During NAIDOC Week 2025, Air Force Headquarters welcomed renowned broadcaster, journalist and academic Professor Stan Grant to speak with Defence personnel about identity, belonging and the possibilities for our nation. 

Framed by this year’s NAIDOC Week theme, 'The Next Generation: Strength, Vision and Legacy', Professor Grant offered a powerful reflection on what it truly means to know and defend Australia.

“Teams win in the dressing room, not on the field,” Professor Grant’s wife told him one night as they watched a State of Origin game.

“So in the same way that sport is decided in the dressing room, so is a nation,” he reflected.

“And that’s what I wanted to talk to you about today. Because it’s critical for Defence to understand that before you can defend a nation, you need to know who the nation is.”

With more than 30 years of experience in journalism, television and radio, Professor Grant is widely regarded as one of Australia’s most influential and respected voices. 

He has interviewed inspirational leaders including Nelson Mandela, Hillary Clinton and former US Secretary of State John Kerry; is the Vice Chancellor’s Chair of Australian-Indigenous Belonging at Charles Sturt University; and was formerly the ABC’s Global Affairs and Indigenous Affairs Analyst.

A proud Wiradjuri man with Kamilaroi and Dharawal heritage, Professor Grant spoke about his experiences growing up, the feeling of being on the outside “looking in” at Australia, and how the world has changed.  

“I never saw an Aboriginal person on TV, and this changed to me being the first to present a prime-time show on commercial TV and become a political and foreign correspondent," he said.

“From when I first went to university there were eight Aboriginal people, to now there are tens of thousands of Aboriginal people who have graduated from universities.”

Professor Grant reflected on this year’s theme again: “Around this room, I see Aboriginal people in spaces that have never been inhabited. That is change. That is legacy. And that is the vision for the next generation.” 

He acknowledged Defence’s role in service and sacrifice, and its potential to represent what the nation can be at its best.

“I wanted to stress to you today, when I see this uniform, when I see people in service, I see the possibility of a nation we can believe in, a nation we can fight for,” he said.

Who we are as a nation, Professor Grant reinforced, is “ultimately decided in the locker room before we step out onto the field.”

“Your service to your country represents all the possibilities of what this nation could be,” he added. 

As Defence personnel reflect on NAIDOC Week 2025, Professor Grant’s message is a reminder that strength as a nation is found in the stories we share, the diversity we embrace and the unity we build together – laying down a legacy for those who will follow.