The National Indigenous Music Awards (NIMAs) have announced blues musician Marlene Cummins and Elcho Island's Saltwater Band as the 2026 Hall of Fame inductees, ahead of the ceremony in Darwin next month. The recognition celebrates two significant contributions to Australian Indigenous music, spanning solo blues artistry and a band whose sound helped shape the country's contemporary Indigenous music scene.

Cummins, a Guguyelandji and Woppaburra woman born in Cunnamulla, Queensland, studied at Boston's Berklee College of Music and is known for her radio work, the documentary "Black Panther Woman" and the song "Koori Woman". Saltwater Band, from Galiwin'ku, blended traditional song with reggae and ska influences sung mostly in Yolŋu languages, and included the late Geoffrey Gurrumul Yunupingu, who became the most commercially successful Aboriginal Australian musician in history before his death in 2017. The 2026 NIMAs take place at Darwin Amphitheater on Saturday 8 August, hosted by Rob Collins and Leila Gurruwiwi, with performances from Baker Boy, Electric Fields and others, preceded by the Blak Loud Showcase on 7 August.