End of Year Message 2025

Dear Friends and Family,

As the warm weather returns and the festive season gathers us into circles of family, country, rest and reflection, we at Annamila send our love and best wishes to you. This time of year reminds us of the importance of kinship, waterways, song, and the simple joy of being held by the places and people we belong to. May the summer rains cleanse your spirit, and may the season offer space for gratitude, connection, and hope. 2025 has been a year of deepening, refining, and strengthening for Annamila. 

Across an uncertain national landscape—politically, socially, and culturally—our work has been to continue watering the seeds for future generations, tending to relationships, and reaffirming our commitment to First Nations-led truth, healing, culture, and justice. 

It’s been over 2 years since the Referendum and Annamila continues to be committed to supporting our communities through our support of the Uluru Statement from the Heart and the promotion of self determination.

It has been a year of listening closely and acting clearly. 

This year marks the signing of the first Treaty with First Nations Peoples in Victoria. There has been a long history of this movement but the last 5 years has seen a great deal of advancement culminating in the signing on 13 November 2025. Annamila congratulates all involved and hopes to see more treaties advanced around the country in the near future.

Growing Our Strategic Focus

This year we sharpened our strategic direction, reaffirming our three program streams—Contributing, Convening, and Influencing—and strengthening the thematics that guide all our work. Through a series of Strategy Days in April, we refined our priorities with an intentional focus on young people, understanding that the work we do must nourish the next generation of leaders, culture-bearers, and changemakers. Over 1/3 of all First Nations people in Australia are under 15yo and the median age of First Nations Australia is 24. Young people are literally our future and are increasing in number.

Our three thematic pillars now guide every assessment round (February, June, October) and every conversation we enter:

Country and Culture

• focus on cultural knowledge transfer and practices. How knowledge is being passed from one generation to another, for the benefit of young people.  

• target truth telling, in an historic or contemporary context.

Healing and Wellbeing

• truth telling leads to healing and wellbeing.

• focus is on social and emotional wellbeing for young people

Truth and Justice

• tackle incarceration, as well as First Nations led dialogue on truth and justice.  

• specifically tackle youth incarceration and youth justice.

We revamped our website and immediately we saw a massive increase in applications. Almost 100% increase in just 3 months. To see this remarkable increase in applications across sectors and communities is clear evidence of the need for the kind of relational, First Nations-centred philanthropy we practice. 

We are seeing an increase in applications for young people in education settings which also speaks to the lack of financial supports for schools to undertake the cultural work our young people require. There is still a great deal of work to be done in the space of Youth Incarceration and Annamila is undertaking more briefing on this important area.

Our Convening and Influencing Work Deepens

This year we expanded our convening and influencing practice, beginning a new chapter of actively bringing First Nations thinkers, advocates, and cultural leaders into deeper dialogue with us.

A highlight has been our growing partnership with Culture is Life on a Deep Listening Circle led by young people—supporting them to design and hold their own space for reflection, challenge, truth, and imagination. This is the future we want to back: youth-led, culturally grounded, action-oriented.

Our board also continued to represent Annamila in a wide range of forums—Garma, the Indigenous Funders Network Gathering in Cairns, Social Justice Forum in Brisbane, Reconciliation Australia events and numerous events related to justice, philanthropy, governance, education, sport, and arts and culture. These are the rooms where change is seeded, and we are honoured to contribute our voice, experience, and cultural lens.

This year we sent a young First Nations person to Garma as a commitment to sharing experiences and broadening the outcomes of our work. The feedback was that it was a life changing event. Annamila is investigating more ways of support young people to be involved in the work and governance of Annamila. Watch this space.

Partnerships That Carry Impact

Our partnerships remain at the heart of our work. In 2025 we continued strong relationships with Culture is Life, the Ebony Institute, Ilbijerri Theatre Company, and others who are helping to shape powerful, culturally grounded futures for young mob. 

We have entered into a new multi-year arrangement with Culture is Life and committed Annamila to spearheading a campaign with other philanthropic bodies to help build the sustainability and growth of this important organisation.

Annamila celebrates the continuation of our more than 10 year relationship with Ebony Aboriginal + Torres Strait Islander Institute Ltd. Ebony is an independent not-for-profit think tank governed by a 100% Aboriginal Board. Dedicated to solving complex social, political and economic problems, grounded in Aboriginal and Torres Islander wisdom and knowledges. Their thought leadership is fundamentally in the spaces of Truth, Justice and Healing, developing research projects, holding national roundtables and influencing policy. 

Special mention goes to Ilbijerri as they continue to bring important stories to life and touring the world. Annamila would like to celebrate the contribution of Rachael Maza over her 18 years as Artistic Director. As she leaves Ilbijerri to pursue her freelance career we would like to say thank you for all she’s done to tell our stories and promote our healing. We also welcome incoming Artistic Director Andrea James and look forward to her stewardship of this remarkable company.

We also supported an exciting and diverse range of one-off initiatives this year, including:

• Na Djinang Circus – powerful First Nations contemporary circus work

• GUCK – a First Nations mobile game grounded in culture

• Yawardani Jan-ga – equine-led youth development

• Wilya Janta – promoting appropriate remote family housing

• Bangarra Rekindling – strengthening cultural identity in young people

• Agency’s - Untold Naarm series

• Common Ground – education and cultural storytelling

• Moogahlin – community-driven performance and new writing

And we are excited to be finalising new partnerships before Christmas, including:

• First Nations women’s wellness and healing retreat

• A national women’s online network

• Elders support programs

• Womens and family workshops and information exchange in NT

• Youth Justice research in Townsville

• Critical stories told through film, documentary, and installation

These initiatives reflect our ongoing commitment to truth-telling, empowerment, and cultural renewal.

Systems, Structure, and Renewal

Our refreshed website continues to evolve, offering greater visibility of our work while maintaining our commitment to amplify our partners first.

This year we also began using the First Nations–centred evaluation tools and Theory of Change created with Kowa. These tools now help shape how we measure impact, honour culture, and remain accountable to the communities we serve.

A special thank you to Skye and the Kowa team for their generosity and expertise.

A Year of Contribution, Influence, and Convening

As 2025 draws to a close, we reflect with pride and humility on a year that has brought clarity, partnership, and purpose. The increased demand for support tells us that our work is needed more than ever—and that our way of working resonates with communities across the continent.

We step into 2026 with excitement and optimism, as we grow the multiple strands to our strategy. Annamila is very open to collaborating with other like minded bodies to help deliver on our goals and continue to welcome partners. We are committed to influencing the debates and discussions that see greater engagement to self determined projects and activities based on Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander ways of knowing and doing.

A Season of Gratitude

To all who walk alongside us, our partners, supporters, Elders, young people, and communities, we say thank you. Your trust, guidance, and courage inspire us every day.

We wish each of you a restorative and reinvigorating Holiday Season filled with rest, joy, and connection, and a New Year that brings possibility, strength, and renewal.

With love and respect,

Jade Colgan, Belinda Duarte, Wesley Enoch, Doseena Fergie, Julie Kantor, Ian Roberts Annamila First Nations Foundation

Some photos from the year: