editorial

An ever-expanding suite of Aboriginal-guided experiences connects visitors with Indigenous cultures across Australia.
<figure id="attachment_144779" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-144779" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-144779 size-full" src="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Australia-Aboriginal-Experiences-Tiwi-Islands-Art.jpg" alt="An Aboriginal artist in the Tiwi Islands." width="1200" height="800" srcset="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Australia-Aboriginal-Experiences-Tiwi-Islands-Art.jpg 1200w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Australia-Aboriginal-Experiences-Tiwi-Islands-Art-300x200.jpg 300w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Australia-Aboriginal-Experiences-Tiwi-Islands-Art-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Australia-Aboriginal-Experiences-Tiwi-Islands-Art-768x512.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-144779" class="wp-caption-text">An Aboriginal artist in the Tiwi Islands. (Courtesy of TourIsm NT/Shaana McNaught)</figcaption></figure>
Curious travelers heading to the Land Down Under shouldn’t miss the chance to see the country’s cities and awe-inspiring landscapes from the perspective of its traditional custodians. Australia can lay claim to the oldest living cultures on the planet: Aboriginal peoples have inhabited their continent-sized homeland for the past 65,000-odd years, and their diverse traditions endure to the present day.
They’re also more accessible than you might think, thanks in part to <a href="https://www.discoveraboriginalexperiences.com/home-page" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Discover Aboriginal Experiences</a>, a Tourism Australia–endorsed collective that gathers leading Aboriginal-owned or -operated businesses under a single umbrella. Each prospective member goes through a rigorous selection process to ensure authenticity, and the initiative has now grown to include 55 local outfitters — with seven of those added as recently as December.
Among the new entrants is <a href="https://inculturetours.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">In Culture Tours</a>, which shares Indigenous insights in Perth and its suburbs. Led by Steven Jacob, a Whadjuk man of the Noongar nation, the 90-minute walks include the verdant grounds of Kings Park, where visitors can look forward to smelling native bush medicine plants and hearing Noongar Dreamtime stories. Elsewhere in Western Australia, legendary wilderness resort <a href="https://elquestro.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">El Questro’s Injiid Marlabu Calls Us</a> is a two-hour experience that offers an immersion into Ngarinyin culture: guests partake in an ancient healing ceremony and learn the significance of natural pigments derived from the landscape of the vast and rugged Kimberley region.
<figure id="attachment_144775" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-144775" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-144775 size-full" src="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Australia-Aboriginal-Experiences-El-Questro-and-Southern-Cross-Cultural-Tours.jpg" alt="Ngarinyin man Nelson O’Reeri at El Questro; Southern Cross Cultural Tours show guests how to get water from a paperbark tree." width="1200" height="894" srcset="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Australia-Aboriginal-Experiences-El-Questro-and-Southern-Cross-Cultural-Tours.jpg 1200w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Australia-Aboriginal-Experiences-El-Questro-and-Southern-Cross-Cultural-Tours-300x224.jpg 300w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Australia-Aboriginal-Experiences-El-Questro-and-Southern-Cross-Cultural-Tours-1024x763.jpg 1024w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Australia-Aboriginal-Experiences-El-Questro-and-Southern-Cross-Cultural-Tours-768x572.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-144775" class="wp-caption-text">Left to right: Ngarinyin man Nelson O’Reeri at El Questro; Southern Cross Cultural Tours show guests how to get water from a paperbark tree. (Courtesy of Tourism Australia)</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_144777" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-144777" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-144777 size-full" src="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Australia-Aboriginal-Experiences-Southern-Cross-Cultural-Tours-Tidal-Flats.jpg" alt="Foraging in tidal flats with Southern Cross Cultural Tours in Western Australia’s Kimberley region." width="1200" height="674" srcset="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Australia-Aboriginal-Experiences-Southern-Cross-Cultural-Tours-Tidal-Flats.jpg 1200w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Australia-Aboriginal-Experiences-Southern-Cross-Cultural-Tours-Tidal-Flats-300x169.jpg 300w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Australia-Aboriginal-Experiences-Southern-Cross-Cultural-Tours-Tidal-Flats-1024x575.jpg 1024w, https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Australia-Aboriginal-Experiences-Southern-Cross-Cultural-Tours-Tidal-Flats-768x431.jpg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1200px) 100vw, 1200px" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-144777" class="wp-caption-text">Foraging in tidal flats with Southern Cross Cultural Tours in Western Australia’s Kimberley region. (Courtesy of Tourism Australia)</figcaption></figure>
<figure id="attachment_144778" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-144778" style="width: 1200px" class="wp-caption alignnone"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="size-full wp-image-144778" src="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Australia-Aboriginal-Experiences-Taribelang-Bunda.jpg" alt="Demonstrating the use of a traditional Taribelang Bunda hunting weapon." width="1200" height="800" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-144778" class="wp-caption-text">Demonstrating the use of a traditional Taribelang Bunda hunting weapon. (Courtesy of Tourism Australia)</figcaption></figure>
Over at the Top End of the Northern Territory, where Indigenous Australians make up about 30 percent of the population, <a href="https://www.aatkings.com/en-au/tours/tiwi-islands-aboriginal-cultural-tour?optionId=644" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Tiwi Tours</a> leads day trips from Darwin to its namesake islands in the Arafura Sea, home to a thriving Aboriginal community. Once ashore, visitors will learn how the Tiwi people have incorporated their rich artistic heritage in a historic Catholic church, and witness local creatives weaving and painting in their studios. Another highlight is the opportunity to try damper, a traditional bread made with the dough of crushed native seeds.
Across the country in Queensland’s Bundaberg region, half-day excursions with family-owned <a href="https://www.bundaculturaltours.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Taribelang Bunda Cultural Tours</a> take participants to sites of cultural significance, with guides introducing native bush flavors during a late-morning snack break, and showing how boomerangs are used. Meanwhile, <a href="https://www.jellurgal.com.au/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Jellurgal Aboriginal Cultural Centre</a> spotlights the ancient heritage of the Gold Coast through guided walks over the cape of Burleigh Heads, detailing the lifestyle and ecological practices of the Yugambeh people that have sustained them for millennia. It’s hoped that every person can come away with a greater appreciation of not just Aboriginal culture but also the importance of respecting nature and passing on generational knowledge — pertinent lessons in this age of accelerating climate change and global uncertainty.
<a href="https://www.discoveraboriginalexperiences.com/home-page" target="_blank" rel="noopener">discoveraboriginalexperiences.com</a>
<figure id="attachment_144776" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-144776" style="width: 1800px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img decoding="async" loading="lazy" class="wp-image-144776 size-full" src="https://staging.destinasian.com/wp-content/uploads/Australia-Aboriginal-Experiences-Hero-Shot.jpeg" alt="Body painting during a Taribelang Bunda tour." width="1800" height="1200" /><figcaption id="caption-attachment-144776" class="wp-caption-text">Body painting during a Taribelang Bunda tour. (Courtesy of Tourism Australia)</figcaption></figure>
This article originally appeared in the <a href="https://subscription.destinasian.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">March/May 2025</a> print issue of DestinAsian magazine “Collective Wisdom”). Buy a single issue or subscribe <a href="https://subscription.destinasian.com/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">here</a>.

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