Trailblazing Indigenous arts leader Rhoda Roberts passes

Rhoda Roberts AO, a Bundjalung arts leader and one of Australia’s most influential Indigenous cultural figures, has passed away at age 66 after a battle with stage 4 cancer.

Her leadership across theatre, festivals, broadcasting and cultural advocacy transformed Australian arts and embedded First Nations storytelling and protocols in national life.

Born Rhoda Ann Roberts in 1960 in Sydney’s Canterbury Hospital, she grew up in Lismore in northern New South Wales within a family of activists and achievers. Her father, Frank Roberts, was a civil rights advocate and pastor, and her cousin Francis “Frank” Roberts became Australia’s first Aboriginal Olympian.

Facing discrimination and limited educational opportunities, she left school after Year 10 and trained as a nurse, graduating in 1979. She pivoted to the arts in the mid-1980s, setting in motion a four-decade career that championed contemporary Indigenous culture across multiple platforms.

Key Points

Pioneer of Indigenous theatre and festivals

Ms Roberts co-founded the Aboriginal National Theatre Trust in 1987–1988, creating one of the earliest platforms dedicated to Aboriginal performers and stories. She founded and directed the Festival of the Dreaming (1997), the Sydney Dreaming Festival and the long-running Dreaming Festival (1995–2009), curating international and national stages for First Nations artists.

Her creative leadership extended to major cultural and civic moments. She served as cultural advisor for the 2000 Sydney Olympics, was Garma Festival director in 2010 and was a driving force behind Parrtjima Festival in Alice Springs, Boomerang Dreaming at Bluesfest and Shine on Gimuy in Cairns. Her work also elevated First Nations voices in events such as the Rugby World Cup 2003 handover and Dubai Expo 2021.

Broadcasting and media

She was one of the first Aboriginal presenters on prime-time television and worked extensively across radio, television and journalism. She produced the SBS documentary “In the Gutter… No Way” (1989) and held roles with Network Ten and ABC Radio. In 1998, she received a Deadly Award for Broadcasting and later served as Elder in Residence for SBS and NITV.

Recently appointed cultural lead for the Koori Mail newspaper, she remained a sought-after voice on Indigenous issues through her writing, speaking and consulting, continuing to advise and shape discourse across the media sector.

Innovator of Welcome to Country

Ms Roberts is widely credited with popularising and formalising the Welcome to Country ceremony, now integral to Australian public life.

She advocated for respectful acknowledgment of Traditional Owners and helped ensure these protocols became standard at events, institutions and official gatherings. Tributes highlighted this as one of her most enduring contributions to national reconciliation and cultural awareness.

As a performer, she appeared in films including Wim Wenders’ “Until the End of the World” (1991) and “Stones of Death” (1988), and on television in “Blue Heelers” (1994). Her stage work featured roles in Louis Nowra’s “Radiance” (1993 revival), “Please Explain” (1998) and “Bible Boxing Love” (2008). She continued to develop original storytelling that centred family and Country.

In recent years, she wrote, directed and starred in the acclaimed one-woman show “My Cousin Frank.” Premiering in 2024 with NORPA and returning to the Sydney Opera House in December 2025, the production shared the story of her cousin, the pioneering Olympian, and her family’s history on Cabbage Tree Island and the Cubawee reserve.

Ms Roberts received the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service to the performing arts, leadership, advocacy and the promotion of contemporary Indigenous culture. Her accolades also included the Ros Bower Award (2019), the Helpmann Awards’ Sue Nattrass Award (2018) and the Sidney Myer Facilitators Award (1997).