Naidoc awards posthumously honour cultural champion Rhoda Roberts
Rhoda Roberts, a leading promoter of First Nations culture who died in March aged 66, has been posthumously given the lifetime achievement award at Australia's Naidoc awards in Alice Springs, an event marking its 50th anniversary this year.
Australia's Naidoc awards ceremony in Alice Springs on Saturday night posthumously honoured Rhoda Roberts, a Widjabul Wiyebal woman of the Bundjalung nation, who died in March at the age of 66. She received the lifetime achievement award for her decades of work sharing and preserving First Nations culture through language, dance and ceremony.
The Naidoc awards celebrate outstanding achievements by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people across the country. Lynette Riley, co-chair of the National Naidoc Committee, described Roberts as a force who was fearless, brilliant and deeply committed to community and culture, adding that the committee felt it was important to still recognise her extraordinary contribution and that her legacy would keep inspiring future generations.
Minister for Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy said this year's winners embody the spirit of Naidoc as leaders, advocates, artists, educators, innovators and community champions whose work creates positive change. The ceremony also marked 50 years of the Naidoc celebrations.
A career spanning decades
Roberts served as creative director for the 2000 Sydney Olympics opening ceremony, choreographing the Awakening segment watched by millions worldwide. In 1991 she became the first Aboriginal person to host a prime-time current affairs program, SBS's Vox Populi, and the following year co-founded the radio initiative Deadly Sounds, which ran for 21 years giving Indigenous people a platform across Australia and the Pacific.
In 2012 she became the first head of Indigenous programming at the Sydney Opera House, where she launched the Dance Rites competition and championed the inclusion of Bangarra Dance Theatre and the Deadly awards. In 2017 she took on the role of creative director for the Parrtjima festival of light in Alice Springs.
Other winners announced on the night include Person of the Year Pat Turner, Female Elder of the Year Christine Corby, Male Elder of the Year Dr Stephen Hagan, Sportsperson of the Year Caitlyn Costello, Youth of the Year Tyson Neal-Edwards, plus organisations recognised for education, innovation and caring for country.
