MELBOURNE.- The Australian Music Vault celebrates the National Indigenous Music Awards (NIMA) Hall of Fame inductee Jessica Mauboy with a new photographic display of the pop icon.

The new display features seven photographs from Mauboy’s Yours Forever 2024 tour in Albury, Newcastle and Canberra, an album cover shoot and her performance at the 2024 NIMA Awards. “I’m deeply humbled to be inducted into the NIMA Hall of Fame and to see my journey celebrated in the Australian Music Vault. Music has always been my way of sharing story and spirit, and I hope this display inspires future First Nations artists to honour our heritage and follow their dreams,” said Mauboy.

Arts Centre Melbourne curator Ian Jackson said Jessica Mauboy is joining a remarkable line-up of artists who have been inducted into the National Indigenous Music Awards Hall of Fame. “Jessica has always maintained her commitment to community and proud First Nations identity. The Australian Music Vault celebrates the story of Australian music, and it is wonderful to put Jessica Mauboy in her rightful place at the heart of that story,” said Jackson.

Mauboy is a proud Kuku Yalanji and Wakaman woman. Her mother’s family is from Far North Queensland, but she was born and raised in Garamilla (Darwin). As a child, she listened to a mix of traditional music from her parents, and the country and pop albums she shared with her four sisters.

Mauboy has built a multifaceted career over the past two decades. At the age of 16, Mauboy rose to national fame on the fourth season of Australian Idol. She quickly became a fan favourite on the show from her first audition, performing Whitney Houston’s ‘I Have Nothing’ against a backdrop of the Northern Territory desert. Finishing as the season’s runner-up and winning the nation’s heart, her popularity with fans gained her a record deal with Sony Music.

Mauboy released four studio albums with Sony: Been Waiting (2008), Get 'Em Girls (2010), Beautiful (2013) and Hilda (2019) which debuted at No. 1, from which came a remarkable nine Top 10 singles and sixteen Top 20 singles. She also worked with international artists Flo Rida, Snoop Dog, Ludacris and Jason Derulo, and supported her hero Beyoncé on her 2009 I Am… tour.

In 2010, Mauboy turned to acting, landing lead roles in the films Bran Nue Dae (2010) and The Sapphires (2012), which earned her the AACTA Award for Best Actress in a Supporting Role. She also starred in two seasons of the television show The Secret Daughter (2016) which was a role specifically written for her. Mauboy released two soundtrack albums from the show, her first one making history as she became the first Indigenous artist to reach No. 1 on the ARIA Album Charts.

In 2014, she was the first solo artist from outside Europe to perform as a guest at the Eurovision Song Contest. For the 2018 contest she went a step further, representing Australia in the competition with her song ‘We Got Love’ where she finished in 20th place. She then joined The Voice Australia as a coach for three seasons before leaving the show to work on her fifth studio album, Yours Forever (2024), which was nominated for Album of the Year at the NIMAs and Best Pop Release at the ARIA Awards.

The past 12 months have been big for the pop diva as she toured Yours Forever nationally with near sell-out shows in Queensland, she premiered her one-woman show The Story of Me – A Musical Journey Through My Career at Adelaide Cabaret Festival and most recently, for NAIDOC Week, she wowed the nation on triple j’s Like a Version with a powerful gospel‑inspired cover of Yothu Yindi’s ‘World Turning’.

The NIMAs are the biggest annual celebration of First Nations music. For more than 20 years – since 2004 – they have helped launch careers and recognised achievement and excellence. As national awards, they showcase the rich musical landscape of Australia, highlighting music from all corners of the country. Each year a new act is inducted into the Hall of Fame, which celebrates the achievements of groundbreaking artists including Warumpi Band, Kutcha Edwards, Archie Roach, Jimmy Little, Roger Knox, Tiddas, Ruby Hunter, Wilma Reading, Kev Carmody and Gurrumul.

The new display is open to the public in the Australian Music Vault within Arts Centre Melbourne’s Theatres Building. The Australian Music Vault is a free exhibition developed by Arts Centre Melbourne in collaboration with the music industry and was a key initiative of the Victorian Government's Music Works strategy. The exhibition is a celebration of the Australian contemporary music story – past, present and future.