NAIDOC Week: ‘Galvanise change and shape the future’

For Dr Karen Nicholls, NAIDOC Week is an opportunity to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people, to see how they are thriving, and to recognise their strengths.
 
‘For me, NAIDOC has become a week to celebrate Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander strength and resilience and the contribution that Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have made to the broader community,’ the Chair of RACGP Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health told newsGP.
 
‘Also, the significant contributions Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have made to their own communities in terms of healthcare.
 
‘I look forward to the celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander doctors, nurses, midwives, allied health professionals, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health practitioners and workers.’
 
The 2025 NAIDOC Week theme is ‘The next generation: Strength, vision and legacy’ – a celebration of not only the achievements of the past, but what is to come.
 
Held across Australia in the first week of July annually, this year’s NAIDOC celebrations mark a significant milestone: 50 years of ‘honouring and elevating Indigenous voices, culture, and resilience’.
 
Speaking to NAIDOC Week’s 2025 theme, Dr Nicholls said younger people are ‘extremely important’ in progressing outcomes for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health.
 
‘The generations that are coming through, they’re just so impressive, they understand the broader context much better than I did when I was younger, and are able to navigate those spaces,’ she said.
 
‘They’re really clear in what they want to achieve and how it should be achieved; I see such strength, and I really enjoy watching the pride of our next generation coming through.
 
‘They also have a sense that things can be different and should be different, and they want to see that change, and they want to be that change.’
 
The RACGP is hosting a NAIDOC Week webinar featuring Dr Nicholls. She will be joined at the event by Wiradjuri woman and GP Dr Anita Watts, student representative for the college’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Health Council, Bianca Crowder, and Juru woman, GP and Joint Colleges Training Services medical educator Dr Jacinta Power.
 
Ms Crowder said NAIDOC Week is a ‘fantastic way’ to celebrate, to look forward, and to amplify the importance of having a voice.
 
‘This year’s theme is particularly important because it’s about legacy and the power of the next generation to be heard and to inspire others,’ she told newsGP.
 
‘That’s one of my goals – to galvanise change and shape the future, and I believe we all have the power to do that.’
 
Ms Crowder said it is a ‘privilege’ to be in the healthcare industry, saying it has given her the opportunity to empower others.
 
‘You can do that both in practice, but also in terms of advocacy work, and that’s something that I’m really passionate about,’ she said.
 
‘In healthcare, particularly in medicine, people have the power to advocate for change and address national issues, and that’s something I believe the medical profession in particular has capacity to advocate for.’
 
Ms Crowder said the national cost-of-living crisis is one advocacy area she is passionate about addressing, as access to an adequate standard of living ‘is a human right by international convention’.
 
‘This crisis, combined with Australia’s hidden poverty, should be a national priority that needs to be addressed,’ she said.
 
‘I believe the medical profession has that capacity and responsibility to advocate for change in this area because of the direct implications for population health, including for First Nations communities.’
 
NAIDOC Week events will continue across the country from 6–13 July.
 
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Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander health NAIDOC Week