The 2025 NAIDOC theme, The Next Generation: Strength, Vision, and Legacy, is a call to recognise the leadership, cultural knowledge, and collective action that continue across generations. 

Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Australia today welcomes the ACT Government’s decision to raise the minimum age of criminal responsibility to 14 years, describing it as a significant and long-overdue step toward a justice system that is more developmentally and culturally appropriate for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children and young people.

Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Australia welcomes the release of the first Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander-led Review of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap. This Review marks the first time Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples have led a national assessment on how the National Agreement of Closing the Gap is being implemented. 

Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Australia (Gayaa Dhuwi) welcomes the candid assessment of a fragmented and failing system in the Productivity Commission’s interim report on the National Mental Health and Suicide Prevention Agreement.   

Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Australia congratulates the Australian Labor Party on their success in securing a majority government in the 2025 Federal Election. Gayaa Dhuwi acknowledges Labor’s increased focus and proposed investments in mental health during the election campaign.  

While Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Australia welcomes the 2025-2026 Federal Budget, it is disappointed to see that it didn’t include a sustained commitment to social and emotional wellbeing, mental health, and suicide prevention across Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities.  

The Close the Gap Campaign has released its annual report, emphasising the importance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander agency and leadership in driving critical reform to close the gap in health and wellbeing outcomes.

The Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Declaration Framework and Implementation Plan was launched today in Meanjin (Brisbane) on the lands of the Turrbal and Yuggera peoples, setting a 10-year roadmap to embed Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leadership, cultural strength, and best practices into Australia’s mental health system.

In December, on Kuarna Country in Adelaide, in partnership with the Australian government, Gayaa Dhuwi officially launched the renewed National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Suicide Prevention Strategy. Led by Gayaa Dhuwi, the renewal of the 2013 NATSISPS has been overseen by an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Governance Committee and a Steering Committee.

As Australia Day approaches, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander mental health organisations are urging increased attention to the social and emotional wellbeing and mental health of our communities.

Australia’s leading mental health organisations believe the proposed social media ban will risk cutting young people across Australia off from mental health support, exposing them to new harms and leaving many without any support.

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people should have every opportunity to live happy and fulfilling lives. Instead, too many of our families are struggling with mental health challenges, continuing grief and trauma, and suicide.

For Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Australia every day is World Suicide Prevention Day, as it works towards zero suicides amongst Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

Following today’s release of the updated Closing the Gap Data Dashboard and Annual Data Compilation Report, Gayaa Dhuwi (Proud Spirit) Australia is calling for governments to do more under the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.