{"id":44037,"date":"2026-07-04T03:35:11","date_gmt":"2026-07-04T03:35:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/44037\/"},"modified":"2026-07-04T03:35:11","modified_gmt":"2026-07-04T03:35:11","slug":"as-naidoc-turns-50-abc-explores-what-the-word-deadly-means-to-the-community","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/44037\/","title":{"rendered":"As NAIDOC turns 50, ABC explores what the word deadly means to the community"},"content":{"rendered":"

The word “deadly” has been part of my life for as long as I can remember.<\/p>\n

I was born in the Kimberley and raised in Broome with Nyul Nyul and Bardi heritage from my mum’s side, Malaysian heritage from my grandfather, who came to town to work in the pearling industry, and Irish and Scottish heritage from my dad’s side.<\/p>\n

I grew up hearing the word at community events, around family, on the sports field, and through Aboriginal media.<\/p>\n

And for this year’s week-long NAIDOC celebrations, which officially kick off across Australia on Sunday, “deadly” is at the forefront, with NAIDOC marking “50 Years of Deadly”.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Nyul Nyul and Bardi man Matt Francis was raised in Broome. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

Finding my voice<\/p>\n

As a kid in the 1990s, I remember the Deadly Awards and the pride that came with seeing Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people recognised and celebrated for their achievements in music, sport, the arts and community leadership<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Much of my upbringing was also shaped by my mum’s involvement in community organisations and committees.<\/p>\n

Through that, I spent a lot of time around people who were working to create opportunities for Aboriginal people and strengthen communities.<\/p>\n

One of those opportunities led me to the local Indigenous community radio station, where I first got involved in broadcasting.<\/p>\n

\"kids<\/p>\n

ABC Kimberley’s Matt Francis (middle) says he always wanted to share his voice with his community. (Supplied: Matt Francis)<\/p>\n

Working in Indigenous media gave me a front row seat to the growth in Aboriginal storytelling. I saw the importance of Aboriginal people being able to tell their own stories, in their own voices, from their own perspectives. For me, that was deadly too.<\/p>\n

What interests me about this year’s NAIDOC theme is that while “deadly” is one of the most recognisable words in Aboriginal English, I suspect it means something slightly different to everyone who uses it.<\/p>\n

\"Matt<\/p>\n

Matt Francis got involved in broadcasting at a local Indigenous radio station at a young age. (Supplied: Matt Francis)<\/p>\n

I’m curious to explore what deadly means to mob around the country, how those meanings reflect the journey of the last 50 years and how they help others understand what Aboriginal people might mean when they use “deadly”.<\/p>\n

What does ‘deadly’ mean?NAIDOC Week 2026: 50 Years of Deadly<\/a><\/p>\n

The ABC has gathered the best First Nations films, TV shows and documentaries to enjoy during NAIDOC Week.<\/p>\n

Far from its standard English meaning of something that causes death, the adjective and adverb evokes pride and excitement.<\/p>\n

Glenys Dale Collard, a proud Nyungar woman who grew up in Western Australia’s South-West, said “deadly” was something positive.<\/p>\n

Inducted into WA’s Women’s Hall of Fame in 2025, Ms Collard has spent almost three decades working with Nyungar people and Aboriginal English, and has extensive knowledge in Indigenous language preservation and education.<\/p>\n

“For us, it’s not death. It’s one of the highest compliments, especially at footy, especially at our gatherings. You hear, you see our flag go out and that’s just too deadly,” she said.Loading…<\/p>\n

Ms Collard said it was important to acknowledge the history and truth-telling behind the word’s interpretation, which dates back to colonisation.<\/p>\n

\u00a0“They were the clever ones who took those words \u2026 they didn’t know what they meant so they made their own meaning,” she said.<\/p>\n

Deadly music connections<\/p>\n

For Ngadju Muddawonga man Jason Dimer, country music has been a “deadly” way of connecting people together.<\/p>\n

\"Jason<\/p>\n

Jason Dimer says this year’s NAIDOC theme recognises the achievements of Aboriginal people. (BC Goldfields: Nicholas R Ward)<\/p>\n

“I think it’s an amalgamation of it all and a celebration that oversees the achievements that we’ve made across those years,” said the singer-songwriter from the central to south Goldfields region of WA.<\/p>\n

\u00a0“I think it”s important we go out there with a plan, our goals and our vision, and start achieving them so we can leave legacies for our children and people to come,” he added.<\/p>\n

‘Blak and proud’<\/p>\n

Gooniyandi and Kija man Vincent Carter said “deadly” was about representing “yourself, your mob and where you come from”.<\/p>\n

\"Vincent,<\/p>\n

Vincent Carter says deadly means being “blak and proud”.\u00a0 (ABC Kimberley: Ruby Littler)<\/p>\n

“Deadly just means being blak and proud,” said Mr Carter, who attended a NAIDOC reconciliation walk in Broome with hundreds of others.<\/p>\n

In the East Kimberley, Kija woman Maxine Gore spoke of how “deadly” was used to praise others.<\/p>\n

“When [my grandson] does something good \u2026 I give him a hug and say, ‘That’s very good of you. You’re too deadly my grandson,'” she said.Between two worlds<\/p>\n

