NAIDOC Elders Lunch 2025

Our annual NAIDOC Elders Lunch is always a heartwarming event and this year’s function, on 15 July at Victoria Park, was our biggest one yet, bringing together Elders who access our services to celebrate and connect with community. 
 
Guests enjoyed performances by the Nunukul Yuggera Aboriginal Dance Company and the Wagga Torres Strait Islander Dance Company before hearing from our CEO Renee Blackman about the importance of their involvement and contributions to making our organisation what it is today. 
 
This year’s NAIDOC Week theme was ‘The Next Generation: Strength, Vision and Legacy’ and so we filmed the Deadly Kindy Jajumbora jarjums performing songs in Yugambeh language and played this at the event. Following this, Elders were invited to share their advice for future generations, which included: 
 
1) Always face life with a smile and positivity. You never know how much this can impact the lives of others. 

2) Keep strong in culture and strong in song and dance. 

3) Remember to eat your fruit and veggies. 

The Fringe Dwellers band brought the tunes over lunch and dessert and it didn’t take long for the dance floor to come alive.  

A few lucky winners walked away with beautiful hampers as raffle and bingo prizes and one guest, Aunty Pat, even donated a hand-knitted scarf as an extra prize. 

We had three huge cakes in an assortment of vanilla, lavender and lemon butter and the Elders took pieces home with them to enjoy later. The star cake on display featured artwork by the winner of our Youth Services Art Competition, Heather, showing the new generation learning from their Elders at a meeting place and highlighting the importance of passing on cultural knowledge and keeping culture strong as each new generation comes through. 
 
One guest was even moved to reach out via our website contact form after the event to share this feedback: “I would like to express my heartfelt thanks for the invitation to the NAIDOC luncheon. The fantastic venue, the brilliant entertainment and the food was to die for. Congratulations to the organisers, you have done a really great job.” 
 
Check out all the photos below!