Indigenous Nationals named National Sporting Competition of the Year

The 30th UniSport Indigenous Nationals, presented by bp, has been named National Sporting Competition of the Year at the 2026 National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Sports Awards (NATSISA). 

The award, supported by NRMA, was announced at the Sydney Cricket Ground on Saturday 7 November. It caps a milestone year for Indigenous Nationals, which began as a class project at the University of Newcastle in 1996. Aunty Trish Neal was one of 13 Wollotuka students who organised the first Games. 

For the 30th anniversary, the University of Newcastle and The Wollotuka Institute brought the event home to Awabakal and Worimi Country. Hundreds of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander student-athletes came together from 29 June to 3 July, competing in basketball, netball, touch football and volleyball and sharing in a week of cultural and community events. 

“This award is a credit to the students who built Indigenous Nationals and everyone who has carried it forward. There’s real pride in pulling on your university colours and competing on a national stage, and in the friendships that start when students from across Australia get together to share their culture through competition,” said UniSport Australia CEO Mark Sinderberry. 

“Thank you to The Wollotuka Institute and the University of Newcastle for bringing the event home this year. Thank you to UniSport team for bringing the event to life and to bp, our member universities, officials and volunteers for making it possible.” 

“When we welcomed students to Newcastle this year, they were playing on the same Country where Wollotuka students started the Games in 1996. To see that work recognised three decades later is a proud moment for our founding students and for every generation that has made the Games their own,” said Loren Collyer (PVC Indigenous strategy and Leadership). 

UniSport Australia congratulates fellow finalists the 2026 WA NAIDOC Basketball Carnival and Kurrung Sports Carnival and thanks the National Indigenous Sports Foundation and Indigenous Sports Network for celebrating First Nations sporting achievement. 

Indigenous Nationals will head to Townsville in 2027, with James Cook University to host the next edition. 

Learn more about Indigenous Nationals