First Nations Response (FNR)

That’s a wrap for FNR 2025! 🎉 Enjoy highlights from our Deadly Christmas event. A huge thank you to each and every person who supported our Christmas fundraiser. Together, we supported over 1,000 families during the Christmas period no small feat! It truly takes a whole community to do this work. To everyone who supports us and to our incredible volunteers, we see you and we thank you. Special shout-out to @tiarna.herczeg and @pseushi who went above and beyond to support this. Thank you to @cityofsydney for your continued support & @johaylen & team! & to @kaczanowskico @yccpoultry for your generosity! Thank you @jack_billiau for capturing the day & making us this deadly video!!

SCAN IF YOU WANT TO BACK THE WORK🖤💛❤️ SOLIDARITY NOT CHARITY!

Help us keep showing up. This EOFY, your donation to First Nations Response, helps us to continue to fight food insecurity & respond to communities' needs. Every dollar makes a difference. ✅ Tax-deductible ✅ First Nations-led ✅ High-impact community work Donate before June 30. 🔗 Link in bio

Look out for each other! If you or Mob you know are using, don’t do it alone. Stay close, stay aware, and be ready to act. It could save a life.

Our hearts are broken. We’ve lost our beautiful niece, Sarriah, suddenly and far too soon. Her families Bundjalung Gudgenburra from Fingal Head & Quandamooka from Minjerribah, and her little boy, Kobi, just nine years old, are facing a pain no one should have to carry. We’ve set up a GoFundMe to help bring Sarriah home to her mother’s country so she can rest with her sister, to cover funeral and ceremony costs, and to support Kobi as he navigates this impossible loss. Every bit of love, every donation, every share will help hold them up during this time. Thank you for standing with our family🖤💛❤️ https://gofund.me/d83f0fed2 Link in bio

The 2026 Close the Gap Report reinforces something First Nations communities have been saying for a long time: the issue is not a lack of solutions, it is a failure of systems to support them.  Across the country, community-controlled and culturally grounded programs are delivering real outcomes in health, wellbeing and economic participation. But progress at a national level remains slow. Only 4 of 19 targets are on track, and key areas like incarceration, child protection and suicide are worsening. At the same time, there is still no clear evidence of progress on the Priority Reforms.  One area that continues to be overlooked in this conversation is food security. The report highlights that food insecurity is a key driver of poor health outcomes, including chronic disease. But in practice, food systems are still not treated as a core part of Closing the Gap.  For First Nations Response, this is critical.  Food security is not just about access to food. It is about affordability, housing, infrastructure, and connection to culture and Country. It impacts communities across urban, regional and remote areas, and sits at the centre of health and wellbeing.  If we are serious about closing the gap, food security must be recognised and supported as a core priority. This means investing in community-led, place-based solutions and aligning policy and funding with what is already working on the ground.  The evidence is clear: Sustainably funding Blak led programs and initiatives that directly support community is the solution. The challenge now is ensuring systems support, rather than limit, that leadership.

A big congratulations to our cofounder and CEO Coral Lever on being recognised as NSW Local Woman of the Year. A truly well-deserved honour. Coral is the heartbeat of FNR. Her commitment to ensuring mob have access to food, care and community is at the centre of everything she does. From years of unpaid dedication to continuing to give far more than what is asked of her, her impact on community is profound. We couldn’t think of a more deserving person. Congratulations, Coral. 👏🏾 Shout out to @johaylen for the nomination and recognition.

FIRST NATIONS FUNDRAISER by @ngurambang 🍃 Returning to The Red Rattler Theatre in 2026, this is a big, bold night of celebration, joy, and creative power, raising funds for the Mob Strong mutual aid fund and First Nations Response. Seeding Strength 2 brings together artists, performers, organisers, and community for an electric mix of music, dance, drag, poetry, film, burlesque, and performance. Expect work that’s joyful, raw, funny, political, tender, and loud. Every dollar raised on the night goes straight back into community, supporting Mob Strong and First Nations Response, First Nations-led initiatives delivering rapid, frontline support where it’s needed most. This is a strictly radical, safer space, grounded in the long-held community of The Rattler. We centre collective, culturally grounded care and affirm the many ways we live, create, and resist as First Nations people and across creative worlds. No bigotry, no nonsense, just care, accountability, and shared love. Add in a stacked lineup, a community auction full of donated art and experiences, and a room full of people who get it, and you’ve got a night not to miss. This event offers multiple ticket types. Please purchase the ticket that best reflects your capacity. Concession and community tickets are limited and intended for those who need them. Proof of ticket is required for entry, and ticket type eligibility may be checked at the door. Come as you are. Let’s keep growing the seeds of liberation. 🌱 @ngurambang for more.

Today, we pause to reflect on the National Apology to the Stolen Generations. This is not just a moment in history. It is lived experience. It is family. It is community. It is ongoing. Many people speak about the Stolen Generations as though it belongs to the past. But we have grandparents, uncles and aunties alive today who were taken from their families, their culture and their Country. The impacts of these atrocities did not end with the apology. They continue to shape lives, families and communities. An apology should mean you will never do it again. Yet, unfortunately, our mob are still being removed from their families at the highest rates in this country. Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children remain vastly overrepresented in the child protection and out-of-home care systems. That truth demands more than words. It demands action, reform and genuine partnership with community. At First Nations Response, we honour the strength and resilience of all Stolen Generations survivors and their families. We recognise their courage, their survival and their leadership. In everything we do, we ensure our Elders and First Nations people are treated with the utmost dignity and respect. Our processes, our programs and our advocacy are grounded in the lived experiences of our people. We do not speak about community, we walk alongside community. Today is a day of reflection, truth-telling and accountability. It is also a day to recommit ourselves to ensuring that the harms of the past are not repeated, and that our children grow up strong in culture, identity and community. We stand with the Stolen Generations - always.

Respect to @turnstileluvconnection for standing with Mob and putting their weight behind our work. Absolutely deserving of every bit of respect and success. For taking the time to listen and learn about our history, FNRs work & actually caring. Choosing to show up like that matters. For two of us, it was our first ever hardcore show, and the Baltimore legends set the bar impossibly high the Metro went OFF. The crowd was unreal moshing, cheering, stage diving, crowd surfing every ounce of sweaty energy turned into real support for Mob. This wasn’t a concert. It was solidarity in action. You showed up for Mob, for community, for what matters. This is how voices get heard. This is how change happens. Thank you to everyone who made this possible. @primitive.blast @beastmode.world @candacekrieger @shalxvx

For Mob. For our families. For the Giants before us whose footsteps we follow! We closed out last year delivering four of our biggest community events, three in a single week. That’s not hustle for optics, that’s responsibility. We show up with care, commitment and deep respect for the community we serve. By Mob for Mob🖤💛❤️ This work doesn’t move on passion alone. It moves when people speak up, stand with us, and amplify our voices. Thank you to everyone who stands for solidarity, not charity🔥🔥🔥 @turnstileluvconnection @primitive.blast @beastmode.world @candacekrieger

🔥🔥🔥What a way to kick off 2026! Baltimore hardcore legends @turnstileluvconnection threw down a surprise benefit show for First Nations Response supported by @primitive.blast at the @metro_theatre . A huge thank you to Turnstile & Primitive Blast @beastmode.world @candacekrieger for a Deadly show! Massive respect for @shalxvx for advocating for Mob-led work and opening doors so our voice and impact can be seen and valued. Moments like this remind us just how important Solidarity is! Link in our bio if your keen to contribute all funds go straight to supporting our grassroots response work🖤💛❤️