ATHLETE

Politician

KEYNOTE SPEAKER

Australia's First Aboriginal & Northern Territorian to Win an Olympic Gold Medal.

Nova Peris became the first Aboriginal Australian to win an Olympic gold medal as part of the Hockeyroos in Atlanta 1996 and the first Australian mother to win gold since 1956.

Peris uniquely represented Australia in two sports—hockey and athletics—at separate Olympics. She is the only person globally to reach back-to-back Summer Olympic finals in two sports and to win both Olympic and Commonwealth gold medals in different sports.

Australia's First Aboriginal Woman elected to Federal Parliament.

Since the mid-1990s, Nova Peris has been a strong advocate for Aboriginal people, visiting hundreds of communities to understand their challenges. Using her platform in Federal Parliament, she amplified the voices of those often unheard and made a profound, positive impact on young Aboriginal lives through both her words and actions.

Most people would have looked at an Aboriginal girl from the Territory, where the statistics point to every reason why I should not succeed. But I was determined to be successful.
Nova Peris
Olympic Champion and First Indigenous female parliamentarian

Happy Global Olympic Day!

From the moment I became the first Aboriginal Olympic gold medalist in Atlanta 1996, to witnessing my sister Cathy Freeman light up the world with her gold medal in Sydney 2000 — we’ve stood proudly as Aboriginal women representing not just our people, but all of Australia.

Our journeys were different, but our purpose has always been the same: to uplift, inspire, and pave the way for the next generation of Aboriginal athletes. We carried not only the weight of a nation’s expectations, but the hopes of our ancestors and the dreams of our communities.

We trained together. We travelled together. We lived out our dreams — side by side. And we never forget the people who backed us along the way.

Once an Olympian, always an Olympian.
Proud. Grateful. Unbreakable.

Happy Olympic Day to all my fellow Olympians around the world. 💛❤️🖤💚💙🤍

#OlympicDay #OnceAnOlympianAlwaysAnOlympian #AboriginalExcellence #ProudlyFirstNations #OlympicLegacy
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Extremely grateful to be back on home soil 🇦🇺❤️

Today as a guest of @jca_today I shared the stage with @sharrimarkson in front of 400 people, recounting the harrowing last 5–6 days I spent in Israel. The night Iran launched over 800 projectiles, 400 of them ballistic missiles — we spent most of it in a bomb shelter.

Some of us saw the missiles over head, but we heard the incredible Iron Dome intercept many right above our heads in Jerusalem. It’s an experience no one can truly grasp unless they’ve lived through it.

I’m so glad I got to meet the parents of the young Jewish Australian kids who fled with us back to safety. Our homeland. Helping them return home to their families is something I’ll carry with me forever.

I love this country. 🙏🇦🇺
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