NAIDOC WEEK 2023: For Our Elders

National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia in the first week of July each year to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC Week is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about First Nations cultures and histories and participate in celebrations of the oldest, continuous living cultures on earth.  

The NAIDOC Committee states the intent behind the theme of this year’s NAIDOC week, ‘For our Elders’:  

“We draw strength from their knowledge and experience, in everything from land management, cultural knowledge to justice and human rights. Across multiple sectors like health, education, the arts, politics and everything in between, they have set the many courses we follow.  The struggles of our Elders help to move us forward today. The equality we continue to fight for is found in their fight. Their tenacity and strength has carried the survival of our people.  It is their influence and through their learnings that we must ensure that when it comes to future decision making for our people, there is nothing about us – without us.”  

For Fresh Hope Communities, we have a commitment across all our services to seek the views, wisdom and understanding of our First Nations people, particularly as we undertake new developments. 

Glyn Williams, who along with other members of our Exec Team, spearheads our work in this area, shared why this is an important week for us to acknowledge.   

 “Fresh Hope Communities currently has several substantial building projects underway. As part of the planning process and development of our design principles, Fresh Hope Communities undertakes several interactions with First Nations people, including drawing on the wisdom of Elders. The design principles can then include acknowledgement of First Nations people through for example, the forms of landscaping, signage and meeting spaces, to create an ongoing connection with community and country for education and storytelling.” 

For more information about NAIDOC week or to support activities and events in your local area here. 

We acknowledge the Traditional Custodians of the Country where we work. We pay our respects to Elders past and present and extend that respect to all First Nations people present today.