Week of Action for Abolition

AUGUST 2 – 9 | 2025

It has been 80 years since the horror of nuclear weapons was first unleashed.


Before the United States bombed the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on August 6th and 9th 1945, the first nuclear weapon, ‘Trinity’, was tested on First Nations land in New Mexico less than a month earlier on July 16th.  

80 years on from the dawn of the nuclear age, join a Week of Action for Abolition from Saturday 2nd August – Saturday 9th August to remember the harms of the past and demand urgent action to ensure these abhorrent weapons are never used again.

Australia has not yet joined the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons – the only international treaty to comprehensively outlaw nuclear weapons, and commit to supporting survivors of their testing and use. 

In this 80th year, it is in the hands of everyday people to put the Nuclear Weapon Ban Treaty in front of our decision-makers and office-holders to demand they work for Australia’s ratification. Together we can turn our government’s appalling approach around. 

Join ICAN’s national webinar on Hiroshima Day

As nuclear tensions escalate and Australia becomes more entangled in nuclear alliances, this one-hour online event brings together survivors, artists, campaigners and parliamentarians to reflect on Hiroshima’s legacy — and the urgent task of disarmament.

Speakers:

  • Peter Garrett – Musician, environmentalist and former federal cabinet minister. Best known as the frontman of Midnight Oil, Garrett has spent decades campaigning on issues of peace, justice and nuclear disarmament.
  • Isao Morimoto – Second-generation Hibakusha and son of the late author/illustrator Junko Morimoto. Isao will share personal reflections on his mother’s life and survival.
  • Gem Romuld – Director, ICAN Australia, leading national efforts to promote the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons and challenge Australia’s support for nuclear militarism.
  • Scott Ludlam – Writer, former Greens Senator and lifelong national and international campaigner for peace and climate justice (MC)

    REGISTER HERE

    National Events Listing

    Online / Everywhere

    WEBINAR:
    The Fire Still Burns: Hiroshima, Resistance and Disarmament
    Wednesday August 6th, 2025. 7-8pm AEST
    Featuring Hon Peter Garrett AM, Scott Ludlam, Isao Morimoto and Gem Romuld.
    Hosted by ICAN Australia
    Details and registration.

    DOUBLE WEBINAR:
    1. Victims of Nuclear Weapons and Testing
    Sunday August 3rd, 2025. 4-7PM AEST
    2. Religions responding to escalating threats of nuclear war
    Sunday August 10th, 2025. 4-7PM AEST

    Featuring ICAN Ambassador Aunty Sue Coleman-Haseldine. Hosted by Religions for Peace Australia, Religions for Peace Japan and Religions for Peace New Zealand.
    Details and registration.

    Australian Capital Territory (ACT)

    CANBERRA:
    Hiroshima and Nagasaki Remembrance Ceremony
    August 9th, 2025, at 11am. Canberra Rotary Peace Bell. Nara Peace Park.
    Hosted by Rotaract Club of Canberra.
    Featuring ICAN Australia board member Tara Gutman.

    New South Wales (NSW)

    SYDNEY:
    Hiroshima Day Rally and March
    Saturday 2 August at 12pm
    Meet at Sydney Town Hall Square and march to the Defence Department. Speakers include Gem Romuld, ICAN Australia Director.

    KATOOMBA: 
    Ban the Bomb, Sign the Treaty
    Saturday August 2, 10am-4pm
    Hosted by the Blue Mountains Peace Collective and the Planetary Health Initiative.
    Panel dicusssion featuring Susan Templeman MP, Indonesian Ambassador to Australia Siswo Pramono, Robert Tickner AO, plus more TBA.

    NEWCASTLE:
    Hiroshima Day Choral Evensong
    Sunday August 3, 6pm
    Christ Church Anglican Cathedral.

    Hosted by Christians for Peace Newcastle.

    WOLLONGONG: 
    Lantern Parade
    Saturday 9th August, early evening
    Part of the Wollongong Against War and Nukes (WAWAN) Activist Residency, at the Wollongong Art Gallery
    25 July – 12 August

    Program of workshops and events. More detail coming. See WAWAN on social media for details.

