National Indigenous Radio Service

Warul Kawa (Deliverance Island) may be rid of pesky rodents once and for all. The uninhabited sandy cay island, 34 kilometres south of Papua New Guinea and 200 kilometres north of Waibene (Thursday Island), is a sacred place to Traditional Owners and a strategic location for migratory birds. Since the early 80s, the island has been overrun by rats, despite many attempts to control the pest.

Tributes are flowing for Aboriginal cultural, arts and media savant, Rhoda Roberts AO. A proud Widajabul Wieybal woman from the Bundjalung Nation, Ms Roberts passed away on Saturday, at the age of 66. Her family made the announcement of her passing online. Ms Roberts grew up in Lismore, in the Northern Rivers region of New South Wales. She left school after Year 10 and moved to Sydney to study nursing, graduating in 1979 at Canterbury Hospital.

It's Indigenous Literacy Day! A day dedicated to preserving the stories of our elders in books while maintaining their cultural integrity. This year's theme is Strength in our Stories - For Now and Future Generations. In 2025, Indigenous Literacy Foundation has worked with children in a number of Indigenous communities and help them turn elders stories into books.

Tariff - it's a word we have been using more and more recently in our stories, but what does it mean? It's a tool for governments to manage the competition between locally sourced products and products that are imported from other countries. For example, if Australia still made cars, the federal government could add a tariff to cars imported from other countries. It would make imports more expensive than locally made cars, making those local options more attractive for Australians.

The Northern Territory government needs to stop ignoring evidence and support early intervention programs. That's the message from one NT grassroots organisation as an Oleoresin Capsicum trial, also known as pepper spray, begins in the Territory on September 1.

Researchers are seeing an attendance drop-off as Indigenous children make the transition to high school, especially in remote areas. The study from the University of Queensland and Charles Darwin University looks at school attendance data from all states and territories. Study leader Dr Azhar Potia says educators need to talk to communities, who should set their own targets. "Anything that involves adding a target or a change in reform I believe needs to start from the ground up," he says.

Indigenous business are grappling with Australia Post's decision to stop sending parcels to the US, with one owner suggesting reciprocal trade deals between First Nations groups could help. Earlier this week, Australia Post announced a "temporary partial suspension" of international parcel deliveries to the United States in response to incoming US tariff rules.

The New Zealand government's move to reduce the number of Te Reo Māori words in its primary education books would be detrimental to language revitalisation, an acadmeic says. Earlier this month, RNZ reported leaked documents from Aotearoa's education ministry found plans to remove all Māori words except for character names from new books in its Read Phonics Plus series for five to seven-year-old students.

The head of a leading Indigenous environmental body says more needs to be done to support Indigenous people taking up leadership roles in the sector. Barry Hunter, CEO of the North Australian Indigenous Land and Sea Management alliance, says government policy around ranger programs needs to change. He points to the Country Liberal Party's decision to scrap its promise to keep the Northern Territory's $12 million Aboriginal ranger program.

Policy makers need to listen to communities about how to respond to Fetal Alcohol Spectrum Disorder (FASD), according to a peak Aboriginal health body. National Aboriginal Community Controlled Health Organisation (NACCHO) CEO Pat Turner made the comments after a gathering of Indigenous health and FASD experts at Parliament House yesterday. "Our communities have led the way in responding to FASD for decades. We know what works," she says.