NADOC and the National Aborigines Day in Sydney, 1957–67

Abstract

This article presents an account of the events organised in Sydney by the National Aborigines Day Observance Committee (NADOC) in its first decade, 1957-67. While committees operated in other states, the NADOC in New South Wales was the most prominent in those years. The significance of NADOC, or NAIDOC as it is has been known since the 1970s, is evident in the organisation's survival. It has developed into Australia's largest annual celebration of the 'history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples'. Yet there exists to date only a brief historical account of its development.