    NEWCASTLE:
    Nagasaki Day Commemoration, Peace Park at Tighes Hill
    Saturday August 9th, 11am – 2pm
    Hosted by Hunter Peace Group.
    Speakers, BBQ, and Peace Crane installation. Contact: hunterpeacegroup.2016@gmail.com

    SYDNEY: 
    Nagasaki Day Forum
    Sunday August 10th at 4-6pm, The Auditorium at the NSW Teachers Federation, Surrey Hills
    Hosted by Muslim Collective and Hiroshima Day Committee, ICAN Australia
    Panel discussion featuring Dr Ruth Mitchell, Chair of the Board of the International Physicians for the Prevention of Nuclear War (IPPNW), plus more TBA.
    More details TBA.

    SYDNEY:
    Pass the Baton: Commemorating 80 Years Since the End of WWII: Testimony of Keiko Ogura
    Saturday 16 August 1pm-3pm. The Auditorium at the NSW Teachers Federation, Surrey Hills
    Register here

    One of the few survivors who shares her story in English, Keiko will recount the moment the bomb hit Hiroshima, its aftermath, and the enduring consequences.A Q&A session will follow.

    Reading Performance: The Face of Jizo『父と暮せば』An excerpt from the iconic Japanese play exploring grief and survivor’s guilt in post-war Hiroshima.While portraying the devastation of the atomic bomb and the survivors’ emotional burden, the piece also honours the wishes and voices of those who were lost

    A panel exhibition exploring the reality of the atomic bombings, including their effects on health, society, and the lives of survivors.

    Screening ofHiroshima Mother’s Prayer: A 30-minute documentary, featuring footage captured immediately after the atomic blast. The film presents a mother’s perspective on the horrors of war and advocates for the abolition of nuclear weapons and the pursuit of world peace.

     

    SYDNEY:
    The Face of Jizo, Seymour Centre
    21 August – 6 September – every night
    Tickets available here

    Theatre production in commemoration of 80 years since Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

    The story takes place in Hiroshima some three years after the dropping of the atomic bomb on that city on 6 August 1945. Mitsue, a young librarian, arrives home to find her father Takezo there. She has not seen him for three years.

    The Face of Jizo centres on a father and daughter in the aftermath of war. Tender, beautiful and seasoned with moments of familial humour, this acclaimed Japanese play made a sold-out season of its Australian premiere at the Old Fitz Theatre in Nov 2023.

    “With its laughter and tears,” wrote leading cultural figure Saiichi Maruya, “The Face of Jizo is the greatest play of Japan’s postwar era.”

    This is a tale of courage, first love, spirited fathers, and learning to embrace the ghosts of the past.

    Northern Territory (NT)

    MPARNTWE / ALICE SPRINGS:

    Remembrance Vigil
    Wednesday August 6th, 8am-9am. Venue TBC.
    Facebook event here.
    1945 – 2025: 80 years ago the world entered the Nuclear Age.

    Join in with a minute’s silence at 8:14am, paper cranes, readings.

    Event being run under the auspices of the and the Alice Springs Peace Action Think Tank (ASPATT) and the Independent and Peaceful Australia Network (IPAN)

    Yami Lester Memorial Lecture – Remembering Maralinga, Hiroshima and Nagasaki

    Saturday August 9th, afternoon. Details TBA.

    For information about either of these events – contact Jonathan Pilbrow, Convenor Alice Springs Think Tank (ASPATT) E: aspatt2016@gmail.com M: 0403 611 815

    Queensland (QLD)

    PACIFIC PEACE CONFERENCE:

    Online and in person

    Saturday 2 August at 9am-5pm

    Venue: QNMU, 106 Victoria St, West End, Brisbane QLD

    Featuring Dr Marianne Hanson (ICAN), Dr Amy McQuire, Senator David Shoebridge.

    Details and registration here.

    EXHIBITION and MEMORIAL EVENT:

    Hiroshima & Nagasaki Never Again

    Exhibition: Monday 3 to Thursday 7 August at 9am-4pm daily

    Hiroshima Bombing Memorial Event: Wednesday 6 August at 9am

    Hanly Room, Francis Rush Centre, 196 Charlotte St, Brisbane

    Free event

    South Australia (SA)

    ADELAIDE:
    NEVER AGAIN – NO MORE HIROSHIMA and NAGASAKI
    NO MORE VICTIMS – ABOLISH NUCLEAR WEAPONS

    August 6th, 8:00AM, Peace Park, Sir Edwin Smith Dve (opposite Memorial Hospital).

