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The achievements of 10 Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people have been recognised in the 2024 NAIDOC awards.
The awards, held each July and this year in Adelaide, recognise the contributions of First Nations people in their communities and celebrate Indigenous excellence.
Minister for Indigenous Australians Linda Burney has congratulated each of the winners, who were chosen from a field of 28 finalists.
She has highlighted this year's theme, 'Blak, Loud and Proud', as more relevant than ever.
"And as a theme for NAIDOC says, keep the fire burning. It is the best theme that could possibly happen. Keep the fire burning blak, loud and proud. This year, it's important for us to gather and celebrate black excellence to marvel everyone at the world's oldest continuing culture, 65,000 years of resilience and 65,000 years of greatness."
Aunty Dulcie Flowers has spent her life advocating for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people's health, and has received the National Lifetime Achievement Award in recognition of her accomplishments.
The Torres Strait Islander woman started her career in health as a registered nurse, and later helped establish the Aboriginal Medical Centre in Redfern.
Through her work, Ms Flowers played a pivotal role in the 1967 referendum campaign, which advocated for First Nations people to be counted in the census and to be considered part of the Australian population.
She says this award is for all of her colleagues and their work as well.
"We used to watch people getting awards from all around Australia and we thought when it's going to be Redfern's turn to get something. So this is also for Redfern now, the theme, keep the fires burning and black, loud and proud. And I think we've all had loud voices. Our voices at long last to being heard."
The NAIDOC person of the year is Aunty Muriel Bamblett, a Yorta Yorta Elder.
As the chief executive of the Victorian Aboriginal Child Care Agency since 1999, Ms Bamblett has advocated for Indigenous children to be raised within their own culture.
She has made special mention for those working in public service.
"To all the people that work in the public service, to all the people that serve every day our people in policy and education and justice, and family violence, child protection. I honor you because this award would not be possible without all of those areas working together for better outcomes."
Kim Collard has been named Male Elder of the Year.
Kim first worked as a boilermaker and a Western Australian police officer before joining academia for a decade at Curtin University and later founding two of Australia largest Indigenous-owned businesses, Kulbardi and Kooya Australia Fleet Services.
In 2014 Kim founded The Bibbulmun Fund, an Indigenous-led philanthropic initiative designed to facilitate positive change by Aboriginal people, for Aboriginal people and raised $1.4 million to support 19 charitable organisations across Australia.
"Like many of us in the Aboriginal community, not too many of us were born with silver spoons in our mouths. I've been lucky enough to have established two very successful businesses in Kulbardi and Kooya Australia Fleet Services, and that has allowed me to establish our own foundational philanthropic arm called the Bibbulmun Fund. And it's the Bibbulmun Fund that was established in 2014 that was always designed to give back, and the mantra was always about make a dollar difference."
A common theme during the awards has been keeping the fire burning for the youth.
With Indigenous youth in focus, there was a warm welcome for the winner of the Youth of the Year award, Dante Rodrigues.
Dante started fighting at just 12 years old and was the first Aboriginal kickboxer and territorian to represent Australia at an Olympic level, where he brought home silver.
"These mob called me up about 3 months ago, and they were interviewing me for this event now, and then they said it for the first time. I never heard it back then, but they asked me black, loud, and proud, keep the fire burning. Now what does that mean to you? And the first time hearing it, I didn't really know what to say or understand it. At first, I was like, yeah, well, we're black. We're normally the loudest ones in the room, and we're proud of who we are and those who came before us. But there's much more to that, isn't there? Everyone in this room has done their part to keep the fire burning for their mob, for their country, and for their own values all across Australia."
The National NAIDOC Week Awards will be travelling to Perth next year.
