News edition for 28 September 2026. Added to Nungya on 22 October 2026 as part of our retrospective news archive. Reporting reflects information available by the edition date.

Independent media from one of Australia’s most remote regions is in the national spotlight. The Torres Strait Islander Media Association, TSIMA, has been named a finalist in the 2026 Australian Human Rights Awards.

The Australian Human Rights Commission announced the finalists on 28 September. TSIMA is recognised in the Media and Creative Industries category for radio, television and online services, and for supporting Torres Strait peoples to tell their own stories.

Twenty people and organisations have been shortlisted across five categories from more than 300 nominations. The Commission plans to announce recipients in Sydney on 10 December, Human Rights Day, as it marks its 40th anniversary. A place on this shortlist is recognition in itself; the winners are still to come.

TSIMA’s inclusion draws attention to the role of locally grounded reporting and broadcasting. A community’s stories need people who understand its places, voices and concerns, as well as channels through which those stories can travel. The award announcement offers a reason for readers elsewhere to discover the association’s work and consider the daily effort behind an independent regional media service. It also makes clear that telling a story is itself a form of participation.