A dozen teams battled it out in a damper cook-off at the Aboriginal Tent Embassy on Tuesday as part of National Aborigines and Islanders Day Observance Committee week celebrations.

The Glamper Damper Campers represented Reconciliation Australia and were the overall winners. The team created a unique damper, which they described as being made with love, hope and glitter. The three-cheese damper also featured pumpkin, spinach and buttermilk – which they said was the secret ingredient.

Damper, also known as bush bread or seedcake, was originally made from flour of ground seeds, grains, legumes, roots or nuts. But the introduction of pre-milled white flour and white sugar has mostly replaced the use of native ingredients to make the damper.

Competition judge and Ngunnawal man Richie Allan, of the Traditional Owners Aboriginal Corporation, said the competitors were judged on a number of criteria, including taste, flavour, texture and creativity.

"The boys went a bit fancy on all the criteria, looks like MKR or something," Mr Allan said, laughing.

Next year's competition might go back to the "old ways" of baking damper, where contestants have to grind seeds to make their own flour, he said.

Joining Mr Allan on the judging panel were Reconciliation Australia deputy chief executive officer Karen Mundine and event organiser Derek Hardman.

There were winners in four categories:

Reconciliation Australia organised the event and had two teams competing. The other teams were made up of people from various organisations and public service departments, including the ACT Health Directorate and the ACT Finance Directorate.

Reconciliation Australia chief executive officer Justin Mohamed said the aim of the event was to focus on "sharing culture, having relationships, talking [and] getting to know each other better".

The event was a first for the organisation and Mohamed said he enjoyed being out of the boardroom and around the campfire.

Information on other NAIDOC events happening this week can be found here.