Boorloo / Perth has marked 50 years of NAIDOC Week with the City of Perth's biggest cultural program to date - five decades of First Nations strength, creativity and achievement celebrated under the 2026 theme, 50 Years of Deadly.

The week opened on Sunday 5 July at Moort-ak Waadiny (Wellington Square), where Whadjuk Elders led a Welcome to Country and Smoking Ceremony, dancers took to the Midar Boodja dancing ground, and Noongar Radio broadcast it all live.

Speaking at the ceremony, Deputy Lord Mayor David Goncalves said the milestone belonged to the communities who built NAIDOC over generations.

"For fifty years, NAIDOC Week has brought people together to celebrate the world's oldest living cultures. It has been protest, celebration, truth-telling and homecoming - often all at once," he said.

The celebrations rolled on throughout week: Council House lit up in the colours of the Aboriginal Flag, Dr Richard Walley OAM's Songs from the Six Seasons filling Perth Town Hall, and a Bush Flower Essence workshop with Nikki Quartermaine at the City of Perth Library.

Deputy Lord Mayor Goncalves said NAIDOC Week is both a celebration and a reminder that reconciliation is "shaped through partnership, shared decision-making and sustained action".

He said that approach was addressed in March when Council answered an elector's motion by charting a pathway towards a First Nations-led event on 26 January, a cross-government roundtable, and consideration of funding through the City's budget process.

The Council had sparked an outcry with the decision to axe the popular Indigenous-led Birak Survival Day concert in 2026.

"Our electors asked us to bring Birak back, and Council listened. The community has told us clearly that the strongest event on 26 January is one led by First Nations people themselves, with the City walking beside them," Deputy Lord Mayor Goncalves said.

"Our commitment is measured beyond words alone. It is measured in the decisions we make, and in who is beside us when we make them in partnership," he said.

50 Seasons Strong, the NAIDOC Week Art Exhibition launched by Councillor Lisa Ma, runs at Perth Town Hall until 31 July, from 10am to 4pm with free entry every day.

"Behind every artwork is a story, a history, a connection to Country. This exhibition is a space where art becomes more than something we admire - it becomes something we learn from," Councillor Ma said.