Strength, Survival and Pride this January 26 on NITV, SBS and SBS On Demand – As the home of First Nations storytelling, National Indigenous Television (NITV) will bring its 2026 #AlwayWasAlwaysWillBe programming slate across NITV and the entire SBS Network from Sunday January 18 to Monday January 26 to shine a light on Australia’s shared history.
January 26 remains a moment of national conversation, one that asks Australians to reflect on the history and complexity of this date, examine identity and consider what this day means to First Nations peoples and contemporary Australia.
Across the week, NITV and SBS invite all Australians to engage with distinctive, authoritative, deeply personal and unapologetically Blak perspectives that illuminate the truth of our shared history. The curated slate explores stories of strength, survival and pride, offering audiences the opportunity to reflect, understand and connect with the world’s oldest living continuous culture.
Tanya Denning-Orman, a proud Birri and Guugu Yimidhirr woman and SBS Director, First Nations, said:
“With our Always Was, Always Will Be season, we’re proud to centre First Nations voices and perspectives, and to showcase resonant stories of strength, survival and pride that speak to tens of thousands of years of continuous culture.
“Through NITV’s distinctive First Nations storytelling, amplified by multiplatform and multilingual programming and coverage across the SBS network, Australians are invited to listen, learn and lean into the conversation around 26 January, inspiring reflection, understanding and constructive dialogue.”
PROGRAM HIGHLIGHTS – ALWAYS WAS, ALWAYS WILL BE 2026
- PREMIERE – The Colleano Heart:
- Monday 19 January, 8:30pm on NITV and SBS On Demand & Monday 26 January, 7:30pm on SBS
A landmark NITV commission, The Colleano Heart traces an extraordinary First Nations family whose courage, creativity and resilience propelled them from early 1900s racism and oppression to global circus stardom at the cost of hiding their Indigenous identity. Warm, joyous, and deeply moving, the documentary uncovers a Hidden Generation story fuelled by love, ambition and survival.
- WugulOra Morning Ceremony – Live from Barangaroo Reserve
- Simulcast: Monday 26 January, 7:30am on NITV, SBS and SBS On Demand
A sacred and unifying start to January 26, WugulOra (‘One Mob’ in the Gadigal language) honours the culture, strength and continuity of the Gadigal peoples of the Eora Nation through dance, song and storytelling. Hosted by NITV’s John Paul Janke and Shahni Wellington and broadcast live from Barangaroo Reserve – a smoking ceremony and celebration of the world’s oldest living culture.
- SBS Elder in Residence Oration
- Simulcast: Monday 26 January, 11:00am on NITV, SBS and SBS On Demand
Delivered by Widjabul Wiabul woman Rhoda Roberts AO, the annual Elder in Residence Oration reflects on challenges, aspirations, and the path forward for all Australians.
- NITV News: Day 26
- Simulcast: Monday 26 January, 5:30pm on NITV, SBS and SBS On Demand
Along with a wrap of the day’s marches and events from an Indigenous perspective, NITV News: Day 26 will be hosted by Natalie Ahmat and John Paul Janke and focus on truth-telling, historical context, and Australian identity in 2026. Filmmaker Rachel Perkins, historian Stephen Gapps (The Australian Wars), and comedian Dane Simpson will discuss the relevance of January 26, what it means to be Australian, and how our national identity has been shaped.
ADDITIONAL HIGHLIGHTS
- The Idea of Australia – Episodes air 18, 19, 25 and 26 January, 7:30pm, NITV & SBS On Demand
Presented by Academy Award nominee Rachel Griffiths AM (Total Control, Muriel’s Wedding, Hacksaw Ridge, Brothers & Sisters), the landmark documentary event The Idea of Australia isn’t a retelling of history; it’s a reimagining of the future. This ambitious series features over 60 master interviews with historians, experts, and significant public figures, and features personal opinions, testimony and popular culture archives.
- Troy Cassar-Daley: A Journey Between the Fires – 18 January, 8:30pm, NITV & SBS On Demand
A Journey Between The Fires is a deeply personal and compelling documentary following Award-winning singer songwriter Troy Cassar-Daley as he navigates profound grief and sadness to embark on his most challenging and rewarding album to date.
