Aboriginal Literacy Foundation

The Winter 2026 edition of the Aboriginal Literacy Foundation's newsletter, ALFABET, is now available online.

See inside for news about our programs, including Books to the North and our after-school tutoring.

You can view the digital copy of the newsletter here:

https://aboriginalliteracyfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2026/06/Winter_Newsletter_2026_Low_Resolution.pdf

We would like to thank the City of Ballarat for their generous contribution toward our Literacy Tutoring for Aboriginal students in Ballarat. Through a Community Impact Grant we received a contribution to our tutoring program, which greatly benefits the students we tutor every week during the school term.

A state funeral will be held for Professor Peter Buckskin, a Narungga man from the Yorke Peninsula of South Australia who spent his life improving educational standards for Indigenous people, first as a teacher and then as a professor and advisor for Australian policy and teaching methods.

Among many achievements spanning more than forty years, he was the inaugural chair of the National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education Corporation, as well as representing Australia to the United Nations on matters of Indigenous rights.

The funeral will be held on June 12 at St Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, Newton, South Australia.

State funeral to honour the life of Professor Peter Buckskin AM PSM A state funeral to honour the life and achievements of Professor Peter Buckskin AM PSM will be held at 10:30am on Friday 12 June 2026 at St Francis of Assisi Catholic Church, Kaurna Country, Newton.

This year's Australian Book Industry Awards have seen many Aboriginal winners, as well as an Indigenous-run publisher.

Of the winners this year, Angie Faye Martin won the New Writer of the Year for her crime thriller Melaleuca, while the oral history A Piece of Red Cloth won the award for Social Impact Book of the Year, by Yolŋu custodians Merrkiyawuy Ganambarr-Stubbs, Djawa Burarrwanga, Djawundil Maymura and author Leonie Norrington.

Other winners were Dr Evelyn Araluen for Small Publishers' Adult Book of the Year with The Rot; and Kaylene Whiskey and Natalie King for Illustrated Book of the Year with The Art of Kaylene Whiskey: Do you believe in love?

The winner for the Book of the Year for Younger Children was Caution! This Book Contains Deadly Reptiles, by Ben Williams and Corey Tutt.

Small Publisher of the Year and Children's Publisher of the Year also went to Magabala books, based in Broome, which focuses on Indigenous and Torres Strait Islander authors and illustrators.

Congratulations to everyone who won awards this year!

Indigenous authors, illustrators and publishers star at Australian Book Industry Awards Indigenous authors and publishers are prominent among those who were honoured on Thursday night at the 2026 Australian Book Industry Awards.The Awards were presented by Books+Publishing (B+P), in part...

Indigenous Australians Malarndirri McCarthy has announced a new national vocational centre for First Nations people, named the Indigenous Centre of Vocational Excellence (ICOVE).

"By embedding First Nations voices, leadership and evidence-based practice within the VET system, the centre will strengthen pathways to sustainable economic participation," Minister McCarthy said.

The centre will be run by the Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services and the Tranby Aboriginal Co-operative in Sydney, and will focus on creating more employment pathways for Indigenous people in Australia.

New Indigenous vocational centre aims to boost jobs and training A new national Indigenous vocational education body aimed at improving training and employment outcomes for First Nations people will be established under the Federal Government.Named the Indigenous C...

Ngununggula, an art gallery in the Southern Highlands of New South Wales, is exhibiting artworks from woman artists from Tangentyere and Yarrenyty Arltere (Alice Springs region), alongside the work of Arrernte and Kalkadoon artist Thea Anamara Perkins.

The exhibition is titled Old Days, New Days, and focuses on storytelling, representation, and communal art-making. It also includes a new children's book by artist Marjorie Williams, 'Old Days', in the form of an immersive installation.

Ngununggula art gallery unveils exhibition of works from Tangentyere and Yarrenyty Arltere women artists Ngununggula, the Southern Highlands regional art gallery, has unveiled Old Days, New Days | Arlta-imankinya, Arlta-errama; a major new all-women exhibition bringing together artists from Tangentyere a...

The photographs of Mununjali and Wangerriburra man Wayne Coolwell, who died last year at age 88, are on display at the State Library of Queensland, showing a half-century of Aboriginal history.

Over his long career as a photographer from the 1960s to the 2000s he took pictures of many significant figures, including Archie Roach, Ernie Dingo, and Neville Bonner, as well as Indigenous communities across Australia and the world.

The showcase can be seen at the State Library from March 28 to mid-October.

Trailblazing journalist's 35mm captures of Australian history Journalist and broadcaster Wayne Coolwell documented years of Indigenous culture with his 35mm camera. The photographs are going on showcase at the State Library.

NAISDA, the Indigenous dance college founded by dancer Carole Johnson in 1976, has celebrated its 50th anniversary. Originally based in Sydney and later moving to Kariong, the college has focused on teaching dance while incorporating Indigenous methods, and over 5,000 students have attended since its founding.

Kim Walker, one of its first students and now CEO, talks about how the college has affected his life:

"I was a recalcitrant in my youth, going off the rails and losing who I was, but this place gives me purpose," Mr Walker said.

"It changed my life, but it's changed so many people's lives, and not just the dancers and teachers, but the cultural fabric of Australia."

Including its remote and national outreach programs, the college reaches over 300,000 people a year.

'Life-changing' dance school celebrates 50 years and 5,000 students Australia's longest-running First Nations dance academy has helped to shape the cultural fabric of the nation.

Professor MaryAnn Bin-Sallik, a pioneer in Indigenous health and education and the first Aboriginal woman to receive a PhD from Harvard university, died last month aged 85.

From the Djaru people in Western Australia, Bin-Sallik first broke expectations around what Indigenous people 'should' be taught by becoming the first Aboriginal person to be trained as a nurse, at the Royal Darwin Hospital.

From there, she then became interested in education, helping spearhead the South Australian Institute of Technology's first program of Aboriginal education, which would serve as a blueprint across Australia.

She then was accepted to Harvard university, ultimately completing a doctorate in Teaching and Learning. From there she spent a long and dedicated career advocating for Aboriginal people, including serving on human rights boards and across many different universities and institutions. She was also awarded the Order of Australia in 2017.

She said in an interview in 2024 to Western Sydney University:

"Who inspires me now? All the black PhDs. Every black [person] I meet with a PhD inspires me because I know you will be making literature for the next generation."

Her work to further Aboriginal education has been monumental and led to countless opportunities for people across Australia, and we offer our condolences for her passing and respect for her achievements.

First Aboriginal woman to receive PhD at Harvard remembered as 'trailblazer' MaryAnn Bin-Sallik was the first Aboriginal nurse graduate in Darwin and the first Aboriginal person to receive a PhD at Harvard University. Following her death at age 85, the Djaru Elder is being remembered for her work in Indigenous education, health and human rights.

Our thoughts are with communities across the Northern Territory and Queensland affected by ongoing floods. Residents of Daly River/Nauiyu are still under an evacuation order as flooding approaches its highest level on record.

Rent pause for flooded Aboriginal communities: ‘We’re talking about the most disadvantaged people in the Territory’ NT government says the rent freeze will be ‘applied automatically for eligible housing tenants’ as floodwaters break records in the Big Rivers region