Diocesan News
National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is observed annually across Australia from May 27 to June 3 and Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday is usually observed on the first Sunday of NAIDOC week with NAIDOC week celebrated each year in early July.
These observations are times for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.
The theme for National Reconciliation Week 2026 was All In, a call for all Australians to commit wholeheartedly to reconciliation every single day. All In makes clear that reconciliation is not a spectator sport and that all of us must step away from the sidelines and take action to make change.
The theme also reminds us that reconciliation and advancing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights isn’t a passive activity, and it is not solely the responsibility of First Nations people, who have carried the weight of championing, explaining and acting for far too long. Reconciliation will not happen by itself, and it will not happen without all of us.
The celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sunday (July 5) is promoted by the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholic Council (NATSICC) which is the peak Advisory Body to the Australian Catholic Bishops on issues relating to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Catholics. This year the theme is Walking together in Christ – 40 years on. We mark 40 years since St Pope John Paul II spoke to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples in Alice Springs, and we celebrate 50 years of NAIDOC Week. These milestones are more than anniversaries — they are reminders of enduring faith, resilience, and our shared call to walk together. At times, it is important to look back. Not to dwell in the past, but to recognise the path that has been travelled — to see the strength, the challenges, and the grace that have carried us forward. In this, we trust in God’s providence, present in every step of our journey.
Our theme, Walking Together in Christ: 40 Years On!, speaks to this moment. It calls us to continue the journey with humility and hope – listening deeply, and walking side by side as one Body in Christ, guided by the Holy Spirit. Across this land, the Church is enriched by the cultures and voices of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. Their spirituality, connection to Country, and deep sense of community continue to shape and strengthen the life of the Church in Australia. As St Pope John Paul II reminded us, the Church is enriched by the many cultures it embraces. This is not something we simply acknowledge – it is something we are called to live.
National NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia in the first week of July each year (Sunday to Sunday), 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.
For five decades, NAIDOC Week (July 5-12,2026) 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.
NAIDOC has always been more than a week — it’s a platform, a protest, a celebration, and a statement of survival. This moment is about looking back at the stories, the marches, the languages, the art, the leadership. At the strength it took to get here. It’s about recognising how far we’ve come, not by chance, but because generations of people refused to be silenced.
It’s also about the here and now, who we are today. Grounded in culture. Strong in our identity. Leading change across every field, from health and education to media, business, and the arts. We’re telling our own stories, in our own way, on our own terms.
And it’s about the future. The next 50 years. The young ones growing up proud. The return of language. The return to Country. The fight for justice continuing with new tools, new voices, and the same fire.
Fifty Years of Deadly is a marker, not just of time passed, but of the momentum still building. It’s proof of what our people build when culture leads and community comes first. NAIDOC belongs to mob. It always has. We honour what came before by continuing the work. This is our story. This is our celebration. This is our future. Still deadly. Always.
Celebrating Dr Deanne Gilson
Dr Deanne Gilson is a Proud Wadawurrung woman living on her ancestral Country of Ballarat which is located in Australia. Her award-winning multi-disciplinary art practice has spanned forty years full time creating through painting, clay (sculptural installation), fashion & textile design, photography, drawing and recently being included as an upcoming Blak Jewellery Designer.
Celebrating her continued living culture through art and design that revives traditional marks used by Wadawurrung family, contemporary ceremonial business and including oral stories like her Creation Story. She depicts many indigenous plants, trees, birds, often painting endangered species to highlight the importance of taking care of the land and all living things. Working with the notion that time is traversed and all is connected through layers of Dja (Country), from the Cosmos, to Sky to Under Country. Alongside the issues faced by Aboriginal women stemming from the white male and female colonial gaze.
Deanne highlights the beauty of Dja through use of natural ochres sourced by herself on Wadawurrung Dja. While at the same time challenging colonial patriarchal views, including those expressed in the arts and crafts of early Australia. Her contemporary art practice is an attempt to revive and regain the presence of cultural identity, but also to play a deeper role in preserving and highlighting cultural practices and symbology, thereby awakening culture once again.
Stating that “my practice aims to demonstrate the way in which contemporary Aboriginal women’s art and business, including sacred and spiritual aspects, is evolving in response to the current social and political environment. We are reclaiming, reinvigorating, teaching our children, and unravelling the trauma caused by the invasion of our Country”.
Her artwork has recently been collected by the Koorie Heritage Trust and the National Gallery of Victoria and held in many other public and private collections throughout the world.
The Catholic Diocese of Ballarat recently had the honour of Deanne delivering the Welcome to Country at Bishop Mark Freeman’s ordination, respectfully acknowledging the Traditional Custodians of the land and paying tribute to their enduring cultural and spiritual connection to Country, setting a meaningful and inclusive tone for the significant occasion.
More about Deanne can be found at this link – https://www.deannegilson.com/