World AIDS Day is held on 1 December each year.
World AIDS Day was the first ever global health day and the first one was held in 1988. World AIDS Day is recognised and observed by millions of people in more than 190 countries around the world. In Australia, an estimated 26 800 people were living with diagnosed HIV infection in Australia at the end of 2013.
Every year people are encouraged to hold their own event on National Close the Gap Day to raise awareness about the 17-year life expectancy gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians. Since 2006, the Close the Gap campaign has achieved an enormous amount with community support. More than 150,000 people took part in 1298 separate National Close the Gap day events across Australia in 2014.
For more information, click here to go to the National Close the Gap Day website
For Men’s Health Week communities across Australia come together and create fun and engaging events, promotions and activities tailored to the needs of men and boys. These events focus on improving and maintaining the health of our men, boys and their families, and having those meaningful conversations about the factors that keep us healthy in body and mind.
For more info, click here
Harmony Day is a day of cultural respect for everyone who calls Australia home – from the traditional owners of this land to those who have come from many countries around the world. By participating in Harmony Day activities, people can learn and understand how all Australians from diverse backgrounds equally belong to this nation and enrich it.
A truly global event taking place every year on 4 February, World Cancer Day unites the world’s population in the fight against cancer.
It aims to save millions of preventable deaths each year by raising awareness and education about the disease, pressing governments and individuals across the world to take action.
International Volunteer Day (IVD) is celebrated each year on 5 December and was established by the United Nations General Assembly in 1985. IVD provides volunteer organisations and individual volunteers with the opportunity to raise the public awareness of their contributions to economic and social development at local, national and international levels.
IVD is celebrated worldwide with thousands of volunteers involved in a range of events as diverse as the volunteers themselves. Events include clean-up campaigns, conferences, exhibitions, morning teas and many other activities all aimed at highlighting the role of volunteers in their communities.
For more information, click here to check out the International Volunteer Day website
International Overdose Awareness Day (IOAD) is a global event held on August 31st each year and aims to raise awareness of overdose and reduce the stigma of a drug-related death. It also acknowledges the grief felt by families and friends remembering those who have met with death or permanent injury as a result of drug overdose.
IOAD spreads the message that the tragedy of overdose death is preventable. Wear silver to show your support.
For more information, click here to check out the International Overdose Awareness Day website.
The International Day of the World’s Indigenous People was first proclaimed by the General Assembly in December 1994, to be celebrated every year on 9 August.
For more information, see click here.
National Aboriginal and Islander Children’s Day (NAICD) is a celebration of Indigenous children and is held on 4 August each year. NAICD was first observed by the Secretariat of National Aboriginal and Islander Child Care (SNAICC) in 1988. Each year SNAICC produces and sends out resources to help celebrations for NAICD.
NAIDOC Week celebrations are held across Australia each July to celebrate the history, culture and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. NAIDOC is celebrated not only in Indigenous communities, but by Australians from all walks of life.
The theme for this years NAIDOC Week is ‘VOICE, TREATY, TRUTH: let’s work together for a shared future’
‘Voice. Treaty. Truth. were three key elements to the reforms set out in the Uluru Statement from the Heart. These reforms represent the unified position of First Nations Australians.’
NAIDOC website
To read more about NAIDOC week 2019, click here.
