musician | custodianship educator | activist

NIDALA is a Djugun and Jabirr-Jabirr singer-songwriter, public speaker, and Indigenous knowledge storyteller. She co-founded an alternative education program centred on Indigenous practices and is undertaking a PhD at the Indigenous Knowledge Institute, exploring how West Kimberley songs and stories can inform new models of care. In 2021, she released a carbon-neutral EP, Colours of My People, resulting in over 20,000 native plants being planted. Her most recent release, Ground Deep, honours community and Country in the face of climate disaster, inspired by the 2022 Lismore floods. NIDALA sits on the boards of Green Music Australia and The Returning Indigenous Corporation, advocating for cultural and environmental resilience.

Born in the West Kimberley in 1994 to an Aboriginal father and a French mother, Nidala grew up deeply connected to her Jabirr-Jabirr and Djugun roots while also gaining a global perspective through her education in France.

She began her academic journey studying education and dance at Macquarie University before completing a double Bachelor in Social Policy and Social Justice Law in 2016. In 2018, she earned a Master of Sustainability from the University of Sydney, supported by research in the jungles of northern Colombia and urban farms in Sydney. She is currently undertaking a PhD at the Indigenous Knowledge Institute at the University of Melbourne, exploring how songs and stories from the West Kimberley can inform new models of care for people, planet, and culture.

NIDALA’s music career began in 2019 with her self-produced debut single Howl at the Moon, currently at over 1.5million streams online. She soon joined the Tambah Project with Kyle Lionhart and Billy Otto, creating music for the Earth. Her debut EP, Colours of My People, was a carbon-neutral project that led to the planting of over 20,000 native plants and received features in Rolling Stone and the ABC. She recently released the first single from her upcoming EP, Ground Deep, which delves into themes of community resilience, connection to Country, and hope for the future.

Storytelling is central to all of Nidala’s work. Her performances and workshops blend song, education, and storytelling, promoting collaboration and a deep sense of belonging to Country. Her innovative approach to Acknowledgement of Country has been performed for organisations such as Xyntheo, Fire to Flourish, Red Cross, the Australian Embassy in Paris, Better Futures Forum, and the Nexus Summit in New York.

Beyond music, NIDALA also works as a consultant, combining sustainability practice with Indigenous knowledge. Her work includes creating sustainability guides for musicians, and co-designing training retreats with Green Music Australia and Sustainable Screens Australia.

Nidala’s unique blend of music, sustainability advocacy, and eloquent communication has garnered her a growing following. She has appeared on podcasts including Impact Zone, Wardrobe Crisis, It Takes Courage to Tell the Truth, and Water People, and has spoken on prominent panels such as Blak is Green (alongside Rhoda Roberts and Neil Morris), Bigsound in Brisbane, SXSW in Sydney, etc. (see below for links to podcasts and list of talks).

In 2022, Nidala won the inaugural Emerging Artist Environmental Music Prize in partnership with the Byron Writers Festival, and she is currently part of the Mushroom Music First Nations Pathways Program.