This year marks 50 years of NAIDOC Week. In honour of this milestone, the 2026 theme is ‘50 Years of Deadly’ – paying homage to the “community, culture and leadership across generations” over the past five decades.
As the National NAIDOC Committee explains here, the week pays attention to the “stories, the marches, the languages, the art, the leadership” of Indigenous people over the years, and also “the strength it took to get here” across various generations who “refused to be silenced”.
“It’s also about the here and now, who we are today. Grounded in culture. Strong in our identity. Leading change across every field, from health and education to media, business, and the arts. We’re telling our own stories, in our own way, on our own terms.”
When it comes to leading change in Australia’s media landscape, Karla Grant is a name that comes to mind. Storytelling has always been at the heart of her work as a Walkley Award-winning journalist, producer and presenter. The proud Western Arrernte woman hosts Living Black each week, Australia’s longest-running Indigenous current affairs TV program – and in 2026, the program celebrates 23 years on air with Grant as host and EP.
Grant’s passion for thoughtful storytelling and reporting began when she was young.
“Ever since I was a teenager growing up in Adelaide, I’d always wanted to be a journalist because I’d seen a lot of injustice being faced by my own family, and other First Nations families and people in our community,” she told Refinery29 Australia in 2023.
“I just had this strong sense of social justice when I was quite young. I saw things that I didn’t feel were right and I thought, I really wanted to do something about it.”
In 2026, NAIDOC Week encourages looking back over the past 50 years. It may be 23 years since she’s been a host and EP of Living Black, but Grant has now cast her mind back another two decades. She takes us back to 1983, when she was on the cusp of adulthood, pursuing an arts degree, and about to make her mark in a very different way – all the while connecting with her culture and community.
“In 1983 I entered the Miss NAIDOC Pageant in Canberra. It was held in the weeks leading up to NAIDOC Week in July of 1983. I was a reserved 17-year-old and had moved to Canberra from Adelaide earlier in the year to go to university,” Grant tells Missing Perspectives.
During the 80s and 90s, Miss NAIDOC was a competition, typically held alongside the NAIDOC ball. The pageant was different to the Miss NAIDOC Perth program we know of today, which is a six-week leadership and empowerment program for young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women in Perth. It was launched in 2010 by model and activist Shannon McGuire and her Aunty Glenda Kickett.
While the Miss NAIDOC program has evolved, the themes around womanhood, confidence and connection are common threads between the formats now and then.
“My dear aunty, who I was living with, encouraged me to enter Miss NAIDOC because she thought it would be good for my self-esteem and confidence, as well as a way of connecting with other young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander women,” says Grant.
“All entrants needed a sponsor and mine was the NAC (National Aboriginal Conference). We had a week of lunches and interviews to attend where our general knowledge on Aboriginal affairs was tested. Then the big night came, a special event at the start of NAIDOC Week, and I was crowned Miss NAIDOC 1983!”
Winning the title involved attending several events, and Grant fondly recalls being “excited and nervous” to meet then-prime minister Bob Hawke at The Lodge.
“I remember borrowing a dress, coat, handbag and shoes to attend the event as I had very little money as a student on ABSTUDY. I remember arriving at The Lodge with several notable Aboriginal leaders who had also been invited,” she says.
Uncle Ossie Cruse introduced Grant to Mr Hawke and his former wife, Hazel, and she recalls the ex-PM saying, “Miss NAIDOC. Miss NAIDOC!!”
These days, Grant can say she’s rubbed shoulders with many prolific figures, not just across politics, but also business, media and beyond. She reports on issues that significantly impact Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities, yet don’t receive nearly enough attention in mainstream media. Through her reporting and storytelling, she strives to hold the powerful to account. And as she continues being a trailblazer in her field, she insists on cherishing the memories that mark the beginning of her career. So that’s why this NAIDOC Week, Grant wants to talk about the night she was named Miss NAIDOC. The night where, “I felt so incredibly lucky to be there – a little Aboriginal girl from Adelaide meeting the Prime Minister and being in The Lodge”.
“I would never have dreamt that in a million years! But it was part of my journey into the world of Aboriginal affairs, politics, and media.”
Watch Karla Grant in a special edition of Living Black this NAIDOC Week, as she sits down with proud Aboriginal singer-songwriter Kutcha Edwards. Airing Monday July 6 at 8:30pm | NITV | SBS On Demand