NAIDOC Week 2024
Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud
The theme of NAIDOC Week 2024 celebrates the unyielding spirit of our communities and invites all to stand in solidarity, amplifying the voices that have long been silenced. The fire represents the enduring strength and vitality of Indigenous cultures, passed down through generations despite the challenges faced.
At Curtin, this spirit of resilience and determination glows throughout our Centre for Aboriginal Studies (CAS). Established 50 years ago – and the first university school dedicated to Aboriginal tertiary education and research in Australia – CAS is well recognised by its logo, the curled Karda (goanna), representing the continuity of life. Dedicated to the memory of Nyungar elder and resistance leader Midgegoroo, the Centre’s lobby is also a visual tribute that embodies the spirit of ‘Blak, Loud and Proud’.
NAIDOC week 2024
National NAIDOC Week is celebrated across Australia in the first week of July each year (Sunday to Sunday). It honors the history, culture, and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.
Centre for Aboriginal Studies (CAS)
The Centre for Aboriginal Studies (CAS) offers a culturally safe learning environment for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students, as well as non-Indigenous students and staff.
Cultural immersion education and training
Curtin’s cultural immersion education is designed for industry and community organisations to develop an in-depth awareness and appreciation of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural practices, knowledge and history.
Planet Positive action inspired by Brittany Winter
Brittany Winter, is a proud young woman of Wiradjuri Descent, living on Whadjuk Noongar Country while studying applied sciences at Curtin University’s Centre for Aboriginal Studies. She is also a student champion for Curtin’s new Planet Positive Program which aims to tackle climate change and other environmental challenges.
Curtin scholarship clears a pathway for healing
A Curtin student who spent years working through her healing alone is watching her path unfold into a career helping others heal their trauma. At the end of this year, Renna Gayde, a Walbuja Woman from the Yuin Nation in New South Wales, will start her career in social work, with the goal of healing the relationship between the social work profession and First Nations Peoples.
Progressing reconciliation
At Curtin, we have a long history of leading reconciliation in higher education. We have been delivering education programs with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples since the 1970s, and in 2008 joined the national Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) program, becoming the first teaching and research institution to develop and implement a RAP.
We have since continued our commitment to reconciliation by supporting the Uluru Statement from the Heart. We will continue to listen to First Nations peoples as we map out the next steps in our reconciliation journey.