- Our Medicine – Episodes 3 & 4 on 21 January, 7:30pm, NITV & SBS On Demand
Our Medicine is a ground-breaking observational series which takes viewers behind the frontline of our strained medical services and joins patients on their emotional journeys through the system. With unique access to First Nations doctors, nurses, paramedics, traditional healers, and other medical professionals, it shines an important light on First Nations professionals and communities taking back control of Indigenous health.
- Earth Oven (Australia episode) – 21 January, 8:30pm, NITV & SBS On Demand
Host Temuera Morrison visits Cairns in this episode of Earth Oven, a cultural, round-the-world series that explores the earth oven – a way of cooking that transcends location and time. Here he explores a UNESCO World Heritage site and reconnects with an old friend to delve into Aboriginal traditions, including the bang-gaa earth oven – a powerful expression of culture, connection to land, and the enduring spirit of the world’s oldest living culture.
- Emily: I Am Kam – 21 January, 9:30pm, NITV & SBS On Demand
Emily: I Am Kam (pronounced karma) is a heartfelt documentary about internationally renowned artist, Emily Kam Kngwarray from the Utopia community in the Northern Territory. It examines Kngwarray’s transformative impact on the international contemporary art world providing a rare opportunity to witness her journey and the profound influence of her art and the power of her work to protect her Country, Alhalker.
- Going Places with Ernie Dingo S3 Ep 3 – 22 January, 7:30pm, NITV & SBS On Demand
Australian icon Ernie Dingo returns in another epic episode of the long running Going Places, yarning with proud locals and exploring the idyllic locations this country has to offer. In this episode, Ernie visits the small community of Yirrkala in the Northern Territory to reconnect with some of the local Yolngu People and to learn more about what’s happening on Country.
- Reckless Ep 1 – 22 January, 9:30pm, NITV & SBS On Demand
SBS and NITV Original Reckless, is a bold First Nations drama set in Fremantlewhere guilt, family and dysfunction collide in a wickedly funny, high-stakes thrill ride. When feuding siblings June (Tasma Walton) and Charlie (Hunter Page-Lochard) cover up a hit and run in their hometown of Fremantle, their lives spiral wildly out of control, and as the lies pile up, so do the consequences and soon, everyone in town has something to lose.
- The New Boy – 22 January, 9:30pm, NITV & SBS On Demand
Writer/director Warwick Thornton’s The New Boy is set in 1940s Australia, in a mission for Aboriginal children run by a renegade nun, Sister Eileen (Cate Blanchett). A new charge (Aswan Reid) is delivered in the dead of night – a boy who appears to have special powers – in this story of spiritual struggle and the cost of survival.
- Rabbit-Proof Fence – 23 January, 7:30pm, NITV & SBS On Demand
This 2002 Australian film directed by Phillip Noyce tells the true story of three Aboriginal girls who are taken from their home and sent to a remote settlement 1,500 miles away. They embark on a daring escape and epic journey along the rabbit-proof fence to find their way back home across an unforgiving landscape that will test their very will to survive.
- STREAM FREE – NITV Muy Ngulayg on SBS On Demand
A dedicated home for iconic First Nations films, documentaries and series celebrating culture, knowledge and lore.
- SBS Audio: Multilingual Coverage
In-language content across more than 60 languages from 18–26 January, including an Always Was, Always Will Be explainer in Arabic, English, Greek, Mandarin, Punjabi and Vietnamese.
- SBS Learn: Resources for Educators
First Nations resources aligned with the Australian Curriculum including The Point in Time clips page, complete with classroom questions and activities, as well as teacher guides on How to Deliver and Acknowledgement of Country, by Shelley Ware. This video content is also available in Mandarin and Arabic to support broader community engagement.
This year’s Always Was Always Will Be offering continues the work of SBS’s Elevate Reconciliation Action Plan 2022–2026, which outlines SBS’s commitment to reflecting, exploring and embedding First Nations stories, knowledges, cultures and languages across the network.
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Strength, Survival and Pride this January 26 on NITV, SBS and SBS On Demand
