Darebin Schools NAIDOC Yarning Conference

October

The Darebin Schools NAIDOC Yarning Conference is a chance for primary school students to learn about Aboriginal histories and cultures and truth-telling, directly from local Elders and Indigenous organisations.

Held every year in October, the conference picks up the annual NAIDOC Week theme and transforms it into a fun and powerful learning journey for students from primary schools across Darebin.

From Caring for Country, dance, art-making including weaving, music, Traditional Games and so much more, Aboriginal Elders and community leaders take students on a fun and powerful learning journey, to become leaders and change makers, with each year’s NAIDOC theme guiding the way.

There were four overall themes to the 2025 conference that deepened our exploration of the NAIDOC theme ‘The Next Generation: Strength, Vision & Legacy’.

These themes were:

• The NAIDOC theme, with a focus on the posters of the past 50 years of NAIDOC.
• Truth-telling, including Uncle William Barak’s walk to Parliament for Corranderk and self-determination in 1881 and the Walk for Truth in 2025 led by Travis Lovett, former Commissioner of the Yoorrook Justice Commission.
• The meaning of Welcome to Country ceremonies and what happened on Anzac Day 2025.
• Peer learning. Learning from each other, from the poetry, posters and art works by students from past Yarning Conferences.

See some photos from the 2025 Darebin Schools NAIDOC Yarning Conference.