NAIDOC Week 2025: Honouring 50 years with strength, vision and legacy

Early childhood services across Australia are preparing to mark 50 years of NAIDOC Week, with the 2025 theme The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy offering educators a powerful opportunity to reflect, connect and lead with intent.

Running from 6–13 July, this year’s NAIDOC Week is more than a milestone. It is a call to action that invites the early childhood education and care (ECEC) sector to recognise the importance of cultural continuity, elevate children’s voices and actively contribute to a stronger, more inclusive future.

This year’s theme builds on the momentum of 2024’s Keep the fire burning, continuing the movement that began in 1975 a movement grounded in the pursuit of recognition, justice and equality for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

From its beginnings as a week of protest and activism, NAIDOC has evolved into a national celebration of cultural strength, resilience and pride supported by both mob and allies.

The 2025 NAIDOC theme centres around four key elements each deeply relevant to the ECEC sector.

The next generation

Our children are the reason we do this work. Amid political shifts and policy changes, educators remain constantly creating safe, inclusive learning environments and nurturing children’s identity, agency and belonging.

Strength

The strength of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples is drawn from culture, community and kin. It is this strength that NAIDOC celebrates and this strength that educators can help instil in the next generation.

Vision

NAIDOC 2025 invites us to reflect on the shared vision of self-determination, unity and respect. 

Legacy

What will we pass on to the children we teach today? This year’s theme asks for consideration on the groundwork we are laying and the legacy we are building both as individuals and as a sector.

Bringing NAIDOC into early learning settings

Torres Strait Islander artist Deb Belyea, who designed the 2024 NAIDOC poster, emphasises the importance of cultural immersion from a young age.

“Our children thrive when immersed in culture; it gives them strength, confidence and a strong sense of identity,” Ms Belyea said.

For services looking to mark the occasion meaningfully, Ms Hoger suggests several approaches:

• Engage with community: Invite First Nations educators, artists or Elders to share culture through storytelling, music, art or traditional games.
• Celebrate the journey: Showcase NAIDOC posters from previous years and create a visual timeline of key moments in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander history.
• Read for reconciliation: Curate a classroom library of diverse First Nations picture books and intentionally explore their stories with children.
• Explore the artwork: Display the 2025 NAIDOC poster and support children to learn about the artist and cultural significance behind the design.
• Encourage reflection: Create a collaborative artwork that invites children to express their hopes for the future and what matters most to them.
• Get involved locally: Attend NAIDOC events in your community and share your celebrations online to amplify visibility and connection.

This year’s theme is both a celebration and a challenge to think beyond one week and consider the long-term impact of how we teach, learn and lead.

For early learning professionals, NAIDOC 2025 is a moment to honour where we’ve come from and walk forward with purpose empowering the next generation to carry the fire into the future.

For more advice about acknowledging NAIDOC Week in ECEC services please visit here and access resources here.