Held at The Sunshine Coast Convention Centre at Novotel Sunshine Coast Resort
In 2022, the Sunshine Coast Convention Centre proudly hosted the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies (AIATSIS) Summit—a landmark national gathering celebrating Indigenous knowledge, culture, and research. The five-day event welcomed more than 1,200 delegates, with 800 accommodated onsite at the adjoining Novotel Sunshine Coast Resort.
To meet the event’s diverse and large-scale requirements, the AIATSIS Summit made full use of the entire Sunshine Coast Convention Centre footprint:
- Wandiny Room – Transformed into a combined exhibition space and catering venue, central to daily networking and breaks.
- Plenary Room & Breakouts – Served as the main hub for keynote presentations, workshops, and sessions, allowing for seamless delegate flow.
- Mudjimba Ballroom – Cleverly configured into three distinct spaces to support the AIATSIS team’s back-of-house operations. This included a media room, staff coordination area, and private working zones.
- Ninderry Room – Thoughtfully reimagined as an Elders Lounge, offering a serene and respectful retreat space for community leaders.
- Mid-Week Gala Dinner – A signature highlight of the Summit, the resort hosted an elegant gala dinner for 850 guests, celebrating connection, achievement, and culture.
- Final Night Cocktail Event – The Summit concluded on a high note with a cocktail event for 500, closing the week with reflection and celebration.
From complex room turnarounds to detailed cultural considerations, the AIATSIS Summit was an example of the Sunshine Coast Convention Centre’s ability to handle high-impact, high-volume national events with professionalism and heart.
Brooke Te Huia, Sales Manager, reflected on the success:
“Many of the delegation were travelling from Remote Australia, so access was critical to the conference organisers. Our team truly delivered on this significant event—accommodating 800 attendees in-resort and catering for 1,200 delegates across the five-day program.
The highlight for us was watching our operations team deliver an event of this calibre, including an impromptu dinner that came together due to delegates lingering after the official program had wrapped. It just shows how flexible and invested our operations and management team are when it comes to hosting events of national importance.”
The AIATSIS Summit 2022 wasn’t just a large-scale conference—it was a gathering of culture, history, and forward-thinking dialogue. The Sunshine Coast Convention Centre and Novotel Sunshine Coast Resort delivered a seamless and inspiring experience, helping bring this vital event to life with the respect and excellence it deserved.
For more insight into the success of this event, view Tourism & Events Queensland’s official case study:
AIATSIS Case Study – Tourism & Events Queensland (PDF)