{"id":856391,"date":"2026-08-15T17:42:16","date_gmt":"2026-08-15T17:42:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/856391\/"},"modified":"2026-08-15T17:42:16","modified_gmt":"2026-08-15T17:42:16","slug":"rhoda-roberts-pat-turner-among-winners-of-2026-national-naidoc-week-awards-in-alice-springs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/856391\/","title":{"rendered":"Rhoda Roberts, Pat Turner among winners of 2026 National NAIDOC Week Awards in Alice Springs"},"content":{"rendered":"

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the name and image of an Indigenous person who has died.<\/p>\n

An Indigenous trailblazer who helped guide some of Australia’s most iconic creative festivals has been recognised among the winners at tonight’s National NAIDOC Week Awards.<\/p>\n

The annual ceremony is described by organisers as an opportunity to highlight Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander excellence across Australia, and serve as a reminder of “this nation’s 65,000-year-old history”.<\/p>\n

Aunty Rhoda Roberts AO was posthumously honoured on Arrernte Country, where she won the 2026 Lifetime Achievement Award at the Mparntwe (Alice Springs) ceremony.<\/p>\n

Arts supremo, trailblazer Rhoda Roberts remembered<\/a><\/p>\n

Rhoda Roberts AO was the creative force behind Australia’s best-loved festivals, and helped bring Welcomes to Country into the modern era.<\/p>\n

It comes after the Widjabul Wieybal woman lost her battle with a rare type of ovarian cancer<\/a> earlier this year, prompting heartfelt tributes from political leaders and creative powerhouses alike.<\/p>\n

The judges said the award acknowledged Roberts for “elevating First Nations voices through storytelling, performance, creative direction and cultural leadership”.<\/p>\n

Referring to her work guiding festivals like Garma and Parrtjima, they described Roberts as “a visionary cultural leader whose influence transformed Australia’s artistic landscape”.<\/p>\n

National NAIDOC committee co-chair, Aunty Lynette Riley, said “Rhoda Roberts AO was a force \u2014 fearless, brilliant and deeply committed to community and culture”.<\/p>\n

“Her legacy will continue to inspire generations to come,” Professor Riley said.<\/p>\n

\"An<\/p>\n

Parrtjima curator Rhoda Roberts was posthumously honoured at this year’s ceremony. (ABC News: Saskia Mabin)<\/p>\n

Steven Satour, the committee’s other co-chair, said Roberts “embodied” this year’s NAIDOC theme, 50 Years of Deadly.<\/p>\n

“She showed our people that our stories belong everywhere \u2014 on stages, screens, in institutions and in the national conversation,” he said.<\/p>\n

“This recognition honours a lifetime of cultural leadership and the extraordinary legacy she leaves behind.”<\/p>\n

Roberts was among seven individuals and three groups to receive accolades at Saturday’s event.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Another major winner was 2026 Person of the Year recipient, Aunty Pat Turner AO.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

In 1972, Pat Turner became the first female community welfare officer for the Department of Aboriginal Affairs in Alice Springs. (Supplied: National Library of Australia)<\/p>\n

“Pat Turner AO is one of Australia’s most respected Aboriginal leaders, with more than 50 years dedicated to advancing the rights, wellbeing and self-determination of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples,” event organisers said.\u00a0<\/p>\n

“Her distinguished career spans senior public service roles, national policy reform, advocacy and community leadership at the highest levels.<\/p>\n

“As she enters retirement, Pat Turner AO leaves a legacy of transformational leadership, lifelong service and enduring impact.”<\/p>\n

In the 1990s, Ms Turner made history as the first Aboriginal person and the first woman to serve as chief executive of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Commission (ATSIC).\u00a0<\/p>\n

More recently, she helped negotiate and implement the National Agreement on Closing the Gap before stepping down from her latest leadership roles in March 2026<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Pat<\/p>\n

In addition to her formal roles, Pat Turner has also mentored generations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander leaders. (ABC News: Dayvis Heyne)<\/p>\n

This year’s National NAIDOC Week Awards also recognised the efforts of Indigenous elders Christine Corby AM and Stephen Hagan.<\/p>\n

Organisers described Mrs Corby as “a proud Gamilaraay woman and a highly respected leader in Aboriginal health who has driven transformative change in north-west New South Wales for nearly four decades”.\u00a0<\/p>\n

They said in her role leading Walgett Aboriginal Medical Service, she helped it grow from a small shopfront into “a vital community-controlled health service employing around 100 staff and delivering thousands of consultations each year”.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Christine Corby has been instrumental in the local health space, but is also involved in a number of other community initiatives. (ABC News: Kenji Sato)<\/p>\n

Meanwhile Dr Hagan, a proud Kullilli Kooma man from far south-west Queensland and dedicated family man, was recognised for his advocacy work.<\/p>\n

A key driver in rebranding Coon Cheese, and removing derogatory words from the Scrabble board game, the senior public servant and academic also brought racial discrimination cases against the then-Sky News program Outsiders, Channel 9’s Today Show, the Daily Mail and Krispy Kreme.<\/p>\n

Caitlyn Costello, Tyson Neal-Edwards, Kaylene Whiskey, Southern Aboriginal Corporation Ltd, The Murri School and Young Indigenous Women’s STEM Academy also won accolades at the Mparntwe ceremony.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Stephen Hagan has driven change to offensive public place names nationally and authored seven books. (ABC News: Zilla Gordon)<\/p>\n

Here’s the full list of 2026 winners:Lifetime Achievement: Aunty Rhoda Roberts AOPerson of the Year: Aunty Pat Turner AOFemale Elder of the Year: Mrs Christine Corby AMMale Elder of the Year: Dr Stephen HaganSportsperson of the Year: Ms Caitlyn CostelloYouth of the Year: Mr Tyson Neal-EdwardsCreative Talent Award: Ms Kaylene WhiskeyCaring for Country and Culture Award: Southern Aboriginal Corporation LtdEducation Award: The Aboriginal & Islander Independent Community School (The Murri School)Innovation Award: Young Indigenous Women’s STEM Academy<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander readers are advised that this article contains the name and image of an…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":856392,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[426594,64,63,107828,134,426596,426597,426593,426598,368693,426595,357560],"class_list":["post-856391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-aboriginal-awards","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-award-winners","tag-entertainment","tag-first-nations-advocate","tag-first-nations-award","tag-indigenous-awards","tag-indigenous-leader","tag-naidoc","tag-naidoc-awards","tag-naidoc-week"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=856391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/856391\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/856392"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=856391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=856391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=856391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}