Celebrating NAIDOC Week!
To celebrate NAIDOC week, we’re showcasing First Nations art submissions. We acknowledge the fierce First Nations people and Elders across the country advocating for justice.
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Mob
Thelma is a Palawa woman with family ties to Cape Barren Island off the north-east coast of Tasmania. She grew up in Swan Hill, a small town on the Murray River in the Loddon Mallee region. Most of Thelma’s work is inspired by her totem, the Tasmanian Emu. A former graffiti artist, she first started creating work with The Torch in 2016 and has developed a unique painting style using bold, often primary coloured backgrounds with 2D depictions of emus. Thelma has a dedicated practice and has recently been exploring incorporating landscapes into her scenes. She loves connecting with her culture including researching the practice of muttonbirding, a traditional hunting method for Aboriginal Tasmanians.
Thelma has exhibited in many groups exhibitions since 2016. She was the recipient of The Torch’s Dennis Thorpe Award in 2020 and in 2021 exhibited at Dark Mofo, in The Tench curated by Theia Connell.
Sergeant at South Melbourne Police Station
“There was a day when everything shifted. The cops came, and I felt it – the weight pressing me down, in my body and in my spirit. What they did – it wasn’t right. I feel that truth deep in my bones. Then they told me I couldn’t talk about it.
But this painting holds my story - the one I’m not allowed to speak about, even though it’s burning to be told.
It shows the fear and the helplessness that I felt that day. Sure, the bruises healed. But the anger, the pain, the crushing injustice? Those are still with me, sharp as ever.
My painting is not just about pain – it’s about my strength about fighting to be heard. This isn’t just my story. It’s all of us – our sisters, beaten down by a system that wasn’t made for us, that doesn’t even want us. My painting carries the weight of my ancestors. And through it, I speak loud and clear. My painting is truth.”
Untitled
By Thelma
Palawa People
“Cutting laps jail… that’s what this painting is about. Stacey and I use to cut laps of the jail. To kill time and exercise and to talk about all our problems and hopes and dreams.”
Untitled
By Garry, from a prison in NSW.
Bundjalung people
Water themes are calming to me. Painting fish helps to transport me mentally to a time and place in my life before substance abuse became a profound part of my life experience.
Resilient Journeys
By Aaron
A proud Wiradjuri man from central-west New South Wales.
It is about all the paths we take in life and the different roads people go down to eventually make it to the centre of stability. It represents resilience in all of us and the many different places we may find ourselves in life. Be it rocky and windy or safe and sound; we all have resilience within us to make it through life’s journey.
Untitled
By Tim
Dharug man
The painting represents kinship and relationships.
Self Portrait
By Tyson
Tyson draws from a prison in NSW.
Goanna in the Stars
By N.B.
Wiradjuri people
This is my take on the Goanna (guggaa) in the stars that is part of my mob’s stories.
Thelma is a Palawa woman with family ties to Cape Barren Island off the north-east coast of Tasmania. She grew up in Swan Hill, a small town on the Murray River in the Loddon Mallee region. Most of Thelma’s work is inspired by her totem, the Tasmanian Emu. A former graffiti artist, she first started creating work with The Torch in 2016 and has developed a unique painting style using bold, often primary coloured backgrounds with 2D depictions of emus. Thelma has a dedicated practice and has recently been exploring incorporating landscapes into her scenes. She loves connecting with her culture including researching the practice of muttonbirding, a traditional hunting method for Aboriginal Tasmanians.
Thelma has exhibited in many groups exhibitions since 2016. She was the recipient of The Torch’s Dennis Thorpe Award in 2020 and in 2021 exhibited at Dark Mofo, in The Tench curated by Theia Connell.
Sergeant at South Melbourne Police Station
“There was a day when everything shifted. The cops came, and I felt it – the weight pressing me down, in my body and in my spirit. What they did – it wasn’t right. I feel that truth deep in my bones. Then they told me I couldn’t talk about it.
But this painting holds my story - the one I’m not allowed to speak about, even though it’s burning to be told.
It shows the fear and the helplessness that I felt that day. Sure, the bruises healed. But the anger, the pain, the crushing injustice? Those are still with me, sharp as ever.
My painting is not just about pain – it’s about my strength about fighting to be heard. This isn’t just my story. It’s all of us – our sisters, beaten down by a system that wasn’t made for us, that doesn’t even want us. My painting carries the weight of my ancestors. And through it, I speak loud and clear. My painting is truth.”
Untitled
By Thelma
Palawa People
“Cutting laps jail… that’s what this painting is about. Stacey and I use to cut laps of the jail. To kill time and exercise and to talk about all our problems and hopes and dreams.”
Untitled
By Garry, from a prison in NSW.
Bundjalung people
Water themes are calming to me. Painting fish helps to transport me mentally to a time and place in my life before substance abuse became a profound part of my life experience.
Resilient Journeys
By Aaron
A proud Wiradjuri man from central-west New South Wales.
It is about all the paths we take in life and the different roads people go down to eventually make it to the centre of stability. It represents resilience in all of us and the many different places we may find ourselves in life. Be it rocky and windy or safe and sound; we all have resilience within us to make it through life’s journey.
Untitled
By Tim
Dharug man
The painting represents kinship and relationships.
Self Portrait
By Tyson
Tyson draws from a prison in NSW.
Goanna in the Stars
By N.B.
Wiradjuri people
This is my take on the Goanna (guggaa) in the stars that is part of my mob’s stories.
Date Published
July 29, 2026
By Boom Gate Gallery
Most of the art featured at Boom Gate Gallery is made at Long Bay Gaol, with some coming from other prisons in NSW.
ISSUE NO. 26
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2 MIN READ
By Denham Sadler
You’ve probably heard of AFL legends Adam Goodes and Michael O’Loughlin. But what you might not know, is that they also started their own charity called the GO Foundation.
ISSUE NO. 26
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3 MIN READ
By NAAJA
NAAJA has a 50-year history of serving Aboriginal Territorians as they navigate the justice system.
ISSUE NO. 25
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3 MIN READ
By Denham Sadler
Tracy was one of many women released from prison straight into homelessness. Thanks to the Homeward Sisters program, Tracy was able to secure priority housing that meets her needs.
ISSUE NO. 24
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3 MIN READ