The Queensland Indigenous Family Violence Legal Service (QIFVLS) will host its fourth national gathering in Magandjin / Brisbane in May, bringing together reform advocates from across Australia to advance community-led solutions to family violence.
The Overcoming Indigenous Family Violence Forum 2026, themed Our Way, Our Changemakers, will be held at the InterContinental Brisbane from 27-28 May 2026, followed by an on-Country workshop on 29 May.
QIFVLS chief executive Wynetta Dewis said the 2026 theme is a tribute to the tireless work of community leaders and the Aboriginal Community Controlled Organisation sector in driving progress toward Target 13 of the National Agreement on Closing the Gap.
"Together, we hold the solutions to create safer, stronger, and healthier communities," Ms Dewis said.
"This forum is a platform for knowledge exchange and community connection; a place where we, the changemakers, are heard."
Journalist, author, and Wiradjuri, Kamilaroi and Dharrawal man Stan Grant will deliver the keynote address. A trailblazer with a four-decade career that includes serving as a senior CNN correspondent across Asia and the Middle East, Mr Grant brings a powerful perspective on identity, justice, and the resilience of First Nations peoples.
Other featured speakers include Thelma Schwartz, Executive Director Legal at QIFVLS; Kerry Staines, CEO of First Nations Advocates Against Family Violence; Zachariah Matysek, CEO of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Housing Association; Murray Benton, Deputy CEO of QATSICPP; and Ana Falemaka, Youth Mentor and Ambassador with Talitha Project Tonga.
The two-day forum will feature targeted streams, yarning circles, panels, and cultural workshops designed to deliver practical strategies that attendees can take back to their communities. Topics will span cultural healing, early intervention, trauma-informed practice, system reform, and advancing culturally grounded accountability.
The post-forum workshop on 29 May will take participants to Musgrave Park — a place of deep cultural and political significance — for a morning of immersive cultural activities led by the Nunukul Yuggera Aboriginal Dancers, including a smoking ceremony, painting, bush food exploration, tribal dance, and boomerang throwing. The afternoon will feature a yarn with Aunty Kaylene, drawing on her experience working with incarcerated women to explore cultural connection as a pathway to healing and resilience.
The forum welcomes attendees from ACCHOs, government agencies, legal services, family violence support centres, shelters, community organisations, local councils, and not-for-profits.
Further information, including about registrations, is available online.
