Africa Day Indaba 2026 for Australasia and the Pacific

This year’s Africa Day Indaba 2025 for Australasia and the Pacific will be on 23 May 2026, online. The indaba was started in 2024 to utilise Africa Day as a bridge between academia (universities, researchers and academics) and community (families, community organisations and networks).

Concept Brief (html)

Background Africa Day is commemorated on 25 May each year. This annual celebration marks the formation of the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), now the African Union (AU), and serves as an important occasion to raise awareness about Pan-African ideals, African history and help shape the continent’s journey towards socio-economic and political development. 

Theme ‘The AU theme for 2026 is Assuring Sustainable Water Availability and Safe Sanitation Systems to Achieve the Goals of Agenda 2063. Despite progress, millions of people in Africa still lack access to water, this an important theme, however, we decided to focus on the theme of Parenting Between Cultures: Raising African Children in the Diaspora. The 3^rd indaba brings together African parents, young people and the wider community, alongside academics, researchers, policy makers, and industry professionals including youth workers, social workers and service providers. The event is situated within the Australasia and Pacific context as part of Africa Day, highlighting the richness and diversity of African cultures within the Australian multicultural landscape. The event aims to bring together academics, policymakers and community members to share evidence, insights and lived experiences on how African cultural values act as protective factors for children and families navigating multiple worlds and cultures. It also seeks to create a safe and inclusive space for inter-generational dialogue and storytelling using the indaba approach to strengthen relationships between parents and children, while gathering data from participant feedback, insights and ideas on effective approaches and priority areas for future research to better support African Australian families in the diaspora. Central to the event are key questions and reflections on how African values can be preserved while integrating into Australian society, where communities stand culturally on discipline versus gentle parenting, whether children should speak their mother tongue as part of language preservation, and the identity challenges African children face in schools. The event also considers how African identity helps diaspora families and communities feel grounded when experiencing lack of belonging, with a focus on African parenting and raising children in the diaspora. 

Why The inclusion of older people in the conversation allows younger generations to learn, appraise and critique African practices from an informed position, while at the same time allowing older people to learn from the young. It creates a space for mutual exchange, reflection and continuity across generations, and strengthens cultural transmission and shared understanding in navigating life in the diaspora. Holding this event on Africa Day situates these conversations within a moment of collective reflection, celebration and reaffirmation of African identity across the diaspora, connecting parenting, culture and identity to a broader continental narrative while centring African voices, experiences and knowledge systems in discussions about raising children in the diaspora. 

The event On Friday 23 May 2026 (two days before commemoration of Africa Day), the Africa Studies Association of Australia and the Pacific (AFSAAP), the African Australian Advocacy Centre (AAAC), the Australian Research Network for African Academics (ARNAA), Western Sydney University (WSU) and the University of Wollongong (UOW) will host the third indaba from 2-3:30pm online via Zoom. This year, the event will start with a conversation with the Dean of African Ambassadors in Australia, then a conversation ensues where experiential and academic knowledge merge. The audience will be largely members and leaders and members of African academic and community organisations in the region, academics teaching and supervising students from Africa, students from Africa and all people interested in the continent. 

What is an indaba An indaba is one of Africa’s group conversation techniques (it is also a method of research). Indaba is about sharing news, ideas and solutions, in large or small groups. The essence of an indaba is to have as many people share and contribute to the discussion. During an indaba, we look back, in the present and into the future, a reflective process called Sankofa, that is looking into the past to inform the present and to shape the future. An indaba values voices of elders and griots, and use of names of respect, African dress, cuisine and languages. During the indaba participants are encouraged to put on an African attire, use their name of respect, use their protocols and speak with or use words from your language.  

Organisers of 2026 indaba: The African Australian Advocacy Centre (AAAC), the Australian Research Network for African Academics (ARNAA), Africa Studies Association of Australia and the Pacific (AFSAAP), Western Sydney University (WSU), the University of Wollongong (UOW) and Excelsia University College.

Concept Brief (pdf)

Registration link and QR code