50 Years Strong: SBS and NITV supercharge NAIDOC Week 2025 with a joint 50th celebration

As SBS and NAIDOC Week mark 50 years, NITV and SBS unleash a powerhouse lineup for 2025 to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

L-R: Comedian Jay Wymarra, bestselling author Samantha Martin AKA Bush Tukka Woman and Nornie Bero in The Cook Up's NAIDOC episode. Credit: Jiwon Kim

Recognising the significant contributions of the world’s oldest continuous culture, and providing distinctive and authentic Indigenous perspectives, the extensive line-up for NAIDOC Week’s 50th anniversary includes a laugh-out-loud entertainment series, timely news and current affairs programs and compelling documentaries for all Australians.

This year, SBS is exploring the official 2025 NAIDOC Week theme, "The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy".

SBS and NITV’s impressive multiplatform and multilingual offering includes Big Backyard Quiz, a talent-led series hosted by journalist Narelda Jacobs OAM and comedian Steven Oliver, with special guests Meyne Wyatt (The Moogai, We Are Still Here), Shari Sebbens (The Moogai, Little J & Big Cuz), Matt Okine, Nina Oyama, Rhys Nicholson and Emma Holland starring in episode one.

Additional guests for the season include screen icons Ernie Dingo, Rove McManus, Tasma Walton, Peter Rowsthorn and more. Big Backyard Quiz premieres on Saturday 12 July at 7.30pm on NITV and SBS On Demand, challenging contestants to see who knows the most about the people and history of Australia from a Blak lens.

10 News First's Narelda Jacobs and comedian Steven Oliver on the set of 'Big Backyard Quiz' in Perth. Credit: Rebecca Mansell

Ablaze is an incredible documentary from opera singer Tiriki Onus, who finds a 70-year-old silent film believed to be made by his grandfather, Aboriginal leader and filmmaker Bill Onus. As Tiriki travels across the continent and pieces together clues to the film’s origins, he discovers more about Bill, his fight for Aboriginal rights and the price he paid for speaking out. Ablaze premieres on NITV and SBS On Demand on Sunday 6 July at 8.30pm.

Emily: I Am Kam is a revelatory portrait of the trailblazing artist Emily Kam Kngwarray, from the Utopia community in the Northern Territory, whose work reshaped the international contemporary art world. The documentary, produced by Tamarind Tree Pictures and directed by Danielle McLean (Barrumbi Kids), premieres on NITV and SBS On Demand on Wednesday 9 July at 8.30pm, and on SBS on Saturday 12 July at 8.30pm, following its world premiere at Sydney Film Festival in June.

The opening of the Emily Kam Kngwarray exhibition NGA December 2023 The work behind is "A Summer Project: Utopia Women's Paintings” 1988/89. L-R, Front Row: Jean Kngwarray Long, Margaret Kngwarray Long, Kelli Cole, Louisa Kngwarray Long, Jedda Kngwarray Purvis. L-R, Back Row: Sophia Lunn, Dr Jennifer Green. Front Row: Josie Petyarr Kunoth, Melissa Kngwarray Long.

Weekly flagship Indigenous news and current affairs programs Living Black, and The Point will also premiere special NAIDOC Week episodes. Karla Grant interviews the legendary Evonne Goolagong Cawley AC MBE, while John Paul Janke speaks to youth about this year’s NAIDOC theme, exploring what it’s like to carry the name of an Indigenous leader into future generations.

Throughout the week, SBS Food is proud to present NAIDOC themed episodes of The Cook Up with guest host Nornie Bero (Island Echoes with Nornie Bero), premiering weekdays from Monday 7 July to Wednesday 9 July at 7pm. Nornie will share stories and create incredible dishes with guests including entertainer Jay Wymarra, the ‘Bush Tukka Woman’ Samantha Martin, comedian Andy Saunders, and journalist Rae Johnston (Going Places with Ernie Dingo and The Secret DNA of Us).

SBS World Movies will host a curated collection of acclaimed Australian cinema telling Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ stories from Monday 7 to Friday 11 July at 9.30pm. This includes Sweet As, Mad Bastards, Walkabout, Bran Nue Dae and The New Boy.

Living Black NAIDOC episode with tennis icon Evonne Goolagong-Cawley AC MBE.

Students around Australia can discover more through SBS Learn’s popular NAIDOC Week education resource, authored by proud Yankunyjatjara, Kokatha and Wirangu woman Shelley Ware. This is the seventh National NAIDOC Week curriculum-aligned education resource developed by Shelley for SBS Learn. It is a valuable and culturally informed online teaching guide featuring activities, discussion prompts and videos to enable teachers to embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander perspectives into primary and secondary classrooms all year-round.

SBS’s National NAIDOC Week project proudly continues the work set out in SBS’s Elevate Reconciliation Action Plan 2022-2026. This plan outlines SBS’s commitment to reflecting, exploring and embedding First Nations stories, knowledges, cultures and languages across the network, and to connecting the oldest continuous culture on Earth with the newest Australians. 

The NAIDOC Week Collection, including Shelley Ware Guest Curates and more, will live on the NITV Muy Ngulayg hub, a dedicated streaming hub on SBS On Demand that provides a platform for First Nations storytelling including First Nations films, documentaries and TV series from Australia and around the world that illuminate inner knowledge, traditional culture and lore.

SBS will share news and information in more than 60 languages across the network this NAIDOC Week.

Multilingual and multiplatform coverage through SBS Audio shares First Nations perspectives, celebrates cultures, knowledges and history, and showcases SBS’s unique ability to connect the newest Australians with the world’s oldest living continuous culture.

The SBS Audio offering includes videos, podcasts and articles in Filipino, Vietnamese and Urdu, and a special NAIDOC Week explainer video in Arabic, English, Greek, Mandarin, Punjabi and Vietnamese.

Join the conversation on Facebook, Instagram and TikTok using #NAIDOC2025.