Community Development and Events

National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is held annually from 27 May - 3 June. 

NRW is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. 

The theme for National Reconciliation Week 2026 was All In, a call for all Australians to commit wholeheartedly to reconciliation every single day.

Council invited the community to take part in our National Reconciliation Week colouring in display. 

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Learn more about National Reconciliation Week and the 2026 theme on the Reconciliation Australia website. 

NAIDOC Week

NAIDOC Week is held across the nation during the first week of July each year. NAIDOC Week is a time to celebrate and recognise the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. It is an opportunity for all Australians to learn about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture and histories and participate in celebrations. 

The 2026 NAIDOC Week theme was ‘50 Years of Deadly’. For five decades NAIDOC Week has celebrated the voices of our communities – steady, unapologetic, and proud.

‘50 Years of Deadly’ marks a milestone, a tribute to the people who built this movement, the Elders who stood firm, the organisers who made space, the artists who turned resistance into expression, and the communities who keep showing up, year after year.

In celebration of the 2026 theme, Council  marked 50 years of NAIDOC Week with a special display of NAIDOC posters from across the past five decades. The display invited our community to pause, reflect and celebrate how NAIDOC has grown and changed since its early days in the 1970s.

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Learn more about NAIDOC Week and the 2026 theme on the  National NAIDOC Week website. 

Bathurst Regional Council was successful in funding from the NSW Government Regional Youth Holiday Break Program for Summer 25/26. The Holiday Break Program provides young people across NSW with the opportunity to connect, socialise, learn new skills and have fun during the school holidays. It supports the delivery of free activities for young people during the school holiday period. 

Council partnered with Riverside Dreaming Aboriginal Corporation to deliver a Marang Connections River Dreaming Immersion day. Council took a group of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander young people (14-19 years) to Forbes for a day of traditional activities, canoeing and cultural fishing. Each young person received their own fishing rod! 

This experience is a chance to strengthen cultural identity and connect to Country through land and water-based activities.