelley.
The 1982 theme Race for Life For A Race was selected to complement the national focus on the Commonwealth Games in Brisbane. The message was simple: Australians nationally were racing to win the Commonwealth games, meanwhile Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are racing to protect our Communities, young people, our race.
“It's a big political statement. We're actually here in a race for our life as a race. So that was my dad's theme.” says Shelley.
And in 1983, Shelley was featured on the poster titled Let's Talk - We Have Something To Say connecting to the United Nations Year of World Communications. This photo of Shelley, her brother Aaron, and some ladies shows them using the Aboriginal method of telling traditional stories to young people with string. The theme demonstrates how Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and Communities have important ideas and knowledges to share.
“My dad and our family were featured both years because he was so highly regarded for the work that he was doing for our Community.”
It’s important as a nation that we take the time to remember those people, like Bob Ware, who came before us and continued the fights for our rights.
“I had a very powerful, staunch father who advocated for our people.”
HOW CAN AUSTRALIANS PARTICIPATE IN NAIDOC?
Some ideas from Shelley include:
- Heading to your local council’s website to see what events they have on
- Engaging in Community events in your area
- Getting to know the Traditional Owners of the lands you are based
- Get watching, reading, and learning from First Nations books, shows, movies and articles
- Head down to a NAIDOC march or festival in your city or town
- Check out the NAIDOC website for more ways to engage
INCORPORATING NAIDOC INTO EDUCATION
Beyond her work with the ILF, Shelley Ware created yearly SBS Learn NAIDOC Teacher Resources to provide educators with a range of activities for primary and secondary students. These resources will help you celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, perspectives, histories and stories in this in-depth guide, and the activities are aligned with the Australian Curriculum.
In her in-depth resources, Shelley provides guidance, activities, reading, listening and watching recommendations, and much more, for children from early-childhood all the way to years 9 and 10.
Learn more here: NAIDOC Teacher Resource by Shelley Ware.
However you engage in NAIDOC Week, its important to remember and engage in the strengths, knowledges and cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples throughout the year with the incredible resources and information that is available for your personal learning.
To learn more about NAIDOC Week, head to naidoc.org.au
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