Attention ECEC - NAIDOC Week 2022 theme and dates announced

The theme for NAIDOC Week 2022 has been announced, and all Australians are encouraged to Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! for systemic change.

“Whether it’s seeking proper environmental, cultural and heritage protections, Constitutional change, a comprehensive process of truth-telling, working towards treaties, or calling out racism — we must do it together,” a NAIDOC spokesperson said. NAIDOC Week is an important occasion in the early childhood education and care (ECEC) community, with the approved learning frameworks asking educators to build upon children’s understandings of diversity, specifically Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures.

Ideally, NAIDOC week is a time for ECEC services to reflect upon their journey in developing their cultural competence and building on the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives in their programs. However for those services who are just beginning to explore Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander perspectives, NAIDOC week can be the impetus for the start of a cultural competence journey.

It’s also time to celebrate the many who have driven and led change in First Nations communities over generations, acknowledging that they have been the heroes and champions of change, of equal rights and even basic human rights.

Getting Up, Standing Up, and Showing Up can take many forms.

“We need to move beyond just acknowledgement, good intentions, empty words and promises, and hollow commitments. Enough is enough,” information from NAIDOC noted.

“The relationship between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and non‑Indigenous Australians needs to be based on justice, equity, and the proper recognition of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights. Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up! with us to amplify our voices and narrow the gap between aspiration and reality, good intent and outcome.”

For a reflection on the role of NAIDOC Week in ECEC communities, see here. For resources and ideas to support the respectful inclusion of First Nations cultures in relation to Outcome One of the approved learning frameworks, see here.