NAIDOC Week is a celebration of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and a chance to acknowledge our history, culture and achievements.
The NAIDOC 2022 theme - Get Up! Stand Up! Show Up – focuses on the proud history of getting up, standing up, and showing up.
From the frontier wars and the earliest resistance fighters to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities fighting for change today this theme continues to be of singular importunate.
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.
For more than 60,000 years, Parramatta has been home to the Dharug peoples, the traditional custodians of the land we call the City of Parramatta today. The Dharug peoples have cared for and nurtured the habitat, land, and waters for thousands of generations, and maintain an ongoing connection to Parramatta and its surrounding areas.
Indigenous Australians continue to play a vital role in the ecological, economic, social and cultural life of Parramatta, while maintaining a distinct culture built on the principles of Caring for Country, the primacy of family, and the dignity and governance of Elders.
This year as part of our initiatives to acknowledge and show respect to our First Nations community, the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Flag will fly alongside the Australian National Flag on the Parramatta River foreshore. The flag will be raised during NAIDOC Week and continue to fly on an ongoing basis. It is also planned that the Aboriginal Flag and Torres Strait Islander Flag will also be flown at Town Hall, once renovations are complete.
The City is also preparing the official launch of the Firesticks Memorial at Queen’s Wharf Reserve. This work by artist Jason Wing recognises the sacrifices of our First Nations servicemen and women.
Emma Stockburn, Research Facilitator, City of Parramatta, 2022