    We stand together on the 6 August to:

    • Honour the more than 210,000 killed, and the many more injured, by the U.S. nuclear attack on the Japanese cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki on 6 and 9 August,1945
    • Remember the victims of nuclear testing at Maralinga and Emu Plains in SA
    • Call for Australia’s support for the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons
    • In support of Adelaide City Council’s adoption of the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons by the United Nations in 2017, and the call on our national government to ratify it without delay (ICAN Campaign)
    • Protest that schools must not be used by the nuclear industry to socialise students to accept warfare as inevitable and that the nuclear industry is always a force for good   
    • Remember that toxic nuclear waste destroys our environments.

    The danger of nuclear war is ever present and without a powerful grassroots movement dedicated to nuclear abolition, the unthinkable, another Hiroshima or Nagasaki, is possible.

    This year’s Hiroshima-Nagasaki Memorial is presented by the Graham F Smith Peace Foundation and the Romero Community in association with the Adelaide Rotary Club, the Medical Association for the Prevention of War SA  and the Women’s International League for Peace and Freedom.

    More details here

     


    Tasmania (TAS)

    HOBART:
    Vigil
    Saturday August 2nd, 11am-12pm. Parliamentary Lawns, Salamanca

    Hosted by the Medical Association for Prevention of War, Tasmanian branch.

    Victoria (VIC)

    MELBOURNE:
    Morning Vigil
    Wednesday August 6th, 8am-9am. St Pauls Catherdral (corner of Swanston St and Flinders St)
    RSVP  here.
    Silent vigil from 8-9am (8.15 am was the time of the actual bombing on the day) for a time of commemoration.
    Hosted by Friends of the Earth Melbourne Nuclear Free Collective, Medical Association for the Prevention of War, and friends.

    Peace Choir and Procession
    Wednesday August 6th, 12pm – 2pm. State Library of Victoria
    RSVP to the Peace Chior and Procession here.
    Hosted by Friends of the Earth Melbourne Nuclear Free Collective, Medical Association for the Prevention of War, and friends.
    12-1 pm: The Peace Choir will be singing in front of the State Library Victoria.
    1-1.15 pm: procession to Trades hall
    1.15-1.30pm: Group photo in front of the huge ICAN banner at Trades Hall
    1.30-2 pm: Tea and snacks at Trades Hall with a speaker from the Japanese community.
    More details TBA

     

    Western Australia (WA)

    MARGARET RIVER

    Gathering: Active hope for a more peaceful world

    Sunday 10 August at 1-5:30pm

    Fair Harvest: 426 Carters Rd, Margaret River

    Short talks on nuclear bombs and testing, current global events, with Q&A and discussion, afternoon tea and singing with Anu Grace.

    Hosted by Medical Association for Prevention of War WA and Transition Margaret River.

    [CONCLUDED]

    PERTH:

    Never Again: The Hiroshima-Nagasaki Atomic Bomb Exhibition
    Holmes à Court Gallery

    Start Date: 10 May, 2025
    End Date: 21 June, 2025

    This exhibition commemorates 80 years since the dropping of the atomic bomb on populated human cities. Hiroshima and Nagasaki were the first cities in human history to experience the atomic bombing. In an instant, the cities were completely devastated and many lives were lost. The spirits and bodies of those who barely survived were wounded deeply, and the pain continues today, more than three quarters of a century later. Based on this tragic experience, we continue to appeal our wish to the world that such an event may never again occur on this planet.

    More information here

     

    Share your plans for the Week of Action for Abolition

    How else can we support you?

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    Order commemorative materials from ICAN Australia

    ICAN Australia can provide commemorative materials to help make your event a success.

    We can provide:
    Copies of a beautiful commemorative artwork from Melbourne-based Japanese artist Hiroyasu Tsuri, aka TWOONE, available at cost price. Read more about it here.

    Brochures explaining the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons, and up to date information on Australia’s engagement with this treaty to date. 

    Please fill in the contact form above to get in touch.