For some First Nations people, including Eastern Arrernte woman Armani Francois, the word was “kinda confusing” growing up.<\/p>\n

\"Armani<\/p>\n

Armani Francois says the ongoing resilience from her language group represented deadly. (ABC News: Shaun Kingma)<\/p>\n

“I went to a school where no-one else said deadly how I said deadly. Deadly was ‘deadly poisonous’ or ‘deadly poison dart frog,'” the 21-year-old said.<\/p>\n

Ms Francois, from Alice Springs in the Northern Territory, said the place and people within her community were the epitome of deadly.<\/p>\n

“Coming from the centre, the heart of Australia \u2026 that’s pretty deadly within itself.”<\/p>\n

For Ngarluma, Banjima and Yamatji woman Nyima Tucker, who was born in the Pilbara city of Karratha, this year’s NAIDOC theme represents the “history of black fellas and how far we’ve come and all of our achievements and future achievements to come”.<\/p>\n

\"Nyima<\/p>\n

Nyima Tucker says deadly means determination. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

“It means determination for all of the mob before me who have fought in this country for all of us brothers here today,” she said.<\/p>\n

The rivers, a comic and a boxing ring<\/p>\n

Charlie Abra from New South Wales’s Tamworth Local Aboriginal Land Council runs wellbeing programs for women, whom she described as deadly.<\/p>\n

\"Charlie,<\/p>\n

Charlie Abra says Gomeroi country’s natural landscapes and beauty are also an example of “deadly”. (Supplied: Charlie Abra)<\/p>\n

“If I was to use ‘deadly’, it’s the deadly women that come into our programs. It’s our elders continually passing down their stories and knowledge,” the Gamilaraay woman said.<\/p>\n

Her community is also a source of pride, as is the Gomeroi\/Kamilaroi country she lives on.<\/p>\n

“We’ve got the river systems, the sacred sites here, the mountain ranges with special significant stories,” she said.<\/p>\n

Further south in Albury, Masters Boxing Champion and Wiradjuri man Buddy Oldman said deadly was about strength.<\/p>\n

\"Buddy<\/p>\n

Buddy Oldman says deadly is about strength. (Supplied)<\/p>\n

When he’s not in the ring, he works to erase the stigma about men’s mental health and helps with suicide prevention.<\/p>\n

“[Deadly] gets said a lot to me because I do a lot with the boxing with the younger generation,” he said.<\/p>\n

“It’s also about courage. It’s about awesome, happy times and just a term that just describes Aboriginal people full stop,” he said.<\/p>\n

“Even you hear white fellas saying it and that blows me away, but also it’s decent to know they’ve taken a bit of notice about what that means to us.”<\/p>\n

For Brian (Barney) Harrison from Wotjobaluk country in regional Victoria, deadly is a “positive reflection” meaning “something good, exciting, excellent”.<\/p>\n

A registered nurse with Goolum Goolum, Mr Harrison was involved in a long-term health promotional tool to tackle Indigenous smoking, playing Deadly Dan who protects children from harms of smoking.<\/p>\n

\"A<\/p>\n

Brian Harrison from Wotjobaluk country plays the character “Deadly Dan”. (Supplied: Goolum Goolum)<\/p>\n

“I use it every day. I work as a registered nurse here, so if anyone comes in, they’re like, ‘Oh my health is good’, I’m like, ‘Yep, that’s deadly,'” Mr Harrison said.<\/p>\n

“Our elders, they’re all deadly, seeing young people succeed that’s another deadly thing \u2026 seeing our language, culture, communities, people improve, their health \u2026 that’s a deadly thing too.”The next 50 years<\/p>\n

For me, deadly was always just a word I’d grown up hearing.<\/p>\n

The epic ancient story you were never told about Australia<\/a><\/p>\n

Dive\u00a0into the\u00a0awe-inspiring history of the Australian continent and its people \u2014 a story 65,000 years in the making.<\/p>\n

But after listening to voices from across the country, I’ve realised it’s much more than that. It’s pride, survival, family, humour, culture and identity, all wrapped into one word that connects mob across hundreds of nations.<\/p>\n

That’s what makes 50 Years of Deadly such a fitting NAIDOC theme.\u00a0<\/p>\n

It’s not just about looking back, it’s about celebrating the deadly people who brought us here and believing the next 50 years can be even deadlier.<\/p>\n

Additional reporting by Esse Deves<\/a>, Ruby Littler<\/a>, Rachel Jackson<\/a>, Chris Edmondson<\/a> and Giulia Bertoglio<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The word “deadly” has been part of my life for as long as I can remember. I was…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":44038,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[33878,22,21,33880,10612,33881,33882,33883,33877,31720,33662,33879],"class_list":["post-44037","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-australia","tag-aboriginal-english","tag-au","tag-austrlia","tag-celebrations","tag-deadly","tag-first-nations-language","tag-first-nations-people","tag-indigenous-australian","tag-naidoc","tag-naidoc-2026","tag-naidoc-week","tag-standard-australian-english"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44037","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=44037"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/44037\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/44038"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=44037"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=44037"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/australia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=44037"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}