Now in its 32nd year, the national day celebrates Indigenous children and families, usually through events held at schools and workplaces on Tuesday.

This year, the City of Ballarat's Girrabanya Children's Centre was among the places recognising the day - children got to complete craft activities and learn about Dreamtime stories, as well as check out a virtual flagraising at Town Hall.

There was also a story, I Love Me by Sally Morgan and Ambelin Kwaymullina, read by City of Ballarat Aboriginal Liaison Officer Nikki Foy, part of the virtual Ballarat Libraries Storytime series.

The day was coordinated by the Ballarat Better Outcomes Early Learning Network and the Ballarat and District Aboriginal Cooperative.

BADAC's chief executive Karen Heap said the organisation had distributed fun activity bags for children in the region filled with goodies - again, a change from previous years.

"We've tried to give them more of an active bag so they can do something with it - colouring in or making something - it's a bit more entertaining in the climate that we're in," she said, adding it was also an opportunity to reconnect with isolated families.

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"Even though we can't go into the house or do that contacting, we can drop that bag off and have a chat at the door," she said.

The theme for National Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Children's Day this year is 'We are the elders of tomorrow, hear our voice', which is something Ms Heap said is important to keep in mind.

"For me, as the chief executive of this organisation, our view is really we have to look after our elders because they are the teachers of the past for us," she said.

"But it's about looking after the future elders that are coming, and those kindergarten kids are our future, we need to nurture that, and make sure they'll be in a space to take those stories on."

City of Ballarat mayor Ben Taylor said in a statement the national day was always a "fun and inspiring event" that "brings our community together".

"Even though we cannot celebrate the day as freely as we wish because of the pandemic, I encourage the Ballarat community to acknowledge and celebrate this year's Children's Day. We want to make it a happy day for all involved," he said.

To find out more, visit the SNAICC website.

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