Mabo Day 2026

Mabo Day Celebration 2026: Honouring the Legacy of Eddie Mabo

Date: Wednesday, 3 June 2026
Time: 12:00pm to 2:20pm
Location: B1 Auditorium, Charles Perkins Centre (D17), Camperdown Campus

Join us for a special Mabo Day 2026 event as we come together to honour the legacy of Eddie Mabo and the landmark Mabo decision, which recognised the land rights of Australia's First Nations Peoples. This event is an opportunity to reflect, learn, and celebrate the ongoing journey of reconciliation and justice.

We invite students, staff, Local Community Members, Elders, Uncles, Aunties, brothers, sisters, and friends to participate in this meaningful occasion. The event will feature a keynote address from Aaron Fa’Aoso and a dance performance by the Miu Miu Bumer Gedlam Torres Strait Islander dance group, creating a space for both reflection and celebration.

Program Highlights:

• Lunch on arrival served at 12:00pm followed by event proceedings.

• Event commences: please arrive at 12:30 PM for a 1:00PM start

• Welcome to Country: Uncle Allen Madden | Metro Aboriginal Land Council 

• Opening Remarks: Lucy Marshall | Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Community and Leadership 

• VC Opening Remarks: Mark Scott | Vice-Chancellor and President

• Keynote Address: Aaron Fa'Aoso | Actor, Writer, Producer and Director

• Dance Performance: Miu Miu Bumer Gedlam Torres Strait Islander dance group

• Closing Remarks: Michelle Stanhope | Chief Governance Officer

• Afternoon Tea served at 2:20 PM followed by networking opportunities.

We welcome all members of the university and local communities, as well as Indigenous organisations and individuals, to come together in this commemorative and celebratory event.

About the Keynote Speaker

We are honoured to welcome Aaron Fa'Aoso as the keynote speaker for this special event. Aaron is a proud Torres Strait Islander from Saibai Island and an acclaimed actor, writer, director, producer and community leader. He is the Managing Director of Lone Star Entertainment Co., the Cairns-based production company he founded in 2013 to bring the stories of the Torres Strait and Cape York communities to national and international audiences.

Aaron’s journey to the creative industries has been shaped by a diverse life of service and leadership. Before entering film and television, he worked as a professional footballer, in construction and security, and in community services supporting Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples. He also spent time working in remote communities as a health worker in the Northern Peninsula Area, experiences that strengthened his lifelong commitment to empowering First Nations communities and ensuring their voices are heard.

Over the past two decades Aaron has built a distinguished career in the Australian screen industry. As an actor he has appeared in numerous acclaimed productions including East West 101, The Straits, Black Comedy, Blue Water Empire, Reef Break, Sea Patrol, and other major Australian and international productions. His performance in East West 101earned national and international recognition, including nominations for the AACTA Awards, Logie Awards, Deadly Awards and the Monte Carlo Television Festival.

Aaron is also a pioneering First Nations storyteller behind the camera. He created the landmark ABC television drama series The Straits, the first major Australian drama set in the Torres Strait, produced by Matchbox Pictures for the ABC. The series was groundbreaking in bringing Torres Strait Islander stories, culture and characters into mainstream Australian television. Through his production company Lone Star Entertainment Co., Aaron continues to develop and produce screen projects that celebrate culture, country and community.

From 2022 to 2024 Aaron served as Co-Chair of the Queensland Government’s Path to Treaty Independent Interim Truth and Treaty Body, travelling throughout Queensland to consult with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities about truth-telling and treaty. Through this work he contributed to authoring and shaping Queensland’s landmark Treaty legislation, helping lay the foundations for a historic pathway toward treaty and reconciliation in the state.

Aaron is also an accomplished author, publishing the first commercially released Torres Strait Islander memoir, So Far, So Good (2022), and later the children’s coming‑of‑age novel Spirit of the Crocodile (2025), inspired by Torres Strait life and culture.

Across storytelling, cultural leadership, policy and community advocacy, Aaron Fa’Aoso has dedicated his career to ensuring that the voices, histories and futures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Peoples remain strong. His work continues to expand the space for First Nations stories and leadership within Australia’s national conversation.

Event Accessibility: 

• Closed Captioning (CC)

• Wheelchair Accessible 

• Accessible Entrance, Lift, and Bathroom 

• Seat size 45cm wide x 43cm deep with armrests  

• All gender accessible bathroom 

Please advise if you have any dietary requirements or additional accessibility needs, or queries for this event by emailing The Diversity and Inclusion Team at diversity.inclusion@sydney.edu.au.