The ABC will celebrate the continuous culture and achievements of the world’s oldest living storytellers across NAIDOC Week, from 8-15 November, with new documentaries, podcasts and live performances by Indigenous artists such as Thelma Plum, Emma Donovan and Kutcha Edwards.
In line with this year’s NAIDOC Week theme “Always Was, Always Will Be”, the ABC will celebrate more than 65,000 years of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, history and stories across television, radio and online.
Live events
The ABC is the host broadcaster of the University of Sydney’s 20th anniversary of the and will livestream the event on the and University of Sydney Facebook pages and ABC Australia Facebook and sites, on 12 November at 8pm AEDT. A recording of the oration by Pat Turner, a Gurdanji and Arrernte woman, accompanied by live performances by Paul Kelly and the Barayagal Choir, will be broadcast on ABC TV on Saturday 14 November at 2.30pm.
To celebrate NAIDOC Week and Ausmusic Month, triple j will broadcast a special live concert of performing in Brisbane on Live At The Wireless on Monday 9 November at 8pm and Sunday 15 November at 5pm, as Plum brings her debut album Better in Blak to life, backed by a stellar line-up of special guests.
ABC Melbourne will present a special featuring Kutcha Edwards, Kee’ahn and Emma Donovan and The Putbacks to be broadcast across Australia on ABC Radio on 10 November from 2pm and the ABC Facebook and YouTube sites from 8pm.
Television
NAIDOC Week collection of programs will feature works from emerging Indigenous screen storytellers, produced in partnership with Screen Australia, plus recent documentaries The Australian Dream, FREEMAN and In My Blood It Runs.
on iview features Indigenous-led content such as Little J & Big Cuz and Play School Story Time. ABC ME and ABC Kids will also broadcast “good morning” messages in Indigenous languages from across Australia, in line with the ABC’s to bring Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander languages and voices into the national conversation.
Music show will celebrate NAIDOC Week with performances by Indigenous artists such as Archie Roach, Tasman Keith, Briggs and Christine Anu, on Sunday 8 November at 6pm. Also on the music front, Indigenous rapper Briggs will take over the couch on 14 November from 11.30am to midday and 11.54pm to 5am, while new ABC Music album , released on 6 November, features young Indigenous artists reimagining iconic songs.
will explore Australia’s native flora and hear stories from a D’harawal Elder on connecting to land and nature, on Friday 6 November at 7.30pm.
New documentary will follow the 2018 ³Ô¹ÏÍøÕ¾ Indigenous Cricket Team as they tour the United Kingdom, retracing the steps of the 1868 Aboriginal cricket team – Australia’s first sports team to tour overseas – on Tuesday 10 November at 8.30pm.
Radio
ABC Radio will showcase the talents of Indigenous artists across NAIDOC Week and Ausmusic Month. triple j will kick off the week with a healing and welcome performance by the Muggera Cultural Group and will present an Unearthed NAIDOC Week collaboration with Kee’ahn, Kobie Dee and River Boy working together on a new song. will also feature 24 hours of music from First Nations artists on Saturday 14 November, while Double J will host and a Kev Carmody J Files.
and will start each morning with Acknowledgements of Country, while ABC Classic will also feature and live and studio recordings by Indigenous musicians each day at 1pm across NAIDOC Week. ABC Classic has also launched the virtual , featuring a new carol commissioned by the ABC from Deborah Cheetham, a Yorta soprano and composer.
ABC RN will celebrate Indigenous leaders, artists and performers across multiple programs, including ‘s coverage of the Dr Charles Perkins Oration and special interviews on , and – which will showcase the best of Indigenous theatre in 2020.
RN’s will look at Indigenous-led efforts to tackle the crisis of youth suicide, on Sunday 8 November at 12.30pm. Also on RN, (Wednesday 11 November at 11.30am) will ask whether Aboriginal political concepts can be accommodated by political liberalism, while ‘s feature “The Scholar’s Hut” will explore the training ground for some of Australia’s leading civil rights activists (Tuesday 10 November at 11am).
Podcasts
Gripping new ABC investigative podcast will reveal the story behind the 1993 death in custody of Aboriginal teenager Daniel Yock, which sparked anger fueled by decades of bad blood between Brisbane police and the local Indigenous community. The six-part investigation, presented by Walkley Award-winning journalist Allan Clarke (), will be available on the ABC listen app from 8 November.
ABC Kids listen podcast will present a special Indigenous episode with guest host Miriam Corowa, featuring stories on Deadly Science, Indigenous veterans on Remembrance Day and the Mad Proppa Deadly music camp. ABC Kids listen program will also feature Indigenous lullabies commissioned as part of the .
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.
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