National Indigenous Television (NITV) will provide comprehensive coverage of the 24th annual Garma Festival, taking place 2-5 August in Gulkula, northeast Arnhem Land, Northern Territory. With coverage also featuring across the SBS network, NITV and SBS will provide access for all Australians to the agenda-setting dialogue and the celebration of the cultural, artistic and ceremonial traditions of the Yolŋu people across the four-day event.
This year, Australia’s largest political Indigenous gathering is taking place ahead of an impending federal election and upcoming state and territory elections. It is also the first major political forum focused on Indigenous affairs since the Referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament. Coverage on NITV and across the SBS network will give Australians a front-row seat to the critical conversations centred on the lived experience of First Nations peoples taking place as political leaders, policymakers, corporate leaders and community representatives look to the future.
“We can’t wait to be back on the ground at Gulkula, red dirt between our toes, on the beautiful and sacred land of the Yolŋu people,” said Tanya Denning-Orman, a proud Birri and Guugu Yimidhirr woman and director of Indigenous content at SBS. “Following the Referendum on an Indigenous Voice to Parliament, and as Australia looks ahead to Federal, state and territory elections, NITV and SBS will provide unparalleled access to the critical conversations at Garma that influence political discourse, policy agendas, and commitments towards Indigenous affairs in Australia”.
“Whether it’s insights and ideas discussed in key forums, or the sounds and movement of the daily buŋgul, our comprehensive coverage – led by NITV and featuring across the SBS network – will give Australians an immersive experience across four days of yarning, dancing and listening, at Australia’s most significant Indigenous political and cultural event”.
“NITV is proud to partner with the Yothu Yindi Foundation to continue bringing Garma to mob across the continent, as we’ve been doing for more than a decade. Through our coverage across the SBS network, we’re connecting the oldest living continuous culture with the newest Australians, and are excited to continue exploring more ways to engage more Australians”.
“NITV has played an important role in sharing Garma with its audiences over many years, and has been a long-standing Official Supporter of the event. We look forward to continuing to work together to reach more Australians, as NITV and the wider SBS network expands and deepens its coverage, and gives communities wherever they are in Australia, an opportunity to explore the unique experience of Garma,” said Denise Bowden, CEO of the Yothu Yindi Foundation.
NITV’s Indigenous News and Current Affairs team, including Natalie Ahmat, Head of Indigenous News and Current Affairs, SBS National Indigenous Affairs Editor and host of The Point: Road Trip, John Paul Janke, Michael Rennie, NITV News Presenter and Senior Producer, and others, will present daily live coverage, updates, and highlights across NITV’s platforms.
SBS will also simulcast key events from the festival, and SBS News will report from Garma, providing updates on SBS World News and its platforms, with Chief Political Correspondent Anna Henderson on the ground. The network will also provide unique multilingual coverage, with representatives from SBS Chinese and Arabic teams also reporting from Gulkula. News and updates will feature across the SBS Audio network in more than 60 languages.
